The Karate Kid - then and now

When the first Karate Kid came out, I was twelve years old. I remember liking the story very much, but not so much the fighting. My kids wanted to see the new one but I thought they should watch the original Karate Kid movie before we rented the new version with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. A few days ago, we were able to watch that first Karate Kid movie (1984) from our local library with the famous "wax on, wax off". My kids loved it and I enjoyed watching it again.

Tonight we rented the new Karate Kid and all watched it. It is a bit long, but Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith are awesome in this version. The story follows very closely to the original, with some interesting changes, in particular the setting. The new story takes place in China. There is beautiful scenery in mountains, the Great Wall of China, and even inside the Forbidden City. Unlike the first Karate Kid, there is no blood in this new movie, but still a lot of fighting. The focus is again on gaining and giving respect, training hard and focusing.

I have a couple of favourite quotes from this new movie:


Dre Parker (Jaden Smith): " I thought you were just a maintenance man"
Mr. Han (Jackie Chan): "You think only with your eyes, so you are easy to fool."

~

Mr. Han: "You have taught me very important lesson, Xiao Dre. Life will knock us down, but we can choose whether or not to stand back up".