KARATE KID LEGENDS Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Jonathan Entwistle
Stars: Ben Wang, Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio, Sadie Stanley, Joshua Jackson, Aramis Knight, Wyatt Olef, Ming-Na Wen.
The 1984 film The Karate Kid was a huge box office hit that spawned two sequels, a 1994 remake with The Next Karate Kid starring a pre-Oscar winning Hilary Swank, a 2010 reboot, and even the tv series Cobra Kai. Written by Rob Lieber (Peter Rabbit, etc), this reboot of the forty-year-old franchise unites the original Karate Kid himself Ralph Macchio with Jackie Chan, who starred in the 2010 remake opposite Jaden Smith.
This enjoyable new film centres around Li Fong (Ben Wong, from Mean Girls, etc) a talented martial arts student and rising star of the Beijing dojo run by Mr Han (Chan). However, after his older brother Bo was killed in a street fight Li was forced to give up fighting by his grieving mother (Ming-Na Wen, from the tv series Agents Of SHIELD, etc). “You practice violence – you get violence in return,” she argues. Despite her worries though he has continued to practice in secret at Han’s dojo. Then Li’s mother, a nurse, is offered a position with a New York hospital and they relocate. Li initially finds it hard to adjust to his new surroundings.
There he attends a prestigious new school where he encounters the formidable and arrogant local bully Conor Day (Aramis Knight, from Ender’s Game, etc), who happens to be the reigning champion of the annual fight contest known as the 5 Boroughs Tournament. Li also befriends Mia (Sadie Stanley, who played the title role in the tv movie Kim Possible, etc), whose father Victor (Joshua Jackson, from tv series Dawson’s Creek, etc) who runs a local pizza parlour. Victor is in debt to a local loan shark O’Shea (Tim Rozon), who owns the dojo where Conor trains. He sends some thugs around to collect the money, but Li helps Victor fight them off.
Victor used to be a boxing champion before quitting to run his pizza parlour. Li trains him in martial arts as Victor intends to fight to win the money he owes. But he is knocked out by an illegal blow, and Li’s failure to react causes a temporary rift in his relationship with Mia.
Conor happens to be Mia’s ex-boyfriend, which adds some further tension to the relationship. Li contacts his mentor Mr Han and asks him to come and help him. Mr Han turns up and he brings with him Daniel La Russo (Macchio). Han and Daniel begin to train Li for the 5 Boroughs contest, and a showdown with Conor.
The sixth film in the franchise, Karate Kid Legends is a formulaic underdog story. Those familiar with the previous films in the franchise will know where the film is headed, but the cliched structure doesn’t dilute the entertaining value of this film. Karate Kid Legends marks the feature directorial debut for Jonathan Entwistle, who hails from a background in television (I’m Not Okay With This, etc.) As with most of the other films in the franchise, the film boasts a great soundtrack. The film moves along at a great clip. Entwistle even includes a brief flashback to the early films to pay homage to Pat Morita’s character of the wise and knowing Mr Miyagi which adds a nice touch of 80s nostalgia. The fight choreography is well done.
The film looks great due to the cinematography of Entwistle’s regular collaborator Justin Brown. I particularly loved those scenes in which Mia and Li explore the city when Brown’s superb lensing of the cityscapes reminded me of why New York is one of my favourite cities in the world to visit.
The cast all deliver solid performances with Wong appealing and charismatic in the lead role. Chan must be one of the fittest 71-year-olds on screen as he performs most of his own stunts, and he also has that mischievous twinkle in his eye. Jackson, who has spent much of the past decade working on television dramas, brings touches of humour to his role. Knight brings a touch of menace to his role but his character is a fairly one-dimensional villain. Macchio doesn’t look like he has aged too badly in the forty years since the original film, but unfortunately for fans he does not appear for nearly an hour and then he is not given a lot to do here. But he establishes a great dynamic with Chan that lifts the film.
★★★☆
