Karate Kid: Legends – Film Review
by Fran Winston

Directed by: Jonathan Entwistle
Starring: Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio, Ben Wang, Joshua Jackson, Sadie Stanley, Ming-Na Wen

Hot on the heels of the Cobra Kai finale comes this big-screen offering, which retroactively links the original Ralph Macchio franchise with the 2010 movie remake starring Jackie Chan, confirming it is part of the Miyagiverse. It is also set after the events of the Cobra Kai TV series; however, if you haven’t watched that, don’t worry, you will still be able to follow this, but might just miss out on a couple of references.

Despite his prominence in the publicity material, Macchio doesn’t even enter the picture until quite late in the day. Although not billed as the lead, it is Joshua Jackson who pretty much carries the weight of the adult male part here as Victor Lipani, a former boxer turned pizzeria owner who finds himself in debt to loan sharks.

Chan reprises his role of Mr. Han from the 2010 film, but since the events of that movie, he is now running a large Kung Fu school in Beijing. When one of his star pupils Li Fong  (Wang) is forced to move to New York with his mother he struggles to adjust. Cue Han decamping to the city to help him find his way.

He encourages him to enter the Five Boroughs Tournament, and of course, decides he needs the help of Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso to train the youngster. One quick trip to Los Angeles later, where the pair reminisce about Mr Miyagi, and Daniel is en route to New York. Cue lots of training before the big tournament – the trademark of the final third of all Karate Kid movies.

Cobra Kai has set the bar very high for this franchise during its six seasons on Netflix, and you can see this movie is trying to draw on the show’s popularity. This leads to extremely fast pacing and far too many subplots. There are also some ridiculous moments, such as explaining Li Fong’s American accent away.

There is not as much excitement as filmmakers seem to expect, seeing Macchio and Chan share a screen. While the 2010 movie is actually the most profitable in the franchise, it attracted a different generation from the original fans, and until now, there has been nothing linking the two. Basically, people haven’t exactly been waiting with bated breath for this pairing. When it does happen, it feels very rushed and rather shoehorned in.

When it comes to the karate, as you’d expect, it is beautifully choreographed and handled. Even if you are not a fan of the sport, the tournament scenes are always tense and exciting, and that is no different here.

This has many charming moments and enough throwbacks to excite fans of the franchise who have stuck with it since day one. Younger and newer viewers to the franchise will delight in the action and the Cobra Kai references. It is not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it ticks a lot of boxes and ultimately leaves you satisfied, although it doesn’t feel strong enough to relaunch the franchise completely.