THE KARATE KID — REBOOT

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Too Much and Not Enough
Big Budget Remake Goes Astray
By Cole Smithey

Adhering closely to the original 1984 "Karate Kid" blueprint that made Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita household names, this Will Smith-produced remake ups the stakes by moving the action to China. Casting Jackie Chan as Mr. Han, a martial arts master (disguised as apartment building maintenance man) who teaches his young protégé Dre (Jaden Smith) how to fight, lends an air of authenticity to the otherwise by-the-book narrative.

But not all that shines is gold. At well over two hours long "The Karate Kid" feels bloated while nonetheless managing to leave thematic threads dangling. For instance Dre's mother Sherry's (reliably well played by Taraji P. Henson) grim employment conditions in China, for which she abandoned the economic wasteland of Detroit, go overlooked. Director Harold Zwart ("The Pink Panther 2") burns through the film's giant budget like a sailor yet doesn't dig deep enough into his characters' motivations to make the film resonate with the passion he clearly intends. For all of the time spent on Dre's grueling training (Jaden Smith studied with the film's stunt coordinator Wu Gang to prepare for the part), we never see the learning process take seed.

There's a moment when Mr. Han takes Dre to visit the kung fu studio where the bullies that terrorize Dre learn under China's billboard-advertised kung fu teacher Master Li (Rongguang Yu), a ruthless sifu who demands no mercy from his young students. Mr. Han brokers a deal with Master Li for the bullies to leave his sole student alone while Dre prepares to fight them in an upcoming tournament that will serve as the film's climax. The scene opens a door for the short-tempered Master Li to demand an on-the-spot challenge for Mr. Han to fight him in the ring. That newbie screenwriter Christopher Murphey drops the golden opportunity to show how the humble Mr. Han would handle such a loaded physical contest, flagrantly ignores Jackie Chan's famous skill and does the film a disservice.

Obligatory visits to China's magnificent Wudang Mountains and Great Wall give Mr. Han a chance to instill in Dre some philosophical teachings of kung fu while giving the audience postcard vistas to soak up. But even here the filmmaker lets slip the dramatic arc of the story as it applies to our young protagonist. For all of Jaden Smith's charm, and he is a charming actor, Smith is not yet seasoned enough to pull off such a demanding performance. Ralph Macchio was 22 when he played the younger-looking Daniel Larusso in the original "Karate Kid." Although he was still just starting out as an actor, Macchio had accrued enough life experience to fire your imagination.

Multicultural romance comes in the from of Dre's schoolmate, a young classical violinist named Meiying (Han Wenwen), who nearly overpowers Smith whenever the two are on screen together. The heart-warming subplot gives the story its strongest hook and brings it into its most human terms. Meiying's violin audition puts classical music into the film and elevates the transference of cultural ideals at play.

"The Karate Kid" is an entertaining, if uneven, remake that features a far more advanced level of fighting skills than the original film did. However, the title is a misnomer since "karate" has nothing to do with the wushu style of kung fu on display. Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith fail to connect with each other to the same degree that Ralph Macchio and the Oscar-nominated Pat Morita did, but that's to be expected.

The main problem is that this version doesn't come from the heart, but rather from what can be gleaned and exploited. It's an obfuscation that comes not from the performers, but rather the filmmakers who refuse to let the audience experience a simple interaction of emotion. It's a classic example of too much and not enough.

Rated PG. 135 mins.

BLIND DATE

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Remaking van Gogh
Stanley Tucci Goes Dutch
By Cole Smithey

Stanley Tucci's American adaptation of assassinated Dutch director Theo van Gogh's 1996 film by the same title is a theatrically bound one-act play about a married couple attempting to reconcile the death of their daughter. Tucci plays amateur magician and cabaret owner Don, who places ads in the local paper for his wife Janna (Patricia Clarkson) to reply to, in character, when they meet at Don's bar for their "blind" dates. In one introduction, Don pretends to be a sightless man, and in another he plays the part of an interested journalist looking for an aggressive woman.

The encounters serve as spring boards to conversations geared as a kind of mutual therapy session. But the dates never end in a good way. Efficient voice-over narration from beyond the grave gives the deceased daughter's side of the story, but it's still not enough information about the missing home life that the couple must needs share. Patricia Clarkson breathes life into her ever morphing character, but Stanley Tucci doesn't fair as well in modulating Don's eternal misery. As a theatrical filmic exercise, "Blind Date" is a fair experiment. Just don't go expecting to see a traditional movie.

"Blind Date" is the second of three American adaptations of van Gogh's films. In 2007, Steve Buscemi directed a version of the Dutch director's 2003 film "Interview," and John Turturro is currently in production of "1-900," an update of van Gogh's 1994 film "06."

