KARATE KID: LEGENDS – Review

And with the first official post-holiday “Summer cinema” weekend at the multiplex, here comes the return of another beloved movie franchise. Though it doesn’t boast the longest wait between installments, its storied history is one that the IMF might have a tough time sorting through. It’s hard to believe that the initial was over forty years ago. That flick and its two sequels became cable TV staples in the 1980s. Then, a reboot was attempted with one of the stars in 1994 with a “gender switch” for the title lead. Didn’t work, but that didn’t stop a complete remake/reboot 15 years ago, which was a modest hit. Now, after a popular “spin-off” streaming TV, here’s a “re-do” that combines and unites the original trilogy and that 2010 version. With those mixed characters and legacies, it’s no wonder that this one is labeled KARATE KID: LEGENDS.

This new flick begins with footage from 1987 as the late Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) relates a bit of family history. It seems an ancestor took a “slow boat to China” many years ago, where he exchanged martial arts techniques with the Han family (or is it a dynasty). Flash forward to modern-day Beijing, where a member of that lineage, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), runs a popular wuguan (a kung fu school). Well, it’s not popular with his niece, Dr. Fong (Ming-Na Wen), who abhors fighting after losing her eldest son, Bo, to a vengeful rival after a big match. Unfortunately his kid brother Li (Ben Wang) studies there while hiding from Mom. But that will end as she is headed to the states, where she’ll join the staff of a NYC hospital. Just after relocating, Li befriends a bubbly young woman named Mia (Sadie Stanley) will helps her father Vic (Joshua Jackson) run his Victory Pizza eatery. Things get complicated when Li learns that Vic owes some dough (get it) to a cruel local loan shark, who happens to run the MMA school, Demolition Dojo, whose “star student’ is the vicious Conor (Aramis Knight), the jealous ex of Mia. When some of the loan shark goons try to rough up Vic, Li thwarts them with his skills. Vic insists that Li help him train to get back in the ring to earn a cash jackpot that’ll get him out of debt. But when an illegal blow sends Vic to the hospital, Li decides that he must enter the city-wide fighting competition known as the “Five Boroughs”. Now, he’ll need a coach. After explaining his problem over the phone to Mr. Han, the master unexpectedly shows up at the Fong home. There’s less than two weeks to train, so Han hops on another jet, this time to the west coast to recruit the former student of his old pal Miyagi, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio). But with the start of the tourney quickly approaching, can Li take down Conor, even with the coaching of these two seasoned fighting masters?

In talking up the cast, I suppose we should begin with the new “double K” (and yes, he’s also “special”) himself. Wang as the reluctant young warrior. He effectively balances a snarky sense of humor with a beguiling sweetness, which had me thinking of the actors who donned the Spidey suit (actually, one character refers to Li as the “Asian Peter Parker”). He’s a good kid, despite his bouts fighting a painful loss, and like Parker, he blames himself. But we’re rooting for him, especially in his romantic pursuit of the tough, though vulnerable, “street smart” Stanley, as Ms. Mia. Yes, they’re both charming, but the master of that is the always entrancing Mr. Chan as Mr. Han. Sure, he’s often a terse taskmaster, but his quieter scenes with Wang convey a great warmth as a most comforting coach and mentor. Plus Chan has great comic rapport with Macchio as the reticent “side man”, giving Wang the wisdom of his own teenage struggles. As for the actual “parental figures”, Jackson also piles on his own brand of “Bronx bro” charm as the pizza man papa who hopes he has one more title bout in him. Then there’s that ethereal beauty, Ms. Wen as Li’s loving, but firm mother, who barely contains her concerns over losing another child to the martial art “battlezone.”, It’s a shame this terrific talent (maybe the fiercest “Agent of SHIELD”) isn’t given more to do. Of course, an action movie needs a compelling villain. Here, Knight is a swaggering, sneering hellion who encompasses the dark side of competitive combat. And happily a bit of comic relief is provided by the very funny Wyatt Oleff as Li’s dweeby tutor Alan.

In his feature film directing debut, Jonathan Enwistel keeps the pace flowing smoothly through its 94 minutes (huzzah for brevity) while providing some effective visual “razzle dazzle”. Big kudos to him for using several bits of classic 2D-style animation for the locale “bookmarks” ( the boroughs, round numbers, and “contact points”), and especially for the early illustration of the Myagi family history. Now, I know that “training montages” are a staple of sports-themed stories, so we get plenty of them, not only with Han and Daniel working with Li, but also with Li using kitchen utensils to get Vic in shape, so I expected them. Luckily, Enwistel keeps its length fairly “pared down” with a minimal mix of “slow-mo” and pop anthems. These set pieces harken back to the original concept, which is tweaked here (instead of NYC to LA, we get China to NYC), but the tropes of picking one’s self up to continue the fight are solidly in effect. Yes, there are few surprises here, other than the fun of pairing Chan with Macchio, so series fans will get a big steaming bowl of cinematic “comfort food”, a warm movie cookie (maybe a “fortune” inside). Well, at least Montreal doubles nicely for the Big Apple, and as “re-imaginings” of 80s classics, there’s still a lot of punches and kicks to be had with KARATE KID: LEGENDS.

3 Out of 4

KARATE KID: LEGENDS is now playing in theatres everywhere