By Karl Quinn
Karate Kid: Legends ★★★
There were two moments during the packed preview screening I attended of the latest Karate Kid offering when the audience erupted in cheers and applause, and each was a moment that Blind Freddy could have seen coming. And despite every cynical impulse in my body (and there are many), I was swept along a little too.
This is the absolute definition of a crowd-pleaser. Packed full of fan service, cameos and nods to tradition – both within the film franchise and more broadly within families, cultures and martial arts – Karate Kid: Legends offers little by way of innovation and plenty by way of giving the people what they want. It’s derivative, corny and, in its utterly predictable way, great fun.
Ben Wang as Li Fong in Karate Kid: LegendsCredit: Sony Pictures
If you’ve seen the original The Karate Kid (1984), or indeed the Netflix spin-off series Cobra Kai that ran for six seasons from 2018, you’ve got the idea. Kid turns up in a new town, having sworn off the martial art he used to practise. A gang of bullies take a dislike to him, and beat him up. His single mum is busy working, so doesn’t really notice how much trouble he’s getting into.
His only ally is a cute girl, who used to go out with the lead bully, who naturally wants to smash the new kid even harder because he’s jealous. The new kid’s only hope for escape from this vicious cycle is to win a local tournament, where he’ll get to beat said bully in the ring. But to do that he’ll need the help of a gifted sensei, who will teach him The Way. Wax on, wax off. Yada yada.
Here, the kid is Li Fong (Ben Wang), who moves with his medico mother from Beijing to New York. Back home, he’d been tutored by his uncle, Mr Han (Jackie Chan). In New York, he himself becomes tutor to the pizza-shop-owning father of his sort-of girlfriend Mia (Sadie Stanley). It’s an improbable move, but at least it gives Joshua Jackson (of long-ago Dawson’s Creek fame) a chance to display his considerable charm and reasonably convincing chops as a boxer.
Jackie Chan, Ben Wang and Ralph Macchio in Karate Kid: Legends.Credit: Sony Pictures
Inevitably, the kid is himself drawn back to the ring, to compete in the Five Boroughs karate tournament. The thing is, he’s only studied kung-fu up to this point. Enter Mr Han, who takes it upon himself to fly to LA and persuade Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) to hop on a plane and help train the kid in the way of Mr Miyagi.
And then … Well, as Morrissey sang, stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before (and trust me, you have).
If you were to award points for and against Karate Kid: Legends – one for a body blow, two for a kick to the head – you’d be giving it marks for the cast (the two young leads are delightful, Jackson is charming, and Chan’s comedy timing is perfect, even if his moves are a little less fluid than in days past), but deducting them for the lack of originality and formulaic storytelling.
And, much as it pains me to say, though it’s impossible to imagine this franchise without Macchio, his presence slows things down, and adds nothing in terms of plot or character development. It’s fan service of the laziest kind.
On the upside, the stunts and fight sequences have improved immeasurably since the first film, and the switch to New York makes pretty good use of some picturesque locations.
Is this a great film? Not at all. But is it a great time? Banzai! The Kid’s a winner. Of course.
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