Latest news with #Macchio
The Star
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio join martial arts forces in new Karate Kid movie
Jackie Chan reprises the role of Mr Han, a character he first played in the 2010 film 'The Karate Kid' opposite Jaden Smith. Photo: AP Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio blend fighting techniques to train a new karate kid in the latest instalment of the martial arts movie franchise. Karate Kid: Legends stars Ben Wang as Beijing kung fu whizz Li Fong who moves with his mother to New York, where he befriends pizza restaurant owner and retired boxer Victor and his daughter Mia. When that friendship irks a local karate champion, Li enters a karate tournament and begins training with his old kung fu teacher Mr Han, played by Chan, and Macchio's Daniel LaRusso, the protagonist of the original 1984 film The Karate Kid who learned karate from mentor Mr Miyagi. "They presented the concept to me... connecting the Miyagi to the Han family and how that made sense... I was like 'That's kind of clever. Okay, so how do we maintain this connective tissue into Li Fong's story that is organic and truthful'," Macchio said in a joint interview with Chan and Wang. "That was the challenge at first and figuring that out. Working with Jackie was like, 'Woohoo sign me up - when, where?' And then who's the kid? If we don't love this kid, then you have no movie. "So all those, like it happens with The Karate Kid universe, is magic dust that comes down and somehow it continues to resonate. So I'm excited for the next generation version," Macchio added. The movie is Macchio's fourth Karate Kid film playing LaRusso, a character he also portrayed in the Cobra Kai television series. Chan reprises the role of Mr Han, a character he first played in the 2010 film The Karate Kid opposite Jaden Smith. "Now we've both become a Miyagi," Chan said, referring to both his and Macchio's characters becoming mentors. "I remember when I saw the first one. Why him (Macchio)? Why not me?...I want to be The Karate Kid . (Now) We work together.' Wang, 25, said Chan's 2010 film introduced him to the franchise. "Stepping into it, it's a terrifying thing in a certain way because it's a beloved franchise and... the fans love it so much so I want to do right by them," he said. "But it's also a great honour because a lot of people auditioned for this part so I know how special and lucky it is that I get to do this with the two of them." – Reuters
West Australian
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Karate Kid Ralph Macchio returns to the film franchise that made him famous
Back in the 1980s, there were a handful of truly iconic moves from hit films that every kid in the school playground could replicate, or at least attempt to. One was the Top Gun high-five, performed by Tom 'Maverick' Cruise and Anthony 'Goose' Edwards, which combined a traditional high-five with a sneaky, behind-the-back low-five as the other participant was walking away. Done right, nothing was cooler (to boys between the ages of eight and 16). A close second, and only because it was considerably more difficult to execute, was the legendary crane kick from The Karate Kid. Let's set the scene… After weeks of intense training under the tutelage of karate master Mr Miyagi (the late, great Pat Morita), protege Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) found himself in final of the All-Valley Karate Championship. But there was more at stake than just a trophy. To get to this point, Daniel-san had fought his way through the entire roster of the dastardly Cobra Kai dojo, who also happened to be the same boys who mercilessly bullied him at high school. Naturally, head bully, Johnny (William Zabka), the worst of the bunch, was Daniel-san's opponent in the final, but our hero was hobbled by a leg injury sustained through dirty Cobra Kai fighting earlier in the tournament. Even still, things were looking good until the Cobra Kai sensei delivered this unforgettable line: 'Sweep the leg'. Though conflicted by the unethical move, Johnny nonetheless obeyed, causing further injury to Daniel-san's leg, leaving him incapacitated. At least, he would've been if it wasn't for the one-legged crane kick he'd been working on in an extended montage earlier in the film. With Mr Miyagi watching on, Daniel-san delivered the decisive blow, winning the tournament (as well as begrudging respect from his opponent), and going down in cinematic history. Macchio went on to star in two Karate Kid sequels (Morita did a third sequel on his own) and, more recently, six seasons of spin-off TV series Cobra Kai. Now the 63-year-old brings the franchise back to the big screen with Karate Kid: Legends, and, though he's no longer a kid, his karate credentials have vastly improved since the 1984 original. You see, Macchio was no martial arts expert in those days, and only earned his black belt in April this year. Unlike Ben Wang, who plays Li Fong, the titular karate kid in Legends, and is proficient in karate, kung fu and taekwondo. So, the filmmakers were able to up the ante with the fighting sequences, and cast action hero Jackie Chan as his uncle Han, leading to a situation where the kid had two masters – Han and LaRusso. Elevating the technical know-how also meant it was time to retire the crane kick and replace it with something a little more impressive to modern audiences – an unbeatable flying, spinning move known in the film as the 'dragon kick'. A move you just know Li Fong will need to pull out to beat a fearsome adversary in his own version of the All-Valley tournament. Macchio laughs when asked what he would have done back in the 1980s if the director had asked him to perform such an advanced technique. 