The Karate Kid franchise has had a fee starts and stops in its 40-plus year existence.  Four films in the original franchise, some better than others, but definitely a basis for something good. A successful streaming series, called Cobra Kai, that picked up with the two main characters from the original movie, Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, as the stars of it mentoring a new group of kids. A reboot with Jackie Chan as the mentor character and now another sequel to both the original franchise and the reboot tying everything together with a new protagonist and antagonist in the big apple.

Li Fong (Ben Wang, Sight) is a young man who has dealt with a tragedy in his life. He tries to take his mind about the recent loss in his life by trying at a Kung fu school in Beijing.  He gets another blow, though, as his strict mother has told he they are moving to New York City because she has got a new job there. He has to acclimate to a new school in a city he’s not familiar with. He learns quickly, though, as he makes some friends who run a pizzeria. Mia (Sadie Stanley) and her father (Joshua Jackson).  As these films tend to do, the lead character gets an adversary very quickly as a school bully who used to date the pizza girl doesn’t like her new friend. This leads to multiple physical interactions between the pair and ties into a larger plot.

This franchise has had a few notable stars that have populated over the years, namely Ralph Macchio. William Zapka,  Pat Morita, Jackie Chan, and Hillary Swank, to name a handful. Two of these lots have come back for the latest sequel to the franchise, which ties the reboot together with the original franchise. Ralph Macchio is forever linked to the character of Daniel LaRusso, and he has made a career off of playing this character. Jackie Chan is making his second appearance in the franchise after the reboot. These two fantastic actors play a pivotal part in the third act of this new Karate Kid film. I just saw that there were more of them and their funny banter and less of Joshua Jackson’s subplot instead. These two were terrific together opposite young Ben Wong as the lead.

The part Macchio and Chan play in the story is a training segment, and their different training methods and style of fighting made me laugh. One trained for Karate and the other trained for kung fu. They both came together in the end for the main antagonist. Both of their respective styles play a part in the overall story. A couple of fight sequences sure looked like they were inspired by Chan fights in many of his films. Wong definitely channeled him in those scenes. It was uncanny how he looked like a young Chan in those fight sequences. The training looked more like Karate than Kung for, though, and that’s Macchio ‘s forte.  All the various fighting scenes were done exceptionally well and represented this franchise well.

There is one specific thing about this movie that I found was a little odd. That was the editing. In some key parts of the film, it was edited very quickly. As in things moved fast and in other parts of the movie, things moved slowly. The pacing of the film was disjointed quite a bit. The first two-thirds of the production seemed to move at a slower pace. I wished the second half of the film had more of the depth and plot of the first half of the movie. Macchio and Chan were all of the marketing and weren’t as much in the film. These two were the best part of the movie from my perspective, besides Wang, that is. He’s a revelation in this role.

I watched Wang in a movie called Sight early last year. I knew at that time this was going to be a kid I’d be seeing again in the future. Little did I know he’d be in a Disney series very soon thereafter called American Born Chinese. This kid has a rocket tied to his back and off to stardom he went. He got cast in this film as the lead, which isn’t an easy feat. I’m sure a bunch of kids were up for the role. He balances the action scenes very well opposite the dramatic acting scenes in this latest Karate Kid in carnation.  I genuinely cared about him and his story. Everyone he was on screen, I was glued to the screen. Just because I didn’t want to miss anything, he said that was important. He owned the screen in this role.

Part of what makes any movie work or not work is its setting. In this film, the main setting is New York City. I was blown away by how the director and production designer made Canada and Georgia look like New York City. The city placed a huge part in the story, and without the steller’s production design, it wouldn’t have had that look. It’s very expensive to film in New York City properly, so filmmakers have to use other places to fill in for New York.  City. This one did a job at making these other cities play the part. The cinematography goes hand in hand with the production design, and there are great shots in this film that rely on the fantastic production design. 

Karate Kid: Legends was a fun film based on previous characters and introducing new ones. Tying in all the films and series together. To some, this might be sacrilegious,  but like how everything tied together quite nicely like a bow. This acting from the entire cast was adequate,  the standouts with Macchio and Chan became of their funny banter, and Wang, who is an absolute star in the making.  Some of the behind the camera decisions were a bit odd, especially the ending choices the filmmakers made. On the other hand, the production design/cinematography worked well together to make places that weren’t New York City. Look at the part.  Overall, this is a nice addition to this franchise, and stay  through the credits for a nice surprise.  

3 stars

Dan Skip Allen