Take 20: Karate Kid Legends

In Karate Kid Legends, the headband is passed to Li Fong(Ben Wang), a kung fu prodigy who, after moving from China to New York with his mother (Ming-Na Wen). In Karate Kid fashion, he finds himself on the wrong side of resident martial arts bully, Conor Day(Aramis Knight) when Li becomes involved with Mia (Sadie Stanley), Conor’s ex-girlfriend. Prior to the move, Li vowed to give up kung fu, but we all know how those promises go in these movies. The question is, will the combined training of his uncle, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) give him the kung-fu/karate fusion he will need to overcome Conor and win the local martial arts competition?

I got a kick out of this movie. At this point, the series is a bit formulaic, but there is comfort in that. How they choose to present the formula is what matters. The opening scene attacked my heartstrings. I have only ever seen the Karate Kid II once, so I don’t remember if the scene was lifted directly from it or if the miracle of modern technology is response, but seeing Mr. Miyagi (the late, great Pat Morita) and young Daniel-Sun definitely hit the right nostalgic tone the would carry through the entire film.

It has been a while since I last saw Jackie Chan on the big screen so I was thrilled. Li and Mia are instantly likable, and I am a sucker for Ming Na Wen. Conor Day is the mustache twirlingest, campiest villain we have seen this side of Sho’nuff. Having never seen an episode of Cobra Kai, it was cool to see a mature and fully confident Daniel so the stage was set for a good time. Oh, and shot out to Joshua Jackson who gave a fun performance and made me experience that “I know this guy from SOMEWHERE” moment before I finally clocked him.

What’s a karate movie without some good fight choreography? This one delivers. There were more than a couple moves that were firsts I had never seen on film before. We even got our own “Crane Kick” equivalent , appropriate for Li’s character.

Final thoughts: was it the most original? No. Was the plot revolutionary? Not by a long shot. But does anybody want that for a Karate Kid movie? It gave me everything I was looking for and it provided low-stakes entertainment.

My score: 8.5

Let’s chop it up in the comments. And until next time…