'I would've said, 'Where's my stunt guy',' the actor says over a Zoom call with Wang and PLAY. 'The crane became a piece of cinema history, a little bit of magic, but it was never teed up, it was just layered in the movie and then paid off. 'Where the dragon kick is, like, the thing that needs to be done, but hopefully it's another piece of magic.' A necessary piece of magic, according to Wang. 'The only reason we had to do the dragon kick was because the crane kick was already so iconic, right, so we had to top it somehow,' the 25-year-old says. Putting the two moves side-by-side is also a way to compare the character arcs of Daniel-san and Li Fong. 'Daniel LaRusso was the kid who had no business winning anything, he knew nothing of martial arts,' Macchio explains. 'So, the crane kick was that simplistic magic trick, but now we have a character that is very well versed in kung fu, so how do you create his struggle and his internal overcoming of obstacles?' To answer this question, Legends leans into the fish-out-of-water storyline of Li Fong moving from Beijing to New York, adding a stronger cultural element to the original movie's plot that saw LaRusso move from New Jersey to California. Though it leaves significant meat on the bone when it comes to examining the migrant experience, what Legends lacks in political punch, it more than makes up for in literal punches. Let's just say the training is a lot more gruelling than a bit of 'wax on, wax off'. In one particularly enjoyable sequence, Li Fong learns to combine kung fu teachings from Uncle Han with karate techniques from Sensei LaRusso. That's a nice way of saying the audience watches as Wang gets his butt kicked by both. Not that he's complaining, of course. Quite the opposite. 'It's really sort of the wildest dream scenario to get to do a fight scene with Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio at the same time,' Wang says. 'We prepped and prepped, and then we had a lot of fun.' A lot more fun than Macchio had during one specific fight scene in the original, in which he was jumped by the Cobra Kai boys on Halloween. 'Getting my ass kicked by five guys in skeleton costumes, that was a tough one,' Macchio recalls. 'It was one of the few times I actually caught one in the jaw, and we had to go home early, but I lived to tell about it. 'Me and William Zabka constantly joke about that – he says I leaned in and I'm like, 'You overreached', and we blame each other constantly.' With Legends, Macchio hopes history will repeat for the new Karate Kid, even if the chances of young boys successfully performing the dragon kick in the playground are slim to none (seriously, do NOT attempt it). 'This film is multi-generational entertainment,' Macchio says. 'I always talk about the communal experience of being in the cinema, cheering with your neighbour, on your feet. You know, we had that in 1984 and let's hope we have that in 2025.' Karate Kid: Legends is in cinemas now.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Karate Kid: Legends' took me back to the '80s. For the tweens I watched with, the film packed an emotional punch.
This post contains spoilers. Don't say we didn't warn ya. Hello, Yahoo Entertainment readers. My name is Suzy Byrne, and I've been covering entertainment in this space for over a decade — and longer elsewhere, but … details! I am not the cinephile who sees every big, splashy new release the moment it hits theaters. What brings me big-screen joy are kid-friendly flicks — like Lilo & Stitch, which had humor and heart, with my ohana. I'm a tenderhearted moviegoer who doesn't need two hours of explosions/violence/death. But also, as a busy working parent, getting two hours to turn off my phone, put up my feet and eat whatever I want while my child is fully entertained is the definition of movie magic. So that's what this is — one entertainment reporter + her 10-year-old + friends — seeing family-friendly fare, indulging in film-themed treats and replying all, to you, about the experience. Welcome to the kids movie club. 'Wax on, wax off' — those were the last words I heard, courtesy of the guy behind me, as Karate Kid: Legends started and our party of six (three moms, three kids, ages 8-10) settled in to watch. With a 41-year-old franchise — which has spawned six films and the Netflix show Cobra Kai — there's a lot of familiarity with the martial arts franchise from different eras. I remember seeing Karate Kid in the theater during the summer of 1984 — and doing crane kicks on the beach for the rest of my vacation when I wasn't trying to catch flies with chopsticks. When I went home, I cut out photos of Ralph Macchio from Teen Beat and taped them to my bedroom wall. I also vividly remember someone giving me what they claimed was 20-something-year-old Macchio's phone number and calling it — on a corded phone, youngsters — with my friends. I'm pretty sure we hung up on whoever answered. While to this day I could recite most of the film, with all the life lessons Mr. Miyagi taught Daniel-san, you don't have to have seen it or any of the others to enjoy Legends — and my daughter hadn't. Though it makes for a better watch. One mom-daughter pair in our crew saw the original the night before, and the tween yelled 'Johnny!' in delight during the mid-credits scene. My kid had no idea who Johnny (William Zabka) was. (He's come a long way, baby.) This installment of the martial arts franchise, which I enjoyed while sipping a Ruby Red Kicker (a mocktail with ruby red grapefruit, cream of coconut, agave and lime), sees Macchio (Daniel in the