Fun fact: Original Karate Kid and Cobra Kai star Ralph Macchio is now older than Pat Morita was when he last played Mr Miyagi (1994’s The Next Karate Kid). Meanwhile, the Karate Kid remake’s Miyagi-surrogate Jackie Chan (aka Mr Han) is only two years younger than Morita was when he passed away in 2005. Age has been super-kind to both, but given this long-running franchise has always focused on its youthful protagonists, it should really come as no surprise that, despite their prominence on the poster and the enticing promise of a remake universe/Cobra Kai crossover, much of this instalment’s run-time is devoted to complete newcomer Ben Wang.

 

He’s a likeable-enough presence in a wholesome drama that hits most of the same montage-peppered beats as the 1984 original and the 2010 Chan-starring version. Kid moves to new town/country. Kid meets girl (here, Sadie Stanley). Kid encounters martial-arts bullies. Kid trains up with idiosyncratic mentor(s). Kid enters big tournament and comes of age. Along the way, there are some impressive fight sequences, considerably boosted by the involvement of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team.

Wang’s skilfulness definitely tilts towards the acrobatic rather than the thespian, but though it requires his character Li to wrestle with a family-tragedy-related demon, this is hardly demanding material. Still, there are some interesting twists. For much of the film’s first half, it is actually the Kid doing the mentoring, sharing kung-fu techniques with an over-the-hill boxer who’s in hock to a loan shark. Then, once Li enters his own tournament, there’s the big promise of the Daniel-san/Mr Han sensei/shifu double team.

 

The script doesn’t concern itself too much with explaining how this happens. A little bit of old-footage manipulation and ret-con logic explains how Mr Miyagi’s ancestor actually trained and collaborated with Mr Han’s forebear, making Miyagi karate and Han kung-fu. So when Mr Han — Li’s great uncle — realises his punchy prodigy needs some karate nous, he knows who to call. That this happens over an hour into the movie is a little disappointing. Macchio’s presence feels like a late-draft addition, with the movie sadly having scant narrative connection to Cobra Kai. Even Chan doesn’t have that much to do and only gets a couple of brisk action scenes.

But Karate Kid: Legends is peppy and warm-hearted enough to excuse its shortcomings. Especially if you’re already nostalgically invested in the 41-year-old series and just can’t resist a training montage or freeze-frame punch-the-air victory shot.

 

Karate Kid: Legends doesn’t quite live up to the promise of its Cobra Kai-meets-Mr Han marketing. But for breezy feel-goodness, you’ve come to the right dojo.

 

6.5/10

Boluwatife Adesina
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Boluwatife Adesina is a media writer and the helmer of the Downtown Review page. He’s probably in a cinema near you.