Film

User reviews of this film

• ThinkOnlyTree said...

  Posted on Sep 03 2011 23:51 It's ad hominem, not ad hominine, and I don't know why you capitalized the first letters of a Latin phrase . . . . Leaving the rest of your attempts to sound educated alone, when Miyagi gets called a "nip" it's by a bunch of boorish thugs at the beach, and though he could have physically hurt both of them, he chooses not to. That is all part of the lessons for Daniel. That's its purpose in the plot, which, as obvious as the plot was to you, I don't see how you missed. If it has anything to do with race, it ties into the scene where we learn Miyagi's wife died in child birth while in a Japanese Internment camp and Miyagi was abroad fighting for the US in Europe. For a kids' movie, that's pretty heavy stuff. The fact it's used as character development for Miyagi, and all of that is established in a short scene, is actually pretty tight screen writing. The movie may just be "teen wish fulfillment" but it's done well. It's got a message, teachable moments, and a few nice flourishes on its cookie cutter story. It's a solid film.

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• lyljess said...

  Posted on Mar 02 2011 18:47 MadWomen, I am sorry your favorite movie sucks, but Ad Hominine reasoning doesn't make the movie any less shallow. As far as your response the author’s innocent assumption, what roots are “you” trying to reference? Your spelling of “Italian” suggest that you might be insinuating he is a poor white working class ignorant cracker!
  This is perfectly reasonable. He mentioned race issues in the review and he—Hold the Press—picked up on a New York Jewish accent, paternal action, and physiognomy. You and I know this to be silly a silly inference. (People all sound, act and look the same.) We have certainly never seen these traits used indicate ethnicity on TV. (I thought I saw it in Seinfeld, but it turns out the Costanza’s Jewish background wasn’t directly mentioned in the show. It was only mentioned in interviews with Larry David and Jason Alexander. They figured it was obvious the way it was scripted.)
  Thanks to your insight we have another dreg from which to distance ourselves. We’ll have to take extra precautions next time to ensure he doesn’t escape the destitution in which he belongs, and we certainly can’t have him parading around with a pen pretending to be rational.
  Seriously though, the mother talked with an accent and acted in a manner that is typically associated with Jewish decent, but yes, she is scripted to be Italian. It was inferred once. The scene relied heavily on the universal knowledge that all Italians are sticklers for sausage and spaghetti.
  As far as race actually being a problem tackled in this film, Mr. Miyagi was called a Nip, which is a derogatory term for the Japanese.
  Lastly, this movie sucked and the author did a great job at pointing out why. Your pointless attack on an innocent assumption made in one sentence doesn’t make it suck less. Of course, it’s not as bad as it could have been. I will give you that. The depths to which this film could have sunk are masterfully displayed in “Lil’ Smith Goes to China”, or “The karate Kid” remake. I think both titles are actually acceptable.

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• Andrew W. said...

  Posted on Mar 03 2010 23:19 Honestly... I don't remember race being an issue in the movie. Why bring it up in your review of it?
  Bizarre.

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• Madwoman in the Attic said...

  Posted on Jan 24 2009 04:27 Oh-oh! Your roots are showing. The mother is patently not Jewish as the opening lines (approximately: tell somebody the parmesan is in the fridge) are meant to convey that these folks are EYE-talian. Why would you make such an error about a character who has little or nothing to do with the lot except as a people-mover?

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