This sequel isn’t much of a fighter.
“Karate Kid: Legends” combines both Ralph Macchio’s fighter Daniel LaRusso with Jackie Chan’s trainer Mr. Han. Now, it’s interesting that both versions take place in the same universe, and combining these two characters sounds like a fun idea. Almost like how they brought all three Spider-Mans played by Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Toney Maguire in a multiverse story.
But the movie doesn’t have the kind of king fu that made the respective “Karate Kid” movies fun. In fact, the story is quite derivative and routine with very little substance and very few laughs within.
The new Karate Kid is Li Fong (Ben Wang), one of Mr. Han’s students, whose doctor mother (Ming-Na Wen) accepts a new job in New York City and wants her boy to give up fighting. When he does fight a bully and says he didn’t have a choice, she scolds him by saying: “You always have a choice.”
Upon his arrival, he falls for the pizzeria girl Mia (Sadie Stanley), whose former boxer father (Joshua Jackson) enlists his help in training him to fight in order to pay off his power hungry creditor. He agrees to train him, but it ends up in disaster. And therefore, basically after an hour Daniel and Mr. Han must train Li for a big tournament.
There’s also a small reunion between Daniel and his first opponent Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) that I also find interesting, especially when it turns out they are trying to collaborate on a business idea. Bringing old characters in a new generation can be fun, as long as they keep the spirit of their characters alive. The same can’t be said with sequels like “Dumb and Dumber To” or “Zoolander 2.”
More of the nostalgia and versatility that was given before would have been enough to make “Karate Kid Legends” a worthy addition. But the new kid is kind of weak compared to Macchio or Jaden Smith. At least the 2010 kid was able to learn about flexibility and had his funny moments. There’s nothing really wrong with Ben Wang’s performance, but the direction his character is given by Jonathan Entwistle (the creator of “I Am Not Okay with This” and director of “The End of the F***ing World”).
Last week at the box office, we had a showdown between the live action remake of “Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission: Impossible-The Final Reckoning,” and that reminded most of us of how the original animated “Lilo & Stitch” went one on one with Tom Cruise’s other hit “Minority Report.” The new hits from last week, in what is known as “Stitch Possible,” had their qualities and difficulties, and the viewing for them is for the right targeted audience.
“Karate Kid Legends” has the original hero and the 2010 trainer collaborating to help the new kid, but I think is one is more for kids than adults. Even fans of the 1984 film. And I didn’t even see the poorly reviewed sequels to focus more on better films.
In fact, when I was asked what my favorite job was, and I have a few of them, I answered: “Definitely reviewing movies.” She mentioned how she used to go to the movies one or twice a week, and I responded: “I try to survive whatever cynicism they throw at me.” I did try to survive the cynicism “Karate Kid Legends” threw at me, especially with Chan and Macchio collaborating for the first time in the franchise, but it didn’t make me want to do the crane kick like the 1984 movie did. It’s all “Wax on, wax off” with this one.
