Clearly greenlit and streamlined to capitalize on the emotional goodwill and recognition of the lately concluded “Cobra Kai” tv collection, “Karate Child: Legends” tries to revitalize a franchise utilizing the identical formulation that labored again within the 1984 authentic. However regardless of its efforts, the movie retains getting in its personal means. A surface-level clash-of-styles story with the good thing about just a few well-constructed coaching montages and a few kick-ass battle choreography, “Legends” buckles below the burden of studio executives who possible insisted on cramming in connective tissue between a number of movies—together with the 2010 reboot with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan—with out ever discovering a tasteful method to do it.
The truth is, you would argue there’s no actual have to convey Chan’s Mr. Han again for a half-hearted team-up with Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso. And for these of us who watched “Cobra Kai” (responsible as charged), seeing LaRusso soar again into motion lacks the swagger the filmmakers clearly suppose it has. As an alternative of leaning into what works—specifically the introduction of a brand new protégé performed by Ben Wang—the film will get caught up previously, banking on nostalgia to pull it throughout the end line and hoping audiences received’t really feel duped.
Wang, to his credit score, brings loads of swagger and display screen presence. He performs Li Fong, a teen lately relocated from Beijing to Brooklyn on the lookout for a recent begin (sound acquainted?), and is educated in kung fu by his uncle, Mr. Han. Fong’s mom, nevertheless, insists he give it up after the tragic loss of life of his brother. Fong then goes by way of all the usual Karate Child motions: bullied in school, a budding romance with the lovable lady on the pizza parlor, escalating tensions with native thugs, and ultimately, a spot within the 5 Boroughs event. Naturally, the ultimate battle pits him in opposition to a one-note nemesis whose solely defining function is wanting powerful.
LaRusso’s involvement, in the meantime, feels tacked on. For anybody who watched “Cobra Kai,” it’s baffling that Danny would drop all the things—his household, his companies, his life in California—to immediately present up in New York simply because Han asks him to. The film conveniently ignores all the things we find out about him to be able to make this crossover occur, which solely highlights how pressured all of it feels.
Directed by Jonathan Entwistle, the movie’s best power is its new solid. Wang has a fluid physicality and attraction, and his early scenes with Sadie Stanley’s Mia are among the movie’s finest. Their chemistry works, and for a second, it seems like we may be in good palms. However then the legacy characters take over, and the story pivots towards the cartoonish 5 Boroughs event, which seems like one thing out of a “Road Fighter” arcade recreation. It’s loud, lifeless, and utterly missing in stakes or funding.
There’s even a promising subplot involving Mia’s father, performed by Joshua Jackson, a former boxer in debt to violent mortgage sharks. However like all the things else that doesn’t contain a legacy cameo, it’s rapidly dropped to make means for the large names on the poster. It’s an actual disgrace.
Then once more, that’s par for the course today. The place “Cobra Kai” succeeded by embracing its camp and self-awareness, “Legends” tries to play issues straight. It’s a jarring shift in tone, and like most of the movie’s inventive choices, it drains the enjoyable out of what may’ve been an satisfying subsequent chapter.
KARATE KID: LEGENDS is now enjoying in theaters.