‘Karate Kid: Legends’ - Review

To what can be seen as a direct response to the success of the Netflix hit Cobra Kai show, spending seven years on the small screen, the Karate Kid franchise returns to theaters with Karate Kid Legends, starring Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio and Ben Wang. A line that is echoed countless of times throughout the movie, two branches, one tree, speaks on uniting two forms of martial arts, karate and kung-fu, but it also brings us the movies main selling point, our two returning members, Macchio and Chan from their own respected films. After a questionable introduction, Karate Kid: Legends begins with promise, a gorgeously shot movie with a clear dedicated new star in lead Ben Wang, but after plot and character development is glossed over in this short 90 minute runtime, Legends seems to have forgotten what made the original so beautiful: the relationship between student and mentor.

I was only nine years old the last time a Karate Kid movie was in theaters. Then serving as a reboot to the franchise, 2010’s The Karate Kid, starring Jaden Smith was to what I remember, a highly anticipated movie in my household. Before being taken by mom to see the movie, I was gifted a three DVD box set of the original trilogy and became hooked. I cant exactly pinpoint why these movies had such a hold on me growing up, but if I ventured to guess, I suppose it’s shared likeness of older generation and current generation made the movie to me feel less like a movie for kids, but for everyone. This would later remain true for the popular streaming show Cobra Kai, a show that would span six seasons and was labeled as an continuation to the original films. The show had it’s up’s and certainly had its lows but I would say it serves as at minimum, a watchable continuation of the original characters from the 80s trilogy.

Now, only a few months after Cobra Kai's series finale, Karate Kid: Legends arrives to theaters half baked on character and plot in a oddly paced, seemingly cut-to-death film filled with your typical Sony mandated product placement requirements. Our story begins with a clip from The Karate Kid: Part 2, when Mr. Myagi teaches Danial about the long lineage of Myagi karate, how this form of martial arts goes back generations. The clip then transitions to an animated  montage, Mr. Myagi now narrates on how Myagi karate found its way to China, reaching to the Han family of kung-fu. Uniting both martial arts families, we then hear the soon to be reoccurred line, two branches, one tree. All sounds normal right? Until you remember that this is not from the original movie it's pulling from, and that actually, it’s not even the great late Pat Morita speaking anymore. But what to me sounds like a poorly dubbed A.I Morita voice over that goes on for about over a minute. So much for a movie that hopes to convey themes of legacy.

After that bizarre choice we’re introduced to our new Karate Kid, Li, a student at a kung-fu dojo ran by his uncle, Mr. Han played by Jackie Chan. After losing his brother a year prior, Li’s mother decides its time for a fresh start and gets a new job in New York, relocating the pair from China. From there, we’re quickly introduced to a love interest, bullies and a soon to be tournament that Li can not participate in because of his mom’s, “no fighting” rule. All the ingredients are there for your typical Karate Kid installment until the movie grinds us to a halt where a sub-plot takes center stage in the story. This goes on for a surprisingly decent amount of time in the already short runtime the movie carries and takes away any chance for character growth or really any substantial plot that the movie could have. Soon after, Ralph Macchio’s Daniel comes to the picture and the movie races to the finish in a anti-climatic tournament that feels stake-less.

I am no expert in movie editing and pacing but this movie clearly had an extra 30 minutes on the cutting room floor. Scenes don’t flow with one another or characters relationships begin to blossom with very little development. Which is a shame because there is clear chemistry between all actors involved, especially from Ben Wang, who seems to be more than capable of holding the burden of a long running franchise’s continuation on his back. I’ve arrived to the conclusion that based on the TikTok inspired soundtrack and the flashy animations that bombard the movie that people behind the scenes must have been worried that the movie would not be engaging enough for a younger audience, and so the movie was ultimately cut down tremendously. What’s also important to remember is a shorter runtime does mean that more screens and showings can be added for the movie to be played on, resulting in hopefully a better financial return.

Before going to see this new installment, I decided to do a rewatch of the original trilogy and was surprised to learn that there really wasn’t much karate shown. The first two in particular are far more concerned with Daniel’s struggles to overcome a new city with bullies and most importantly his beyond endearing relationship with his sensei, Mr. Myagi. So I suppose a new Karate Kid that lacks that kind of a development could at least have some entertaining fight scenes, right? The fight choreography here gives the movie a rush of adrenaline it so desperately needs, and it needs it. The kung-fu inspired fight scenes feel weighty and real, and less like a choreographed dance that some fight scenes in today’s media sometimes fall to. There’s even a fun nod to the Jackie Chan stumbling choreographed scenes from his classic films that made me chuckle.

Karate Kid: Legends stumbles to not only make a compelling story of a kid overcoming his new circumstance and environment but also misses the mark on what made the original so good, its lead character’s deep rooted connection with one another. Added with the desperate nostalgia bait advertised as “legacy”, Karate Kid: Legends will only be remembered as a flip note in the long line of remakes and reboots done to 80’s classics.