Movie Review ~ Karate Kid: Legends

When director John G. Avildsen’s The Karate Kid swept audiences off their feet by “sweeping the leg” in 1984, who would have predicted that over forty years later, we’d still be crane-kicking our way through sequels, reboots, and television spin-offs? The surprisingly robust franchise has weathered diminishing returns (don’t rag on The Next Karate Kid without searching your heart about The Karate Kid Part III), enjoyed a surprisingly successful soft reboot with Jackie Chan in The Karate Kid (2010), and found new life through the YouTube/Netflix phenomenon Cobra Kai. Now comes Karate Kid: Legends, the sixth film in the series and the first to merge both the original Ralph Macchio timeline and the Chan universe into one shared narrative.

In Karate Kid: Legends, we’re thrown back into the world of scrappy underdogs, tournament showdowns, and generational mentorship. It’s the kind of crossover that’s working furiously to prove it’s got the moves to compete, but maybe not quite as disciplined as the classics it borrows from. Director Jonathan Entwistle, whose prior work on The End of the F**ing World had a distinctive voice, opts for a breezier, more accessible tone here. It’s all part of a film that, while rarely challenging, remains perfectly watchable.

Set three years after the events of Cobra Kai, the story follows Li Fong (Ben Wang, Mean Girls), a kung fu prodigy living at his great uncle Mr. Han’s (Chan) wuguan in Beijing. When his mother, Dr. Fong (Ming-Na Wen, Ralph Breaks the Internet), relocates them to New York City for both her medical career and a fresh start after the death of Li’s brother, he is forbidden from continuing his training, fearing it will lead to a similar tragedy. Of course, in this new environment, fists are never too far from flying. Fairly quickly, he crosses paths with Connor Day (Aramis Knight, The Dark Knight Rises), the neighborhood karate champion with an aggressive taste for intimidation and a chip on his shoulder once he discovers Li becoming friendly with former romantic interest Mia (Sadie Stanley, Somewhere in Queens).

As if this teenage love triangle wasn’t enough, Mia’s dad, Victor (Joshua Jackson, Cursed), is an ex-boxer turned pizzeria owner struggling to make ends meet and up to his apron strings in debt. After witnessing Li’s skills put to good use in dispatching thugs sent to collect what he owes to O’Shea (Tim Rozon, Schitt’s Creek), a local crook and owner of Connor’s karate studio, Victor enlists his teenage friend for some after-school training. An important fight is coming up for Victor, and if Li can teach him moves he could apply in the ring to give him an upper hand on his opponent’s uppercut, he could make back the money necessary to get O’Shea off his back.

In all honesty, though the structure of this boxing subplot is almost staggeringly standard and paint-by-numbers, its execution is surprisingly genuine. It could have even sustained a stand-alone feature if the screenplay was built out more. It almost feels like the plot of a sequel to either the Chan/Smith revival in 2010 or where Li Fong’s story might have gone next. That it takes up so much time in what is essentially an origin story is peculiar, though. There’s an undeniable charm to the scenes at the pizzeria, even though it often looks like a hastily assembled studio set. At least Jackson and Wang’s bond is easy enough to root for.

When circumstances spiral beyond Li’s control at school and with Connor, Mr. Han travels to NYC from China to see his family, only to find his niece and her son at odds. Li’s backed into a corner socially and his friends need financial support – which is where the Five Boroughs Tournament comes in. Awarding $50,000 to the winner of a series of matches held in, you guessed it, NYC’s five districts, the contest looks like it’s Connor’s to lose, and Li isn’t in a place to attempt to beat him.

That’s when Han flies out to Los Angeles to visit his old friend Mr. Miyagi’s most memorable student, who now runs Miyagi-Do karate. Convincing Daniel LaRusso (Macchio, My Cousin Vinny) to come back to the East Coast and help Han prepare Li for the Five Boroughs Tournament isn’t hard (there’s a pre-credit flashback to The Karate Kid Part II that oh-so briefly explains how Han and Miyagi’s teachings crossed paths), but training the teenager will take the skill of these two legends using the skills passed down to them through generations.

