Script2Screen

Rating:

This Friday sees the release of “The Karate Kid” starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. Smith plays Dre Parker, who learns about life and kung fu from Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han.

This project’s title went through a number of changes. Writer Christopher Murphey’s script is titled “Karate Kid”. However, Jackie Chan has said the film was called “Kung Fu Kid” during production and would most likely only be called “The Karate Kid” in Western countries. Apparently, there was even a time when “Kung Fu Kid” was being considered for the American title too. These discussions resulted from the fact that the final film is said to show Mr. Han teaching kung fu, which is more practiced than karate in the film’s Chinese setting. This is a regrettable change from the screenplay.

The screenplay is almost a beat-for-beat remake of the original, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The few changes made make it feel more like a sequel than retelling. The first big change is moving the location to China. The original showed “Daniel-san” struggling with the difficulties of being the new kid in school, but the remake’s Dre has it even worse. There is the obvious language barrier complicating matters. He attends an international school with a few other Western students, but they treat him with disdain for making all the foreign students look bad. The Chinese students don’t like him because he doesn’t understand their culture or his place in (or, rather, outside) it. The kids in this film are younger than the original’s teenagers, but it doesn’t soften the fighting any. However, the love story is toned down to more of a forbidden friendship between Dre and the daughter of a strict and respected Chinese family.

Unlike what has been reported about the final film, the screenplay’s “Karate Kid” title makes sense. While the script’s bullies practice kung fu, Dre is learning karate, which adds to the story by setting up the final martial arts tournament as one fighting style against another. In fact, Mr. Han gets angry when he sees Dre repeatedly attempting a nigh impossible kung fu move he saw in a video game. Dre defends it by saying, “I’m being myself.” Mr. Han reminds him that being himself might be the cause of so many of Dre’s problems. Nevertheless, Dre keeps practicing the move in his free time.

The script features a version of this scene from the original, a personal favorite of mine:

The new version of that scene doesn’t read as cool, which could simply be because it is expected. Also, like most things in a screenplay, how well it works on film will depend on the execution. One problem with how it is written is that the teaching tasks don’t seem quite as pointless as the original’s. Mr. Han still has Dre doing chores, but nothing so seemingly irrelevant as waxing a car. I always felt Daniel deserved to be a little pissed off in the original.

The screenplay has all the heart of the original film. It shows the two characters (teacher and student), each overcoming their own emotional baggage by working towards their goal of preparing for the tournament. Like Mr. Miyagi, Mr. Han has lost a wife. It does not come across as being as heartbreaking as Mr. Miyagi’s loss, but is still tragic. Dre’s lessons teach him as much about maturity and responsibility as they do about karate. He makes many mistakes, some affecting the lives of classmates, but he learns to take responsibility and stop blaming others for his problems. He spends most of the story wanting to simply beat his opponent out of anger or revenge, but this changes too.

The screenplay makes a big deal about the idea of honor within Chinese culture. Through the aforementioned mistakes, Dre brings dishonor to himself, his pseudo-love interest, and all Westerners at his school. Additionally, he will bring dishonor to Mr. Han if he loses the tournament. So, the final fight becomes more than a solution to bullying. It becomes a fight to restore all that honor.

The tournament is as cool as one would expect it to be. It predictably leads to Dre fighting bully Cheng in the finals, but is actually more interesting than the original. Cheng, though brutal, fights more honorably than Johnny did. He also messes with Dre’s mind by unexpectedly switching fighting styles to karate. Having prepared to counter kung fu attacks, Dre has difficulty defending against Cheng’s karate. When all seems lost, Mr. Han gives a wink as he tells Dre, “Be yourself.” Dre pulls out the crazy video game kung fu move he was practicing and wins. It reads as a pretty amazing moment. On the one hand, it’s a little saddening to see the finishing move not be something learned from Mr. Han. However, it also sends a message about recognizing one’s own self-worth and being willing to “be yourself”. If you can get around the obvious fact that the story is about kids training to fight each other, the screenplay puts forward good messages for children and should make for a good family film.