You yawned when Jaden Smith was revealed as the new Ralph Macchio in the upcoming Karate Kid remake, and I can’t imagine that the reaction to Jackie Chan appearing as tutor Mr. Miyagi will be any different. Chan is negotiating to join the Harald Zwart picture, which Columbia could shoot later this year in Beijing. Yes Zwart, of swooining and Agent Cody BanksThe Pink Panther 2 fame. Wonder which of his movies he’d consider his own Rocky? Probably One Night At McCool’s.
Pat Morita could act, and turned his accent to his advantage; Chan can’t and won’t. Does this matter? I have no particular love for the original, which is more an iconic movie than a good one, and this remake is looking more and more like a poorly thought-out play to capitalize on that iconic status. We all know that, so we can ignore this one and move on.