Li Fong’s journey of moving through grief to find his inner strength is sweet but a tad too familiar, and Wang’s performance, while physically impressive, lacks the complete screen magnetism that made Macchio, Hilary Swank, or even Smith so compelling in their respective iterations in the series. Delivering competent work without the spark that elevates good performances into memorable ones, Wang’s scenes with Jackson are easy, earnest, and far more compelling than the by-the-numbers romance with Mia. His dynamic with the veteran mentors has an unvarnished charm, but there’s little warmth or connection shared with Wen, who is stuck wearing long coats and a dour expression for much of the film.  I feel for Wyatt Oleff (IT) playing Li Fong’s tutor, a flimsy character insignificant to the story and so seemingly created out of thin air that for the majority of the film I was convinced he was a ghost. 

When the film leans on the mentorship dynamics, in which the entire franchise has always found its sweetest spots, it finds a special spark. Jackson brings authenticity to his role as a man fighting for his family’s livelihood, creating the film’s most absorbing stakes. Chan’s Mr. Han is as warm and centered as the actor playing him, and watching him share scenes with Macchio’s Daniel, particularly those set in Mr. Miyagi’s former home, is bound to be a treat for fans of both timelines. Their presence ties everything together, bridging the past and present with every guiding gesture. Still, it’s too bad that Rob Lieber’s (Peter Rabbit) screenplay doesn’t give them enough room to deepen their roles beyond a greatest-hits playlist of franchise wisdom and Easter Egg callbacks.

Unfortunately, the fumbling technical aspects don’t match the film’s bigger ambitions, often coming across as if it’s trying to cover up the uneven seams rather than embracing them. Though Justin Brown’s cinematography tries valiantly to dress up Montreal as New York, the city’s vibrancy never quite comes through. (I’m waiting for the day a movie is set in Canada and no one bats an eye or, better yet, is set in Canada but filmed in NYC.) Eric Freidenberg, Dana E. Glauberman and Colby Parker Jr.’s editing proves to be genuinely problematic, slicing up action scenes into jittery collages that do a disservice to the detailed fight choreography (and to stunt doubles who deserve better). Dominic Lewis’s (The Fall Guy) score has the generic zip of workout music for walking in place. It’s never bad, but it’s never truly lifting the film up, either.

At just 94 minutes, Karate Kid: Legends moves with purpose. But that breakneck pacing also exposes the film’s biggest flaw: it’s a remix of everything we’ve seen before, from the bullied newcomer to the climactic tournament showdown. Speaking of which, that final rooftop faceoff is precisely what you’d expect: punches are thrown, stakes are raised, a dodge-and-strike technique that blends kung fu fluidity with Miyagi-Do’s calm precision. It’s fun enough, though the often manic editing makes most of these battles more of a cross-eyed blur than a moment to really savor. And maybe that’s Karate Kid: Legends in a nutshell: it’s fun enough.

Karate Kid: Legends exists primarily as nostalgia mining, banking on the goodwill generated by Cobra Kai’s unexpected success. As someone who’s been crane-kicking through Karate Kid sequels since VHS days, I found it oddly comforting, even if it’s a bit threadbare around the edges. The movie’s respect for its legacy is undeniable, and seeing Chan and Macchio together, even if their magic doesn’t fully translate, is worth the price of admission.

Fun and rousing in flashes with enough heart to keep you invested, this lands firmly in the “good enough” camp. However, you’ll likely wonder why it never aims higher than that. Fans of the franchise will find enough here to stay entertained (and will love a final cameo that adds a quality zing), and newcomers shouldn’t feel too lost in the weeds of nostalgic references. Sometimes, the best defense is knowing when to bow out gracefully, and Karate Kid: Legends feels like a respectful farewell rather than a convincing argument for the franchise’s future.