Karate Child Legends is the legacy sequel to Karate Child; but in addition working in a submit Cobra Kai world the place a as soon as one-note 80s villain Johnny Lawrence has had six sequence of improvement. Who’d have thought that this might occur from a sequence that began of all locations; on YouTube Crimson (do not forget that?) earlier than turning into the phenomenon that it’s right this moment and reigniting the curiosity within the Karate Child franchise that type of stonewalled after the failed Jaden Smith/Jackie Chan reboot. Right here it’s stored to a decent ninety minutes – and loops again in legendary protagonist and mentor Daniel La Russo, performed by Ralph Macchio, and Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han – beginning with a flashback to Karate Child II and by no means letting up the nostalgia.
That’s all this film is – a lot of the primary act revolves round Ben Wang’s Li Fong; a Bejing native educated in Kung Fu who strikes to New York and learns Karate to avoid wasting the restaurant of his love curiosity’s father Victor, performed by Joshua Jackson – when a money prize is launched on the finish of a prestigious karate event. Li makes an attempt to be taught New York tradition and finds himself out of his depth – however finds salvage in a possible new associate; Mia, performed by Sadie Stanley. Wang and Stanely have subsequent to zero romantic chemistry and the issue is that their arc is problematic at finest and creepy; main incel-vibe inducing at worst – Li’s scheme to get her again when she wasn’t even with him within the first place is cringe-worthy and misguided; and set off main pink flags. Each Li and Mia are youngsters and plausible – they’re not excellent – they make errors; however a whole lot of their fallout may’ve been fastened by higher communication that this film doesn’t enable them to have even after they work out their variations. It’s constructed round a weak basis that by no means actually feels as genuine because it does to blossom.
Two Karate Child legacy characters in a 95 minute film that aren’t the protagonists simply implies that Karate Child: Legends feels rushed, spending a lot of that point on getting Macchio and Chan to New York and in Li’s nook speeding the event and the stakes that Li has within the build-up to the battle. He will get a tragic backstory, however nothing fairly value commenting on – it’s pretty generic as issues go and the plot by no means feels actual. Even the flashbacks when the current mirrors the previous is so closely telegraphed it’s laborious to not see coming a mile away; and the enjoyable issue is robbed by simply how severe Legends treats itself. I just like the premise shifting a bit; the place the child teaches the grownup quite than the grownup educating the child; however that’s undone by the third act – Ben Wang is far more likeable when he’s interacting with Joshua Jackson than Sadie Stanley and the martial arts montages are by no means uninteresting regardless of what number of occasions they present up.
His dynamic with Jackie Chan is enjoyable too, a welcome addition to the solid in a redemption arc from the 2010 movie; however including Ralph Macchio simply appears like a half-hearted nostalgia-bait that by no means actually feels essential. They get in on an ungainly, ham-fisted transient battle scene however bringing Macchio again and barely giving something for him to do feels pointless – Chan feels extra concerned within the storyline and ideally; in case you are having each characters there, give it twenty minutes for extra depth. The movie’s choice to shift the narrative focus to the 2 legacy characters strikes the main target away from Victor and Mia; who we actively develop to care about firstly – however Legends ignores them for the third act and suffers due to it.
There’s a quick scene in right here that may please the Cobra Kai followers however that is decidedly extra a Karate Child sequel than a Cobra Kai one which might be an excellent factor given how lately the sequence ended. The comedy has touches of Cobra Kai at occasions from Li’s calculus tutor, and the battle sequences are properly choreographed however not with out their points – too many cuts; and an excessive amount of emphasis on having folks fly throughout the display screen cartoonishly prefer it’s an anime. The predictable set-up for the ultimate act means each beat is telegraphed and by no means have I laughed this a lot at a film that desires to take itself at the very least semi-seriously; however as an entertaining crowd-pleaser it isn’t *terrible*; even when it hits beat for beat the identical notes as Ryan Coogler’s Creed.