[Trailer] Karate Kid (2010)

The genesis of the Karate Kid reboot is an interesting study with regard to modern cinema, fans, and marketing. When the reboot was announced, it was greeted with universal distain. And Will Smith’s kid? Please! Did you even see *The Day the Earth Stood Still? Many people asked, “Who can play the part that Pat Morita played in the original?” and grumbled, “gahgahgah.” When Jackie Chan was cast as the mentor character some eyes opened, but not enough to quite sway the general negative opinion of the reboot.

*Actually, no one saw that.

I was personally offended with keeping the name “Karate” Kid because, well, karate is a Japanese martial art and Chan is Chinese and knowledgeable in various forms of Chinese boxing – primarily derivative of Wing Chung. Additionally, instead of moving from East Coast to West Coast as in the original, the boy and his mother move to China; so yet another wtf connection when it comes to the reference of karate. This still bugs me, but may yet be explained in the film.

The very interesting thing that has happened with Karate Kid is that the online buzz has made almost of complete 180; everyone that mentions the film now is either raving that it looks much better than could ever be hoped, or (strictly trying to maintain a coolness factor) that they’re cautiously optimistic. Part of the reason for this turn is the marketing campaign from Colombia which doing  the right subtle things to draw in fans of the original franchise as well as new fans that know only a passing bit about the original story of Daniel Larusso. Another factor in the geekdom change of heart is the trailers and clips that have been released. These things have been just right – highlighting the action, scenery, and drama while staying away from the major thorns that could irritate the online movie buzzing community.

The below trailer is an excellent example of this. It is simply know as the “Action Trailer” and it is just that – a kickass trailer featuring some great action from the film (hopefully they held something in reserve) that helps build anticipation for the release later this week*.

*For a complete diametric approach to film marketing, look a the recent travesty of trailer that Lionsgate released for the Stallone 80srgasmic The Expendables which gets just about everything wrong. Here we have what is being billed as the ultimate action movie with the most venerable living stars in the genre and a trailer that looks like a bad fan made teaser.

So, anyway, for your viewing pleasure: The Karate Kid action trailer. The movie comes out on Friday (06/11/2010).

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