Flashback Review: Original Karate Kid Still Has Some Kick to It

SPOILER DISCLAIMER: Okay, so this movie is over 26 years-old, but just in case you missed the whole eighties phenomenon that was The Karate Kid, I am warning you now that there may be some spoilers. And, with that, on to the review.

Like so many eighties films, The Karate Kid had been put on the nostalgia shelf and labeled cheesy. I’d nearly forgotten the 1984 film, directed by John G. Avildsen and starring a very young Ralph Macchio and veteran Pat Morita, until news of the recent reboot surfaced. Honestly, I wrote off the reboot- I haven’t even seen it yet- as another crime in the recent remake-mania that has gripped Hollywood. And it wasn’t until my wife came across the original trilogy in a bargain three-pack at WalMart (only $13) that I decided to revisit The Karate Kid.

Sitting through the first (and best) film of the franchise, I was both charmed (by the quaintness of it) and surprised (by the weight of the performances).  You know from the first notes of the synthesizer soundtrack that you are getting an eighties movie. The after-school special camerawork only reinforces this. It would be easy to discount the movie at this point, but that would be a mistake.

Ralph Macchio
I was amazed at what a credible leading man he was. He has the looks of a 16 year-old, but he moves fluidly between humor, anger, frustration, and finally triumph. Amidst a cast of unbelievably evil bad guys, he holds your attention, never giving you reason to doubt that this is a real kid going through real struggles. Even beside Pat Morita, Macchio carries the movie.

Mister Miyagi
It’s no secret that Mister Miyagi stole his share of scenes. His zen-master sayings were ubiquitous on the playground in 1984. What surprised me this time as an adult was the depth he conveys through his sparse lines and physicality. Somehow injected into the middle of an average eighties feel-good film, the scene where Daniel finds him drinking to the memory of his dead wife was funny and heartbreaking while delivering a subtle rebuke about the treatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Even today, this would have been a brave move, much less in 1980’s America when we were still too afraid to bring up racially tinged issues.

The Finale
The film transforms in the last 15 minutes as Daniel moves up through the tournament until he comes face to face with Johnny, his key antagonist. It is here that the dramatic weight of the moment really seems to catch up with the potential of its two protagonists. Cheesy sneers are hurled from the bad guy bench. Johnny sweeps Daniel’s leg as directed by his super-evil, king-of-all-bullies sensei. Mister Miyagi does his hand-rub thing to Daniel’s knee- even this comes across as cheesy. 

But when Daniel limps out onto the mat, you would have to be a corpse not to get goosebumps. The music builds. The excitement of the crowd climbs to full boil. And little Daniel, in his clean, white, Luke-Skywalker outfit, stands alone on one leg, still and ready to strike. It is a genuine movie-magic moment. I was so sucked into that moment, in fact, that I forgot to make fun of the idiotic comments the bad guys in background were making. Then Daniel strikes. Everything crescendos. You almost want to cry, it’s so cathartic.

Conclusion
By the time the credits finally roll, The Karate Kid still has plenty of kick, the kind of kick that never gets old. The cheesiness of the times often creeps into movies in any decade. But a talented pair of actors and some great moments can make those things fade into the background.

Finally Boldly Going: Review of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek

“To boldly go where no man has gone before.” I never considered the irony of that trademark phrase in the Star Trek universe until now. After seeing J.J. Abrams’ breathtaking reboot of the Star Trek franchise this weekend, the old universe feels anything but bold. ‘Thoughtful,’ ‘clever,’ and ‘sterile’ come to mind but not ‘bold.’

Oh, no- the old Trek was a bunch of well-mannered future people talking analytically about galactic problems, which were actually metaphors for sixties-era problems, and then walking calmly to resolve them while dressed in pajama-like jumpsuits. Yeah, you had the occasional cartoon phaser fight and groovy, scantily clad space ladies, but it never really breathed. It never felt visceral. It was anything but bold.

I am happy to report that, as of this weekend, Star Trek finally makes good on its promise of boldness. Star Trek has never felt so kinetic, alive, or thrilling as it does in the reboot. People actually sprint down the corridors of the Enterprise. Instead of single photon torpedoes plopping out of the Enterprise’s innards at a time, they fly out rapid-fire accompanied by a host of gun turrets. And I haven’t even discussed the characters, but I will…

Let’s start with James T. Kirk. Even in William Shatner’s green-alien-lady-macking prime, he couldn’t muster half of the presence Chris Pine does as his replacement. Pine nimbly dances from machismo to self-deprecating comedy to fear, the whole time convincing you that this is who Kirk really was meant to be, this is the kind of guy that saves the universe, not that impish guy with the weird diction from the Priceline commercials.

Spock has always been the coolest of Trek characters, what with the mind-melding and the death-gripping and the constant sense of icy logic. But, early in the new film, Abrams shakes the Vulcan’s very core, giving us a Spock who is suddenly fallible and aggressive. He’s still Spock, but he has a weakness that makes us want to root for him even more.

The other crew members are great, too. Maybe I’ll discuss their turns in a future post. Needless to say, they take a bridge that had become inhabited by a group of jolly senior citizens and imbue it with real tension, humor, and, yes, action (Sulu swordfighting… ‘nuff said!).

It is not a perfect movie. I found the new Chekov to be more annoying than anything. I didn’t quite believe the Uhura/Spock relationship, mostly because of the lack of setup. Some major plot points are overly coincidental. Catchphrases and easter eggs thrown in from the old series do feel a bit overbearing by the end. The opening scene and the spacedrop scenes are so awesome that they do eclipse the climax.

But this movie is more consistently fun, thrilling, and engaging than any Star Trek film before it, hands down. It’s also sleek and sexy and kick-butt, which is something Trek has never been. It is more fun and funnier than last year’s Iron Man. This Star Trek is finally bold.

Just a side note: I watched it dressed as Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy in a theater with a bunch of other Trek geeks. I won a Xbox 360 for my costume, further adding to the overall awesomeness of the event. Woot!

First Ocean's 13 Review

Although I've never been a big Ocean's fan, Steven Soderbergh' smooth, witty style is always a welcome break from the summer barrage of high intensity, high stakes, drama-heavy offerings. It's nice to go to a place where nothing of real importance is at stake every now and then. You've got to admire the Ocean's franchise, if only for its untouchable sense of cool.

At any rate, Variety has released the first review of Ocean's Thirteen and it sounds favorable. Click the following link to check out the review: //www.variety.com/VE1117933755.html Variety puts out some good reviews, to the point and usually spot on.

Tell me what you think. Will 13 outdo 11? Who do you think is the coolest of the eminently cool Ocean's crew? Will this franchise ever over-cool its audience into a freeze?