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3 stars
Starring: Ralph Macchio, Ben Wang, Jackie Chan
Rated: PG
In Cinemas: Now
If Karate Kid: Legends was a crane kick, it’s fair to say it doesn’t land as effectively as Daniel-san delivered the signature move in the 1984 original.
But the degree of difficulty this time around is considerably greater.
A remake in 2010, starring Will Smith’s son, Jaden, and the great Jackie Chan in a Mr Miyagi-esque role, was mediocre at best, and certainly didn’t offer much nostalgic charm for adults who watched the first movie when they were kids in the 1980s.
Legends is a standalone sequel to that movie, with only Chan’s kung fu master, Han returning, but it also seeks to draw a direct connection between Han and Miyagi, thus connecting audiences with the source IP.
If that wasn’t enough of a juggling act, Legends also attempts to lean into the nostalgia while offering something that will appeal to modern kids in the form of slick editing and on-screen graphics reminiscent of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.
So, yeah, it’s a lot.
No surprise, then, that Legends feels muddled at times, but the film is at its best when it focuses on the core storyline that is eerily similar to the original.
Li Fong (Ben Wang), like Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) many years earlier, is the new kid in town, only this time, instead of going from New Jersey to California, it’s relocating from Beijing to New York.
As per the original, Li Fong runs into trouble with local bullies, meets a girl, Mia (Sadie Stanley), and ends up fighting in a city-wide karate tournament.
Does it make any sense at all that the tournament has a $50,000 first prize, yet seems to have no sponsors, is not televised and is conducted in back alleys? Or that the competitors are dressed like characters in the video game Street Fighter? No. No, it does not.
But all you really need to know is Wang is extremely well versed in a variety of martial arts, and there’s an extended montage of him training with Chan and Macchio, who, of course, is roped in to help.
It results in fight sequences that are far more sophisticated than anything in the original.
A side plot involving Mia’s dad, a former champion boxer played by Joshua Jackson, adds an egregiously unnecessary montage and feels like it could’ve been replaced by something better.
LIKE MORE JACKIE CHAN.
However, Wang does a solid job in the titular role and the film’s low-key examination of the migrant experience adds depth.
In 1984, kids around the world were doing the crane kick and “wax on, wax off” to be like Daniel-san. Wang’s technique, and signature dragon kick, is much harder to replicate.
Nonetheless, Legends is a fun addition to a franchise that has a number of forgettable entries.
3 stars
Starring: Ralph Macchio, Ben Wang, Jackie Chan
Rated: PG
In Cinemas: Now
If Karate Kid: Legends was a crane kick, it’s fair to say it doesn’t land as effectively as Daniel-san delivered the signature move in the 1984 original.
But the degree of difficulty this time around is considerably greater.
A remake in 2010, starring Will Smith’s son, Jaden, and the great Jackie Chan in a Mr Miyagi-esque role, was mediocre at best, and certainly didn’t offer much nostalgic charm for adults who watched the first movie when they were kids in the 1980s.
Legends is a standalone sequel to that movie, with only Chan’s kung fu master, Han returning, but it also seeks to draw a direct connection between Han and Miyagi, thus connecting audiences with the source IP.
If that wasn’t enough of a juggling act, Legends also attempts to lean into the nostalgia while offering something that will appeal to modern kids in the form of slick editing and on-screen graphics reminiscent of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.
So, yeah, it’s a lot.
No surprise, then, that Legends feels muddled at times, but the film is at its best when it focuses on the core storyline that is eerily similar to the original.
Li Fong (Ben Wang), like Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) many years earlier, is the new kid in town, only this time, instead of going from New Jersey to California, it’s relocating from Beijing to New York.
As per the original, Li Fong runs into trouble with local bullies, meets a girl, Mia (Sadie Stanley), and ends up fighting in a city-wide karate tournament.
Does it make any sense at all that the tournament has a $50,000 first prize, yet seems to have no sponsors, is not televised and is conducted in back alleys? Or that the competitors are dressed like characters in the video game Street Fighter? No. No, it does not.
But all you really need to know is Wang is extremely well versed in a variety of martial arts, and there’s an extended montage of him training with Chan and Macchio, who, of course, is roped in to help.
It results in fight sequences that are far more sophisticated than anything in the original.
A side plot involving Mia’s dad, a former champion boxer played by Joshua Jackson, adds an egregiously unnecessary montage and feels like it could’ve been replaced by something better.
LIKE MORE JACKIE CHAN.
However, Wang does a solid job in the titular role and the film’s low-key examination of the migrant experience adds depth.
In 1984, kids around the world were doing the crane kick and “wax on, wax off” to be like Daniel-san. Wang’s technique, and signature dragon kick, is much harder to replicate.
Nonetheless, Legends is a fun addition to a franchise that has a number of forgettable entries.
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