Jaden Smith Interview - The Karate Kid

In the recent issue of Ebony magazine, Adrienne Samuels Gibbs conducted an interview with 11 year old Jaden Smith, son of remarkable Will Smith and Jada Pinkett- Smith. Here is the interview:

Gibbs: Why did you take on the challenge of The Karate Kid?
Smith: Well, I’ve always really been interested in the martial arts. I started taking karate when I was 3. So when my dad mentioned the idea to remake the movie, theres no way I was going to pass that up! And the story is really great. Its inspired by the original film, but different. In this one, I play Dre Parker. He’s a cool kid, but he has to move from his home in Detroit when his mom gets a job in China.

Movie Review - The Karate Kid

I've been around martial arts my entire life. My father is a karate instructor and so are his two brothers. I've taken karate before and it still runs in my family. I've been to tournaments my whole life and have seen some amazing competitors.

So it was only natural that we went to see The Karate Kid, remake of the 1984 original, as a family.

This movie was an excellent, solid remake. It was highly entertaining and the training montage would even give Rocky a run for his money. Jaden Smith certainly proved himself as an actor, something he has not had an oppurtunity to do in his past films. The movie ran the gauntlet of emotions - from fear to anger to sadness to joy - and Jaden did not miss a beat. When he needed to cry, he did. When he needed to crack some classic Smith wit, he did.

Jackie Chan was spectacular as well. But he's Jackie effin Chan...what else can be expected?

The story progressed very well, but the characters outside of Jaden/Dre's training bubble were not very well developed. I'm not sure if it really mattered, however.

Very good movie. Go see it.

This Weekend in Movies

I'll be seeing The A-Team tomorrow and The Karate Kid on Saturday.

Born in 1987, neither of these remakes' original sources are fresh in my mind which is - in my opinion - good because I can go in with no preconcieved notions. My boyfriend, a very big fan of A Team and Mr. T, will be unable to accompany me to the movie so I will try to read up a little on the A Team tonight, just to get a feel of what fans loved about the show.

My family will be accompaning me to see The Karate Kid or, as I affectionately call it, The Kung-Fu Kid. Our family business seems to be karate. My father and two uncles have been Karate instructors all my life. They even own a Dojo here in town. It's my dad's idea to go see this movie and I happily oblige. The trailer's look entertaining for this movie and Jaden Smith is adorable.

I also owe this blog a Prince of Persia review. I loved that movie so much.