For the past 40 years, the Karate Kid franchise has taken the world by storm. Filled with action, corny yet fun storytelling and iconic pop culture moments, this franchise has found its way into not just one, but two generations. With the newest installment in the Karate Kid series, Karate Kid: Legends, both generations collide to create a compelling adventure with both Karate and Kung-Fu.
Plot Synopsis:
Although the story of the film does not do anything groundbreaking, it still found ways to take the generic formula and make it an energetic adventure, keeping audiences on the edge of their seats.
The story follows a new character, Li Fong (played by Ben Wang), a Chinese born fighter, who was forced to move from Beijing to New York with his mom (played by Ming-Na Wen). Li has an extraordinary talent and skill for Kung-Fu thanks to his teacher Mr. Han (played by Jackie Chan), the mentor from the 2010 rendition of The Karate Kid. However, his mother does not approve of all the fighting.
After meeting the girl from down the street, Mia (played by Sadie Stanley), and her father Victor (played by Joshua Jackson), Li is pulled back into the fighting world. When his mentor Mr. Han returns, he brings along a familiar face, the original Karate kid, Daniel LaRusso (played by Ralph Macchio).
After almost mastering Kung-Fu, LaRusso introduces Li to Karate and trains Li to be one of the most skilled fighters in the entire franchise. All of this extensive training would lead to an upcoming tournament, where Li would face a formidable foe, Connor Day (played by Aramis Knight), a talented Karate fighter in the city.
The Negatives
The Pacing: the story doesn’t take its time, it throws the audience right into the action, which works for a lot of parts in the film, yet falls flat during the emotional elements. In the end, there wasn’t a chance to give the audience the proper time to understand and bond with the characters.
If the movie had an extra 20-30 minutes on top of the 90 minute runtime, the film could have worked in those emotional tear-jerker scenes, as well as giving more insight on Li’s Karate training.
The utilization of the legacy characters: for a film that marketed the use of legacy characters to train a new generation of talent in the art of both fighting styles, the story falls short in its attempt to seamlessly mesh two eras.
Most of the film’s runtime is spent with with Li and new characters like Mia and Victor, leaving little room for legacy characters to implement themselves in the story. While this does allow for character development with each other for the newer characters, it creates pacing issues later on when the audience is expected to believe Li learned Karate in just 10 days without knowing LaRusso very well.
By not utilizing the legacy characters properly, it’s a big leap to ask the audience to believe Li took the proper time to develop his fighting.
The Positives
The acting: everyone in this cast brought a new style of acting that audiences wont recognize in previous installments of the franchise. The charm of the corniness from earlier Karate Kid film and show installments have been what makes these stories fun to watch, yet this new film feels more grounded and more serious with its dialogue, making the overall tone of the film more mature and realistic.
Additionally, the energy from the cast really shocked me. They were all believably friends and possible family members, clearly connected as a cast outside of the film, making the movie even more fun to view. Although it’s not Oscar-worthy acting, the performances really do allow this movie to thrive in a lot of ways.
The action: Ben Wang, Aramis Knight and the rest of the martial artists in this film really do a great job with their fighting scenes. The choreography and cinematography was really well put together and it allowed for the action to feel quicker and well-paced, keeping audiences on the edge of their seats.
Wang stood out the most, not only during his fight scenes using Kung-Fu, but even in his utilization of karate. Clearly, those scenes showcased why he was the best candidate for the Karate Kid mantle.
Final Thoughts
I did not have high expectations going into the theater. The advertisements hadn’t drawn me in as much, and the recent release of the final season of Cobra Kai had left a bad taste in my mouth for the franchise. However, I was pleasantly surprised with this film. It was fun and packed a balanced amount of action and heart. If you’re looking to spend 90 minutes following a heartwarming end to a renowned series, I recommend this film.
I’d give Karate Kid: Legends an overall 7.5/10.
