Compared to the Original and ‘Cobra Kai,' Is ‘Karate Kid: Legends' a Hit or a Miss?
Coming on the heels of Netflix's celebrated Cobra Kai, responses to Karate Kid: Legends have been decidedly mixed. For some, the pairing of original star Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan (who, in 2010's The Karate Kid, took over the mentor role formerly filled by the late Pat Morita) offers enough warm-hearted nostalgia to save the day. Others, meanwhile, have criticized the film for not giving its returning characters enough to do, in addition to calling the movie too lightweight for its own good. With Karate Kid: Legends currently sitting at a middling 60 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, how does the new sequel stack up against Cobra Kai and the movies which preceded it?When Legends picks up, Mr. Han is in Beijing teaching a new generation of youth a particular form of kung-fu. (The connection between Han and Miyagi, and the reason the former is teaching a different fight technique than his mentor, is laid out nicely in a succinct opening scene.) Han's plans to make his nephew, Li Fong (Ben Wang), one of the world's best fighters are scuttled when Li's mother (Ming-Na Wen) decides to move them to New York City following a tragic death in the family.
In Manhattan, Li falls in with Mia (Sadie Stanley), whose father, former fighter Victor (Joshua Jackson), owns a pizza restaurant. He also owes some very unsavory characters a lot of money, and to pay them back enters a fighting competition. As he hasn't fought in years, it falls to Li to teach Victor the ways of kung fu. If you've seen the trailer or any of the posters, you know this involves some help from Han and returning student (now master) Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio).Karate Kid: Legends, the sixth movie in the franchise, is easily the best Karate Kid movie since the original. It's certainly leagues above the tepid, utterly dull 2010 remake, which introduced Chan as Mr. Miyagi's protege, Mr. Han, and saw him train young Dre (Jaden Smith, who does not return here). Crucially, Legends eschews most of the training business that muddled the remake and later sequels. Here, Li is already a kung fu master with many successful fights under his belt. He needs only to learn a bit of karate, which is dispensed with in a blessedly brief montage. Instead of structuring itself like a lot of the other films in the series, with two extended acts of training followed by the grand tournament/battle, Legends operates far closer to a traditional action-thriller and is all the better for it.
Director Jonathan Entwistle, who created and oversaw the clever Netflix series The End of the F***ing World and I Am Not Okay, brings a specific touch that personalizes this installment. He understands how to depict the complexities of teenagedom without alienating members of the audience who've aged out of that struggle, and his eye for small details is especially keen. There's a lovely, unobtrusive touch in which Li is found to be more of a New York 'local' than born-and-bred Mia due to his immigrant status and ability to converse with fellow expats of all stripes. But once the plot kicks in, the rapidity with which Entwistle moves through the typical beats proves both a blessing and a curse.The first two acts of Legends, up to about the 70-minute mark, are spectacularly accomplished. Li having to train Victor is a pleasing bit of subversion, and the movie vibrates with an eclectic soundtrack and an authentic, geographically accurate depiction of New York (the film was shot there, as well as in Georgia and Montreal). The entire cast does great work—Jackson turns in a particularly credible performance—and the whole thing looks terrific, with some lush set design and a warm, gauzy visual style which harks subtly back to '80s cinematography. Li's backstory, and the reason for his family's move, are harder edged than you may expect and delivered without treacle.
Yet one of the movie's greatest assets—a slim, pre-end-credits running time of just under 90 minutes—is also its Achilles heel. As the film moves into its final passage, with Victor sidelined and Li having to compete in a city-wide fight competition, it loses track of itself and its characters.Chan and Macchio are good here, but their presence feels like an afterthought. Near the end, there are two central sequences—a fight between Han, LeRusso, and Li, and a heart-to-heart between the two karate kids—that play in montage and need much more space to breathe. One senses both would have been powerful beats if they'd been allowed to run longer, and the editing and the music were not making themselves so obvious.
Brevity is a beautiful thing (Steven Soderbergh's Black Bag, from earlier this year, showed that you can make an epic in just 88 minutes), but not when it comes at the expense of fulfilling the arcs established in the first act. Legends wraps itself up in such a rush that there's a sense of disbelief come the final freeze frame. Storylines that seemed a shoo-in to provoke a tear simply vanish, drying up any emotion with it, and the final tournament feels peculiarly disconnected from the first half. The whole movie would have benefited from an extra 10 or 15 minutes added to its runtime.But even with those missteps, it's hard to genuinely fault Karate Kid: Legends. This is an easy movie to like, a family-friendly adventure which does away with the modern blockbuster bloat, leaving behind CGI in favor of old-school stunts and stripping itself down to the basics. Legends is an above-average summer cinema offering which sits comfortably alongside the original Karate Kid and the best seasons of Cobra Kai. Crucially, it respects all members of its audience and will serve as a welcome entry point for younger viewers unfamiliar with the larger franchise. You will undoubtedly be reminded, in the best possible way, of '80s and '90s family adventures and sports dramas like The Goonies and The Mighty Ducks, which is no small feat. Perhaps the only thing worth saying is that, by the end, you're looking forward to the next one.Compared to the Original and 'Cobra Kai,' Is 'Karate Kid: Legends' a Hit or a Miss? first appeared on Men's Journal on May 29, 2025
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