Anytime you're dealing with an homage dedicated to an artist who was murdered for their art, as Theo van Gogh was, context is everything. As the great-grandson of the famous painter's art-dealer brother, also named Theo, the filmmaker famously took pride in voicing his hostility toward religion. Credited with making 25 films, it was a 10-minute short film that van Gogh made in response to 9/11 (entitled "Submission: Part 1") that cost the filmmaker his life. While riding his bicycle to work in Amsterdam on the morning of November 2, 2004, Muslim extremist Mohammed Bouyeri shot, stabbed, and slit van Gogh's throat. Bouyeri has since been tried for the crime and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Available for viewing on YouTube.com, "Submission: Part 1" (written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali - a former member of the Dutch House of Representatives) is a didactic one-woman monologue wherein a young Muslim woman, wearing a veil and transparent gown over her nude body tattooed with verses from the Koran, speaks to Allah in the voices of four different characters. A contrarian instigator who liked to adopt radical stances in his incendiary political columns, van Gogh initially supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq before later recanting, and called "Submission" a "political pamphlet." The film essentially describes ways in which the teachings of the Koran endorse abuse and imprisonment of Muslim women. It brings into question a religious-backed culture of violence against women. Theatrical in nature, "Submission: Part 1" is tame by Western standards, but does carry an implication of latent suicide that "Blind Date" shares.

A common thread in van Gogh's films are characters who desperately try to articulate an unknowable pain of individual existence. In "Blind Date," Don and Janna engage in role play sessions where they perform for the bartender and patrons, but more so for one other. They gently guide and push one another toward some elusive redemption that they might hang their hopes for the future on. The dates serve as a kind of abstract public love-making where release in never allowed. The drama comes purely from insinuation and unexpected bursts of emotion that reveal the seams of heightened romantic tension running through a doomed relationship. Don and Janna share a similar unspoken agenda not far removed from the painter Vincent van Gogh's untimely fate. As with the filmmaker himself we know that regardless of what we think, say or do, no one gets out alive.

Not Rated. 80 mins.

3:10 TO YUMA

Crowe vs. Bale

Mangold Reinvents Elmore Leonard Western
By Cole Smithey

Director James Mangold’s update of the Elmore Leonard short story that spawned the original 1957 Western, is a gritty action-packed movie that trades on the talents of its headstrong leading men. Russell Crowe effortlessly settles into the role of mastermind robber Ben Wade, whose days of killing and theft draw to a close after his capture in a brothel where he dallies too long.

Distraught rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) is on the brink of loosing his land to the railroad when he accepts the promise of a rich reward to help capture and escort Ben Wade as far as the 3:10 train to Yuma prison to be hanged. Nevertheless, the handcuffed prisoner increases his chances of escape with every guard he eliminates during the intense overland journey. Dan’s disobedient teenage son Will (Logan Lerman) comes to his father’s aid. The boy proves to be an essential asset before the train for Yuma leaves the station. Aside from a few plot pits, "3:10 to Yuma" is a boisterous Western with strong ensemble performances all around.

Early on, ruffians set fire to Dan’s barn. He swears a retribution that he is powerless to achieve. Since losing a leg in the Civil War, Dan wears a prosthetic limb. Dan’s wife (Gretchen Mol) has little faith in her husband’s ability to provide for their family. These are the ingredients of pathos that Christian Bale manipulates as a master of unexpected emotions.

The often overlooked western genre is enjoying a spike thanks to movies like "September Dawn," and the upcoming breathlessly titled "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." "3:10 to Yuma" sets itself apart from the archetypal revenge structure by pitting the notion of an ingenious bandit against an emasculated war veteran struggling to save his family. There’s a wealth of dramatic material here. A large part of the film’s appeal comes from the duality between its notoriously contentious leading men. Russell Crowe’s studied composure withers in the presence of Bale’s slow-burn tenacity even as Wade is presented as Dan’s physical and intellectual superior. Bale is the better actor. You can see it in the way he twists nuances of motivation that leave a mark. Crowe’s throwaway performance is smooth to a fault.

James Mangold ("Walk the Line") sees where Elmore Leonard’s postmodern Western strays from classical constraints of the genre. The director is keen to emphasize an unconventional tone to the violence. Sequences of brutal action are treated with the desperation and intellect of the characters, while staying true to their inherent cinematic energy.

There’s a moment of fetishistic appreciation for the weaponry of the day during a payroll coach robbery that Wade commands before being caught. A shiny Gatling gun mounted in the coach promises to overpower the thieves. The audience is invited to marvel at its impressive functionality. And yet, when Dan and his son come upon the heist from afar, we share in accepting the dark allure of the crime that Will appreciates for its palpable excitement. It’s a thrill that the wide-eyed kid unknowingly shares with Wade’s fiercely loyal henchman Charlie Prince (played with exquisite menace by Ben Foster). Will’s longing voyeurism quickly shifts to that of active participant. Along the way he proves himself to have an adult’s knack for effecting change.

Visually, "3:10 to Yuma" is stunning. An undercurrent of exhilaration permeates every frame of cinematographer Phedon Papamichael’s voracious lens. A battle of wits between Dan and Wade lock the men in an extended duel that instructs Will in lessons of loyalty that the audience is privy to on a subconscious level until the film’s last moments bring on a rush of realization. Justice is not what it seems.

Rated R. 120 mins.

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

This website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon. Thanks a lot pal!