Gordon Cameron
02-07-2008, 07:50 AM
Loved this movie when it came out, particularly the production design in the kid's bedroom.
I rewatched the first half and noticed that it really is just a Karate Kid movie. I think Steven Zaillian does a good job of obscuring that fact by putting greater emphasis on the father/son relationship, and also the very fact that it's chess and not some athletic endeavor makes it somehow seem more intellectual.
But this time around I chafed at some of the Hollywoody contrivances. The script even works in some "chosen one" stuff with dialogue by the Bruce Pandolfini character, who hints that chess has been in a bad state ever since Bobby Fischer disappeared, and the boy could reclaim its once-glorious state. It lends a certain subtext to the proceedings but in retrospect I found it goofy. I was half expecting Pandolfini to show Josh how to work a lightsaber.
Similarly, the depiction of the "evil chess player," who comes in around the halfway point, is blatantly manipulative. He's humorless, robotic, dedicated only to chess. And so of course we have to root for Josh because he's a good kid with a heart who has other interests besides chess.
Still a good movie, but IMO the seams show more than they once did.
I rewatched the first half and noticed that it really is just a Karate Kid movie. I think Steven Zaillian does a good job of obscuring that fact by putting greater emphasis on the father/son relationship, and also the very fact that it's chess and not some athletic endeavor makes it somehow seem more intellectual.
But this time around I chafed at some of the Hollywoody contrivances. The script even works in some "chosen one" stuff with dialogue by the Bruce Pandolfini character, who hints that chess has been in a bad state ever since Bobby Fischer disappeared, and the boy could reclaim its once-glorious state. It lends a certain subtext to the proceedings but in retrospect I found it goofy. I was half expecting Pandolfini to show Josh how to work a lightsaber.
Similarly, the depiction of the "evil chess player," who comes in around the halfway point, is blatantly manipulative. He's humorless, robotic, dedicated only to chess. And so of course we have to root for Josh because he's a good kid with a heart who has other interests besides chess.
Still a good movie, but IMO the seams show more than they once did.