Film Review: Karate Kid: Legends

n 1984 The Karate Kid created a franchise that has seen a big resurgence as off lately. The bond that Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi shared is one of the core pillars of the franchise. Legacy, honour and off course Karate are all key themes prevalent throughout the films. Moving towards 2010 the franchise began to undergo a reboot of sorts with Jackie Chan in the role of Mr. Han. Mr. Han mentored a young kid to learn karate and then the series was put on hold. A television series called Cobra Kai brought back original actors of the original film with Daniel LaRusso also being a key component in the series. That brings us to the latest film in the series, Karate Kid: Legends. Interweaving Cobra Kai, the 2010 film and the original films, this new iteration promised to tie all these narrative threads together.

The main character in this film is Li Fong, played by Ben Wang. Li Fong moves from Beijing to New York due to his mother’s job. In New York Li Fong meets a girl, gets a job and even though he promises not to practice Kung Fu anymore he ends up in several situations that warrant him using it. His inner conflict of why he doesn’t want to do Kung Fu is explored throughout the film with multiple different narrative threads with different characters in the film that makes the story almost episodic. There appears to be no clear vision in terms of where the film is going. There is a love story, a revenge story, a nostalgia story and then you have Li Fong’s story to contend with as well. It is all mashed together to create an incoherent story about the past and future.

The martial arts fighting is a highlight but sadly the camera work and movement don’t do the fighting scenes enough justice. A good example of fighting scenes and stunt work in films is when you have a singular camera or a continuous take of a fight or a stunt to showcase the breath of talent it takes to pull something like that off. Sadly, the camera is too quick to notice just how talented Ben Wang is at Karate and Kung Fu. The ending scenes in the main crux of the story should have felt more immersive that what appears on screen. Some of the action is decent and there is a key part to the story that connects Li Fong’s previous knowledge of the martial art to his final hit in the tournament.

Overall, Karate Kid: Legends has all the potential but lacks the direction to steer the story in the correct way. Jackie Chan excels as he always does as Mr. Han and Ralph Macchio still has that warmth and honour that his character Daniel LaRusso had in the original films. What you end up watching is almost a highlights of the franchise by showing you what has come before which in turn distracts you from focusing on the new characters. Fans of the series and films so far will gain something from it but this is not a film designed for new audiences, as you may enjoy the fighting but will become lost in the storytelling.

★★☆☆☆

2/5

Final Verdict:

Karate Kid: Legends is narratively a group of stories stitched together with no cohesion or focus. There is a lot of nostalgia bait and a lot of interconnecting threads to the wider universe like from Jackie Chan’s 2010 film and the Cobra Kai television series. Legends is almost like a culmination of the past and a new beginning for the future of the franchise. Ben Wang is great as Li Fong but the film would have benefitted more with him at the centre of everything instead of bringing together past characters. The film is entertaining but sadly not as memorable as the original films.

Thanks for reading today’s blog!

Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions