Karate Kid: Legends: A Lackluster Continuation of a Classic Franchise

I want to open this review with my bias upfront: I love the Karate Kid series. It’s uplifting, it’s personal and it’s really stood the test of time. The amount of media that references the Karate Kid is impossible to number and its cultural impact can be felt in film and TV. Its iconic quotes from Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) and John Kreese (Martin Kove) have lived in the cultural lexicon for decades. How many TV shows have paid homage to Mr. Miyagi’s mantra “wax on, wax off” or cheekily referenced Sensei Kreese’s iconic “sweep the leg”? The franchise has transcended generations with the introduction of the successful Cobra Kai series which wrapped its sixth and final season earlier this year. Karate Kid: Legends doesn’t live up to the hype created by its predecessors; however it’s still a decent watch for Karate Kid fans, especially those with children they’ve introduced to the franchise. 

The film opens with a scene from Karate Kid II where Mr. Miyagi is explaining to Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) the connection between his family, the Miyagi’s, and the Han family. It was really great context to start with because I was having trouble connecting how Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio were going to team up from the promotions. Mr. Miyagi’s narration has some great animation that pulls together his story visually so as not just to repeat the Karate Kid II scene verbatim. Cut to present day, the audience meets Li (Ben Wang), a karate student from Beijing, China who studies under Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), his great uncle and master of the kung fu school Li attends. Li swiftly gets plucked from Beijing to New York City by his mother (Ming-Na Wen) who explicitly condemns her son’s involvement with his uncle and the kung fu school. 

While in the Big Apple, Li quickly becomes familiar with the local scene: his local pizza place (this is New York after all) owned by Victor (Joshua Jackson) and his charming daughter Mia (Sadie Stanley). Funnily, Victor and Mia are both born and bred New-Yorkers yet only Victor has a New York accent. It’s not that big of a deal but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me the entire time. Li also comes across the local MMA dojo, Demolition Martial Arts (total missed opportunity to call it Demolition Dojo) who’s top student, Conor Day (Aramis Knight) is Mia’s ex-boyfriend and Li’s first NYC enemy. Much of the story mimics the prior Karate Kid films and Cobra Kai series before it: new town, new enemies, and a new love interest – formulaic but reliable. Although I wish I could say that it adds elements or does more storywise, it does none of that. However, there are a few elements I quite enjoyed and want to highlight before getting into what it tried that just didn’t quite work.

The karate was so good. It’s on par with what viewers were used to seeing in Cobra Kai, if not even better. Li’s signature move was incredibly impressive and all of the scenes with karate were fast-paced, fun, and felt innovative and distinctive from other media in the KKU (Karate Kid Universe). The training montages were perfectly crafted, both referencing old training and adding some kung-fu we definitely haven’t seen before. The animated elements (one previously mentioned) added a new flair not seen in the KKU and created a vibe in the human/animation mis-match akin to Scott Pilgrim’s matches. I was thrilled to see Jackie Chan back in action because it’s been years since he’s been in a film that’s both been released in the United States and had the marketing and budget of this one. We really haven’t seen much of him outside animation and funny enough, The Karate Kid (2011). (Though I expect Rush Hour 4 will bring Jackie Chan back front and center as this movie proves he’s still got it.)

There were a few elements of this movie that were a miss for me even though I can see the writers were well-intentioned. The dialogue felt a little off at times and it wasn’t so much the actor’s delivery as it was that the script felt written a smidge unnatural. There is a good chunk of the movie that focuses on boxing rather than karate and I can’t say I welcomed the new sport into the KKU. I could see how it could be a nice change of pace for a franchise that’s so focused on karate, but it felt out of place given the audience is expecting only karate. I was also a bit disappointed that Ralph Macchio isn’t in more of the film. It was obvious to me from the trailers that it would take place in New York and Daniel LaRusso lives in the California Valley (as denoted three separate times in the movie by “California Love” by Tupac), so it was a bit of a stretch to get him into the picture to begin with. I can’t say I loved the two sensei dynamic either – it was fun in Cobra Kai where there was time to breathe and fully flesh out storylines over episodes but even for a two hour movie the dynamic felt rushed. 

All of the New York stereotypes were front and center for this like the pizza parlor, the mafia/loan sharks who make their way into the movie and the kung-fu tournament being called “The 5 Boroughs.” And yet, they couldn’t give the love interest a New York accent. It felt like the writers have never actually been to New York but read a book about it and figured no one would know the difference. It felt a bit ridiculous at times and took away from the authenticity of the movie for me. It didn’t feel real that all of these stereotypical New York-style things would happen to someone as soon as they moved there. I don’t think this is a fault that ruins the movie but it’s noticeable to me, a Texas native, so I can’t imagine how New Yorkers or northeasterners might look at it. 

The KKU has been this impactful because of its heart – the kung-fu tournaments give the audience a concrete, specific moment in which to root for the main character, which you’ve grown to love over the course of an hour. Typically, the main character spends much of the movie learning about kung-fu, struggling with fitting in and ultimately comes out on top, making the audience feel comforted. Although kung-fu is always central to the plots, the driver of the movies and series is the audience feeling connected to Daniel and later, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). The KKU has historically done a great job at making each tournament feel meaningful as you’ve watched the characters grow in karate and in their personal journeys. 

Given the franchise is known for its character building and straightforward plots, it’s ironic the story wasn’t strong enough to support the film. The karate felt insignificant, the one element that could’ve made this more impactful and enjoyable. By starting with a character with in-depth knowledge of karate, there wasn’t a lot to see him grapple with or master – the powerful key that keeps this franchise running. Even in Cobra Kai, the two karate kids – Macchio and Zabka – must teach a new generation of students karate, which kept the show afloat for six seasons. Li was competent at karate from the beginning of the film and immediately makes a friend upon arriving in New York – where are the stakes? The movie haphazardly tries to throw some stakes together but is pretty ineffective at it.

It wasn’t a bad watch by any means – effort was definitely put into keeping the KKU alive. But in a post-Cobra Kai era, the series needs to do better. It felt like the karate improved exponentially where the story fell flat, and it’s unfortunate because it had potential and even some momentum following the end of Cobra Kai.  I personally hope this isn’t the end of the KKU but the start of a new Miyagi-do era that will usher in new white belts.

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