KARATE KID: LEGENDS -- Everything At Once

Review by Adam Donato

In an age of franchise requels and multiverse movies, fans just want to see all their favorite stuff from the past come together. The Karate Kid franchise has expanded so far. There’s An original trilogy with Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. Then Marita came back for The Next Karate Kid with Hilary Swank. The original was then remade starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. Followed by a Cobra Kai YouTube show that moved to Netflix. Now we have Karate Kid Legends, which takes Jackie Chan from the remake and Ralph Macchio in the originals and puts them together as they are both masters to a new karate kid. Not unlike how Obi Wan and Yoda trained Luke. 

This melding of the franchise is the weakest part of this new film. Strip away all the legacy characters and this is a cute little remake of the original. The new characters and setting are fun. It feels like a modern American take on the story. Jackie Chan is a pro and still holds his own, but Ralph Macchio doesn’t need to be here. At least Chan’s character is related to the new karate kid. For a movie that’s only 96 minutes long and is trying to accomplish so much in that timespan, there can’t be any wasted time on cheap fanfare. It’s a testament to how enjoyable the new elements are that the old elements feel like it’s weighing the whole piece down. Especially since nothing new or interesting happens with the legacy characters. 

Ben Wang stars as Li Fong, also known as Stuffed Crust. His character is relatable and full of personality. He has a cute chemistry with Sadie Stanley, former star of the live action Kim Possible. It’s odd because Li Fong gets roped into training his new girlfriend’s dad on how to utilize Kung Fu in his boxing, but isn’t supposed to practice fighting because of his mother who moved him to New York. It’s an interesting dynamic to see the karate kid be the teacher, but this quickly reverts back to the fact that the karate kid needs to fight the bully in the big tournament. That’s what has to happen because this is a Karate Kid movie and not because it makes sense in the narrative. Just entirely obligatory, but expected. It’s interesting that this film follows a television series because this narrative does seem like that of a season of television that was condensed into the shortest movie possible. 

Karate Kid: Legends is New York propaganda with a nonstop Sony soundtrack to maximize profits. Fans of the extended franchise will enjoy the curtain call that this movie is. The uninitiated will not need any catching up to watch this new one because it’s the exact same movie every single time. Luckily the new characters are enjoyable enough and the action is fun. Not unlike the Cobra Kai show, this legacy sequel can wait to be seen on streaming as it’s an okay time at best. 

Karate Kid: Legends will be in theaters on May 30. 

Rating: 3/5