Directed By Jonathan Entwistle

Starring – Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio, Ben Wang

The Plot – When kung fu prodigy Li Fong (Wang) relocates to New York City with his mother (Ming Na-Wen) to attend a prestigious new school, he finds solace in a new friendship with a classmate (Sadie Stanley) and her father (Joshua Jackson). But his newfound peace is short-lived after he attracts unwanted attention from a formidable local karate champion. Driven by a desire to defend himself, Li embarks on a journey to enter the ultimate karate competition. Guided by the wisdom of his kung fu teacher, Mr. Han (Chan), and the legendary Karate Kid, Daniel LaRusso (Macchio), Li merges their unique styles to prepare for an epic martial arts showdown.

Rated PG-13 for martial arts violence and adult language

KARATE KID: LEGENDS – New Trailer (HD)

POSITIVES

Based on the overwhelming success of TV’s “Cobra Kai”, it was only a matter of time before this franchise got another movie, and while this installment has nothing to do with Cobra Kai, and very little to do with its previously established world-building, there are some admirable aspects that prove its heart to be in the right place, beginning with the surprisingly heartfelt dynamic between Li and his love interest’s father. I use the term surprising because I think everybody expected this to be Mr. Han or Daniel’s showcase to takeover as the next Miyagi, and while they eventually do get that privilege during the climatic third act, it’s really the charming chemistry and underlining heart between Wang and Jackson that does supplant an endearing angle from an installment that is essentially starting from scratch, where both of them mirror respective crossroads in their lives that forces them to attack the challenges that each of them see in front of them. I still see Joshua as Pacey from “Dawson’s Creek”, but his transition into middle aged father figure here certainly comes as effortless as can be expected from the shape-shifting actor, eliciting not only a softer side to the movie’s tone that I wish it remained faithfully alongside, but also a refreshing deviation towards the franchise formula, where the younger Li serves as the training coach for the elder Victor, without any kind of schmaltzy saccharine to the material to squander the investment of the audience. In addition to the dynamic at the forefront of the movie’s narrative, the film’s fight sequences conjure an expressive personality towards on-screen text and color graphics involving fight points and broadcast framing, to give it an almost video game feel to the physical conflicts, and while the fights themselves are inconsistent at best, it’s an original direction from Entwistle, in order to leave his permanent stamp of personality to the franchise, making this feel like a cooler, edgier Karate Kid than we’re typically used to in the underdog overcoming the odds kind of captivity. As for the performances, I found Wang’s maturity and surprising amount of confidence to be especially refreshing when held in comparison to other protagonists of this franchise, as a result of his character’s already established expertise to the world of karate, without anything that feels egotistical or grating to the nerves of his adoring audience. Chan and Macchio are reduced to supporting roles here, however each of them injects the movie with palpable energy and screen presence previously missing with the movie’s first half, with Chan’s comedic timing and physical intensity complimenting Macchio’s sincerity accordingly, presenting the best scenes of the movie being those rare few where they share the screen simultaneously with one another.

NEGATIVES

Unfortunately, “Legends” isn’t executed with the level of compelling storytelling or even pacing of the previous installments, making this a noticeable downgrade that matches the inferiorities of something like 1994’s “The Next Karate Kid”, on nearly every possible angle. For starters, this is one of the most egregiously edited movies of the year, with an opening half hour that somehow condenses Li’s tragic backstory, his move to New York, the introduction of his initial sparks between he and his love interest, established stakes to Victor’s pizza shop, and this movie’s version of the Johnny Lawrence bully, whom can’t hold a candle to William Zabka in anything from charisma to imposing stature. Because this script is trying to include so much to an 87-minute engagement, it feels like it’s constantly in a race to hem these scenes and sequences as abruptly as the production can, and it becomes overwhelmingly stale fast, as conversations and sequencing feel terribly distorted and as summarized as can be made possible by off-screen influence, making it difficult to not only invest in the respective characters, but also the magnitude of their conflicts, which lack any kind of urgency when there’s apparently a fighting tournament of some kind every week in the Big Apple for the characters to win an undisclosed amount of money. On top of this, the script’s decision to deduce Mr. Han and Daniel to these glorified cameos, is a grave mistake in steering this story towards the heartfelt center that have driven previous installments, especially Macchio, who doesn’t even appear in the film until its last 35 minutes. This leaves very little possibility for each of them to inspire meaningful merit in their casting, but beyond that saddles us with a variety of fresh faces in a franchise that they hold absolutely zero relevance towards, and with the material constantly jockeying between sitcom style humor of the most obviously predictable variety, and these gripping surface level subplots reaching for dramatic flare in the backstory of Li’s deceased brother, it leaves the tone feeling constantly at odds with itself, creating an exhausting deviation in consistency that doesn’t find any semblance of a comfortable rhythm until it finally indulges in those legendary faces that were promised in such a blandly forgettable title. There’s also much concern to be had with the movie’s many fighting sequences, with those not involving Jackie Chan lacking any kind of palpable intensity or urgency that make them feel every bit of the life-risking circumstance that they entail. While the fight choreography isn’t terrible, producing back and forth power shifting that rides the waves of dramatics, it does feel especially staged and convenient to feel naturally enveloping, and considering the film’s aforementioned breakneck pace is condensing so many of these scenes and sequences, there’s a grave amount of impatience with the struggle between combatants that either make them feel entirely one-sided or lacking effective defense, and considering the fights have always been the blow-off’s to this series’ established conflicts, it’s a major problem when the direction can’t be bothered to slow things down in ways that naturally emulate the give and take of the ring, underscoring its single most defining characteristic between these films. Last but not least, this film has the audacity to enact a mid-credits sequence involving a familiar face, and considering this is the only tie that the movie has to the aforementioned “Cobra Kai” TV show, it leads to even more questions as to why this character wasn’t a bigger part of this movie, instead of being deduced to an unnecessary addition whose only purpose is to pay-off a terribly written and unfunny joke. This is ultimately the last gasp of hope that the movie exerts towards alluring an audience, but even if they find this two minute sequence charming, they’ll be left by the painful void of what ultimately could’ve been in spending another chance with these cherished characters, instead of the next generation narrative that not only borrowed excessively from superior installments, while cementing very little originality, but also cemented the idea that this franchise’s best days are unfortunately behind it.

OVERALL
“Karate Kid: Legends” succumbs to the self-inflicted pain of its own bizarrely unengaging decisions, leading to an overzealously rushed, frenetically sequenced gorging of a finished product that feels like it was the victim of a post-production onslaught eviscerating any kind of soul from better days gone by. While the characters and performances do their job charmingly, despite an inconsistency of on-screen allowance towards some of its familiar faces, the abruptly abridged storytelling that feels stuck on fast-forward takes its prominence out directly at the knees, crafting an underdog of a sequel that goes down frantically without swinging.

My Grade: 4.6 or D-