Details from IMDB:
Karate Kid: Legends
After kung fu prodigy Li Fong relocates to New York City, he attracts unwanted attention from a local karate champion and embarks on a journey to enter the ultimate karate competition with the help of Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
Initial Thoughts:
I’m not the biggest “Karate Kid” fan, I never even saw the Jackie Chan movie but I did enjoy “Cobra Kai” and was in the mood for something light-hearted and fun for my birthday, so I went and saw this on Friday in an almost empty theatre for a matinee showing.
Main Points:
I can see why the critics have torn this movie apart. It is very cliché, predictable and jam packed with nostalgia but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun. Everyone in this movie seems to be having a good time and while I’m sure lots of people were offended, I didn’t mind that Pat Morita is here with some help quite possibly from AI, like it or not AI is here to stay. While I certainly knew what to expect from this movie, I did still get a few surprises (particularly the end, be sure to stick around for a post-credit scene!) and I had fun. Lots of people hate nostalgia but as I assume this will be last “Karate Kid” movie (at least most likely that I’d go to) why not fill it up with what I enjoyed from previous movies?
I thought Ben Wang, the main character, was excellent as was Jackie Chan and Sadie Stanley. Ming-Na Wen and Ralph Macchio are mostly wasted but do have a few moments to shine. The martial arts action is top notch and even though I knew what would happen, especially for the last fight of the tournament, it was still exciting to watch and the video game style of putting “Fight!” on the screen made me smile.
Final Thoughts:
This was a good idea to tie together all the “Karate Kid” movies and “Cobra Kai” along with some fresh faces. If you can just accept this movie as a fun romp with good action scenes, a few laughs, and a lot of nostalgia you’ll enjoy it. It moves along at a great clip at the 1.5 runtime is all that was needed. All that said it’s a not as good as the original but that spirit may never be captured again, I give 7 out of 10 and would recommend it to any “Karate Kid” fan. I saw it in theatres but you could easily wait to watch it streaming. There is some blood, violence and a little coarse language so ages 14+. Turn off the critical part of you brain, and get high/drunk if want to, and have fun with this, a little light hearted entertainment is good escape is these trying times.