The Karate Kid 2010

I came across this trailer for the Karate Kid 2010 the other day whilst surfing youtube... Looks fun. I'm intrigued by the fact that Jackie Chan is playing a wizened old martial artist teaching a youngster the tricks of the trade in order to beat the 'bad' guys... (Same old story, huh?). From the clip I saw this suits Chan: older mentor, unassuming ordinary bloke. Or maybe he just plays it well (after all, he is an actor).

What intrigues me most is that it's called 'karate kid' and it's set in China! Now I know that kara te originally held the meaning 'China Hand' but I think this is pushing the link between Chinese and Japanese arts a bit too far. (Interesting article here on the history and meaning of Kenpo/Chuan fa/Karate)

I haven't seen the film yet, but maybe it should be called The Chuan Fa Kid?

:-)

Chocolate

..is the name of a wonderful foodstuff and also of an average martial arts film with pretty good fight scenes.

As mentioned in previous articles I'm not a big fan of the genre, but a good friend reckoned I should check out this Prachya Pinkaew (maker of Ong Bak and Warrior King) film. Although this was somewhat tedious with a very bizarre storyline I didn't feel like I wanted my 170minutes back. The gangster plot is led by an autistic (?) girl with amazing reaction abilities who learns fighting skills from films and her rather annoying fat side kick's helping exercises.

The fight scenes are epic and also quite entertaining. It feels like there's much inspiration from Jackie Chan films with acrobatics galore, rolls and use of the immediate environment to enhance the entertainment value of the fights. This comes to an amazing head at the end of the film with great struggles along balconies in a Thai street.

My favourite part of the film is when the heroine, JeeJa Yanin, takes massed killers with two (empty) saya (sword scabbards). What a wonderful idea! My iai teacher always said the nihon to was a two piece weapon....

If you like martial arts movies I guess you're going to love this! If, like me, you're not so into it, you might find the hammy acting and two dimensional characters a touch annoying but might enjoy the fights.

Watch out for the 'documentary' clips at the end of the film...!