Karate Kid: Legends
The 6th Karate Kid motion picture in 41 years, Karate Kid: Legends once again delivers a sequel that’s also a quasi-remake that brings the narrative of 2010’s The Karate Kid into the canonical fold of the 1980’s The Karate Kid trilogy to mixed results. Director Jonathan Entwistle (I Am Not Okay with This, The End of the F****ing World) makes his theatrical feature debut with Karate Kid: Legends in somewhat workmanlike fashion telling a story that’s too complex in too little time. There’s some good material here, but a 94-minute running time does Karate Kid: Legends no favors.
After Li Fong’s (Ben Wang) mom Dr. Fong (Ming-Na Wen) gets a new job in New York City, they move from Beijing into the Big Apple. Under strict supervision from his mother, Li is forbidden to continue his kung fu training he received back in China with Mr. Han (Jackie Chan). In too short an order, Li falls in love with Sadie (Mia Lipani), helps her Dad Victor (Joshua Jackson) prep for his return to boxing by training him in kung fu (??), and ends up competing in the Five Boroughs Tournament himself despite his mother’s wishes. Somewhere in all this, Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) travel to Manhattan from Beijing and Los Angeles, respectively, to help Li train for his tournament.
There’s a lot to unpack here with a plot that is moving along way too fast to give the audience any moment to breathe. There are some brief character moments with Mr. Han telling Daniel how much Mr. Miyagi meant to him (an opening scene retcons a moment from The Karate Kid Part II to cleverly lump in Miyagi’s ancestors with the Han family), and Li suffering PTSD as a result of not being able to save his brother Bo from being stabbed to death in China. Unfortunately, these are exceptions rather than the norm. Karate Kid: Legends is obsessed with careening its way to the inevitable fighting tournament as fast as possible. Even weirder, once it gets to the tournament, it tries to plow its way past the fights until it settles down to a standard final mano a mano fight between Li and Conor (Aramis Knight).
Although a bit old to be playing a high school student in his early 20s, Ben Wang (Chang Can Dunk, Isle Child) does a decent job at playing a skilled martial artist who is a bit dopey when trying to get the girl. He’s very good at portraying his anguish and shame at not being able to save his brother from being murdered. Jackie Chan (1911, Chinese Zodiac) gives Mr. Han a lighter touch than he did in the 2010 The Karate Kid movie, which works with this film’s more comedic tone. He’s quite good playing off Ralph Macchio (The Karate Kid Part III, The Outsiders) as they bicker about the benefits of kung fu versus karate as they train Ben. Sadie Stanley (At the Gates, Somewhere in Queens) is fun as love interest Mia, but Ming-Na Wen (Mulan, Street Fighter) is sadly wasted as the stern mother figure Dr. Fong. Aramis Knight (Ender’s Game, Runt) is given a paper-thin role as the bad kid Conor, but at least he looks menacing enough during the fight scenes to come off as a threat.
An often predictable movie that understands the assignment of what ingredients a Karate Kid movie needs while failing to push the needle in any meaningful way, Karate Kid: Legends feels like a filler entry that’s biding its time until the series makes a bolder move forward.
Karate Kid: Legends is now playing in movie theaters.