Nostalgia remains a powerful thing for audiences, be it across film or television, leaning into characters and stories that have been loved by generations to leverage existing IP. Starting with 1984’s The Karate Kid, the franchise had been a mainstay throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, generating three films and a short-lived animated series. Meanwhile, at the time where reboots and remakes of classic IP started to become more of a go-to for studios, Sony attempted to reboot the original with 2010’s The Karate Kid. Replacing Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, the films proved to be a divisive one among critics and audiences. Ultimately, the biggest hit since the 1984 original was 2018’s Cobra Kai, a sequel series set in the world of The Karate Kid than ran for 6-seasons on YouTube Red and Netflix. Following the end of that series and the announcement of a new film in the franchise, this was reason for excitement. Bringing together Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso and Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han from the 2010 film, Karate Kid: Legends is an epic blunder, showing signs of a much better film, but the final product is an incoherently-edited mess that is barely a film, let alone a Karate Kid film.
The basics are still here, there is still a student, a sensei, and a special karate tournament, representing said student’s collective adversity, to overcome. While the foundation is there, Karate Kid: Legends, however, decides to not take that layup and makes it far more complicated than it ever needed to be. Trying to force it into a story that retcons everything that came before it on top of its own story, the result pulls audiences in several different directions that work even less individually than they are together. Shoehorning five different films within a tight, 90+ minute package, the film merely feels like a shell of a better film. Featuring such incohenrely-edited scenes, the film lacks any kind of narrative flow whatsoever, rendering it into just a series of scenes. One can only assume that the editing was done this way in order to force all those connections but setting all of that aside, the story itself was not without its own issues. Taking place in New York City, the film oversimplifies themes of trauma and grief through the lens of the prestigious ‘Five Boroughs Karate Tournament.’ To new resident and kung fu prodigy Li Fong (Ben Wang), the tournament may be exactly what he needs. Moving from Beijing, China to the city with his doctor mother (Ming-Na Wen), karate was a tough subject for the family after the unfortunate death of Li’s older brother Bo (Oscar Ge), stabbed by an opponent who had just lost to him during a karate tournament. Both trained by their great uncle, the indomitable Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), he and Li’s bond was still a powerful one.
Moving to any new environment inherently comes with its own set of challenges and the Fongs moving from China to New York City was no different. Navigating the city, relationships, and the complicated social dynamics of a new school, it would all be a means to an end of setting the stage and establishing the stakes for where the story would inevitably lead, approaching the karate tournament with such as laser-like focus that it ignores everything else. Leaving little room for character development, the fatal flaw of Karate Kid: Legends is how it gives audiences no chance to ever engage with its character or story on any deeper level. Seemingly placing more and more obstacles between audiences and Li’s story as it goes on, his story is barely given the chance to shine. The biggest obstacle of them all is a particular relationship with Victor (Joshua Jackson) and Mia Lapani (Sadie Stanley), the owner of a nearby pizza shop and his daughter. Promising his mother not to fight, the film would go off on a tangent as Li decided to train Victor, a retired former championship boxer, to fight again so he could win the latest boxing tournament and save him shop from loan sharks. In what some may call a bait-and-switch, the focus on this subplot, especially for a film as short as this one is, was the wrong choice. On the other hand, Mia, the ex of Li’s biggest competition for the ‘Five Boroughs,’ kept finding ways to torment Li. An aggressive local karate champion, Conor Day (Aramis Knight) was what one would expect from an antagonist of a film like this.
Appearing to forget that it was a Karate Kid film until its final act, Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso are called into action to train Li for the ‘Five Boroughs.’ What would have easily been the highlight of the film, at least on paper, his two new senseis put him through the ringer across scenes that were a blast to watch, because of the chemistry of the three. However, the film’s focus on the destination, rather than the journey, leads it to rush through this section of the film. While the best part of the film, outside of the fight scenes, the thought of losing those wholesome moments is disappointing. As his ongoing grief from having lost his big brother and somehow feeling partly responsible for his death, these feelings held Li back until Han and LaRusso helped him to regain his confidence and build him up into a champion (and the prize money would also help those closest to him). Despite the lead up to it, the tournament did deliver, even though the outcome was predictable and there was not much to it anyway.
In the end, Karate Kid: Legends may scratch the itch for those looking for more Karate Kid content though as it stands, is more of a concept of for a film than a film itself. Sure, Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio, and another key character also appear, but their impact renders them into no more than cheap cameos. Putting far too much responsibility on its shoulders, the film crumbles under that pressure. In spite of its flaws, Ben Wang proves that there could be a future, should the franchise continue.
Trailer:
Score: 41/100
*still courtesy of Sony Pictures*
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.
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