I’m not going to lie, I have a huge soft spot for the Karate Kid series. The original is a bonofide classic, the second is much better than it has any right to be. Number 3 is not great but so much entertainment is to be had by Terry Silver. Ok, the fourth doesn’t exist in this dojo.
The Jackie Chan reboot was a misfire. Then came Cobra Kai, a fantastic series that took what was laid down and expanded on it. Johnny became a fully fleshed out character with his own arc and Daniel was no longer the hero, but a person who makes mistakes and has plenty of flaws. The new additions were engaging and not overshadowed at all by their legacy counterparts, but at the same time, the older characters had their compelling stories as well. Making it into a full show allowed all the characters to breathe.
Hey Star Wars, maybe don’t completely shit on the old characters to make way for the new CAN actually work!
So now that Cobra Kai has wrapped up, what’s next but to go back to the Karate Kid movies? This time we bring in Jackie Chan’s Han together with Daniel to train a new Kid.
And it’s… fine? I guess?
At barely 90 minutes, it certainly doesn’t overstay its welcome. But unfortunately, and I’d never thought I’d say this in this day and age, it could’ve used either a little more runtime or a little bit different editing. The story is a bit disjointed. While it makes complete sense, the whiplash of going from one act to another, with some small sidequests, eats into the main character’s time to leave the viewer a little unsatisfied.
And it’s a shame because in general the performances are pretty good. The new titular “Kid” is Li. He’s from China but speaks with a flawless American accent and slang which is glossed over by a throwaway line of dialogue. He meets a girl, Mia, and they have a relationship which the bully does not like since he’s her ex.
The Story
You know the story. The formula is in place. So what’s the differences? With Daniel, it’s all centered around him and his difficulties in trying to navigate this new world he’s been thrown into. With Li, he takes about 5 minutes to get to know New York and then it’s all about him training Mia’s dad to have a boxing match so the dad can win some money to pay off some sharks and keep the pizza parlor. That’s nice and all but since they only met about 10 minutes before, Li going all in on this was a little rushed.
When the father gets injured, it brings up all sorts of Li’s PTSD as his brother was killed after a Kung Fu match by sore losers, and he froze. Mia isn’t happy with him freezing again, so she just drops out of the movie for a while until it’s time to bring her back.
Of course, the money needs to be made still, so he decides to fight in the conveniently timed Kung Fu match that is happening, which will pay out big money of unspecified amount. Han decides to show up and train him. But wait, did I say Kung Fu? It’s a Karate match, and therefore, Han needs help in training him. He goes to LA to get Daniel, as he has a history with Mr. Miyagi. Of course he does.
‘memberberries
So once again, the kids drop out for a bit so we can have Han and Daniel have a nostalgia moment. Then it’s montage time, Mia make-up time, win the match time. Breakneck speed to the end.
Is this terrible? Not really. Like I said, the kids are engaging and well-performed. Chan is much more himself than the dour dickhead he was in KK2010. Daniel is there and is totally needed since the final move is a Kung Fu move. Buh? They do some stuff to make sure he performs it slightly differently to win the match.
I think there was something here, but it’s so abrupt in its editing that you can almost hear someone saying,”First they move to a strange place. He then meets a girl. Then he has a down moment. The master shows up to train him. We’ll add in Daniel here. Montage, fight, done. Cash paychecks, let’s get on to the next one!”
A little time to breathe here and there, a few insert scenes to lessen the clear act changes, and some more moments for the characters to more organically get from place to place would’ve done this movie a world of good.
Overall
The entertainment value for Karate Kid: Legends is purely from the performances of the main characters. Joshua Jackson does a great job as the father. Ming-Na Wen plays Li’s mother, who, after losing a son, doesn’t want him fighting. But then she changes her mind for reasons. Yes, it’s there and it does make some sense, but it lacks impact. She mostly is there to frown disapprovingly. Wyatt Oleff plays Li’s calculus tutor and friend, who is there to provide a sounding board when Mia falls out of the movie.
Mia is played competently by Sadie Stanley, and she’s perfectly fine. Ben Wang plays the kid and he has a lot of potential. Some of his fights are Jackie Chan-esque, with a few comedic moments that he pulls off well. Like losing his balance, waving his arms in a panic, that sort of thing. I hope he’s able to do more.
Chan and Macchio are there because they have to be. Chan has more to do, but Macchio is there because he needs to be in it. He definitely doesn’t feel shoe-horned in, but it comes close.
All in all, Karate Kid: Legends feels less like a member-berries cash grab and more like a missed opportunity. The cast is doing their best with what they have, and it’s not an unwatchable mess. But it does feel like an underachiever. It won’t go down as the worst thing in the franchise, but as we’ve seen, there’s so much more opportunity for better.