first three movies as well as in Cobra Kai) and Jackie Chan (Mr. Han in 2010's The Karate Kid with Jaden Smith) reprising their roles as they come together to help Li Fong (Ben Wang) best his bully rival in the 5 Boroughs Tournament. Li, who is Han's great-nephew, studied kung fu in Beijing before moving to New York City. However, his brother was fatally stabbed during a dispute they had with a kung fu opponent after a tournament. Li is haunted by that — and so is his mother, played by Ming-Na Wen, who doesn't want him to practice kung fu anymore. And what's a Karate Kid movie without a love story? Li meets Mia (Sadie Stanley) — daughter of Joshua Jackson's Victor, a former boxer turned pizza shop owner who owes money to the wrong guys — and their PG relationship sparks trouble with her ex, karate champ Conor (Aramis Knight). Legends takes place three years after Cobra Kai's series finale. It includes nods to its history, starting early on with a throwback scene of Daniel and Mr. Miyagi (the late Pat Morita) from Karate Kid II. It led to the explanation of the deep connection between Miyagi and Han. Han also visits Daniel at Miyagi-Do dojo in California, with the iconic yellow convertible parked outside, to convince him to come to New York to train Li. But there's lots of forward momentum to the story, down to the crane kick being replaced by the acrobatic, spinning dragon kick. While the film may be lagging in box office expectations, the room of moviegoers I was with clapped at the end — and I can't remember the last time that happened. Our young film enthusiasts again liked the funny parts: They laughed as masters Daniel and Han squabbled over which of their martial arts styles was better while training Li. ('What happened to two branches, one tree?' Li asked. 'One branch stronger than the other,' Han replied.) They cracked up when Johnny brainstormed Miyagi-Dough pizza ideas with an exasperated Daniel. ('Olives on, olives off' was the funniest thing to the kids, despite none of them ever even trying one.) They also liked Li's tutor turned friend Alan (Wyatt Oleff) with his comedic relief. While nobody needed comfort during the movie, the eldest girl in our group told me the PG-13 rated film was the 'most violent' and 'intense' movie she had ever seen. Moments included Jackson's character being knocked unconscious and hospitalized as well as a recurring flashback of Li's brother's death. 'I don't hate Karate Kid, but I don't love it because I'm afraid of violence,' she said. (The same kid also danced excitedly through the closing credits, so it was a range of feelings.) My own child felt 'on guard the whole time,' telling me, 'I liked it, but it was not a relaxing movie. Everyone was jumping around. Fighting. The drama. The violence. The emotions. And it was so sad that Li's brother died.' The adults lapped up all the nostalgic elements. Before we even got in the theater, we had gone from talking about Macchio in Karate Kid to 10 minutes on The Outsiders, which came in 1983, also featuring Macchio, and had the cast of the century. It was all: 'I loved Johnny.' 'I loved Ponyboy.' 'Oh, Matt Dillon.' 'Ah, Rob Lowe.' 'Tom Cruise got so much better looking after that movie.' 'Emilio Estevez was my favorite.' Speaking of teen heartthrobs, during Legends, I was amused when, after Jackson had already appeared onscreen several times, my friend leaned over and said, 'Ohhh my gosh, it's PACEY!' just realizing the Dawson's Creek alum was playing a middle-aged movie dad. Someone has clearly not been watching Doctor Odyssey. Jackson was a nice addition to the film, and his pizza shop training with Li was a fun callback to Daniel and Miyagi of old, but then his character practically disappeared toward the end, even after all the training he did for the role. The team behind Legends wasn't trying to reinvent the wheel here. While there were new faces and impressive martial arts moves, the story played out in a similar way to past films, with a big tournament finale as a defining moment. In this one, Li bested Conor to win, and while he celebrated his winning moment, Conor came at him. Li not only stopped him, again, but then showed him mercy by not punching him when he could have. Li actually extended a hand to his rival. It reminded me why I liked the franchise in the first place, and it was a good lesson for the kids. There are so many movies the kids want to see this summer (shortlist: Elio, How to Train Your Dragon, The Bad Guys 2, Smurfs), yet we were served a trailer for R-rated Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight followed by a Blair Underwood Lexus commercial. It was definitely not a preview to remember. 'We went home and googled the ages of Pat Morita when the first Karate Kid came out (52) and Ralph Macchio in the current one (63),' my friend wrote. For the last few days, I've been stuck on the fact that Daniel is now older than Mr. Miyagi. Rule No. 1: Karate is for defense only. Rule No. 2: Googling your teen crush's current age as an adult is instant regret.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Karate Kid: Legends' took me back to the '80s. For the tweens I watched with, the film packed an emotional punch.
This post contains spoilers. Don't say we didn't warn ya. Hello, Yahoo Entertainment readers. My name is Suzy Byrne, and I've been covering entertainment in this space for over a decade — and longer elsewhere, but … details! I am not the cinephile who sees every big, splashy new release the moment it hits theaters. What brings me big-screen joy are kid-friendly flicks — like Lilo & Stitch, which had humor and heart, with my ohana. I'm a tenderhearted moviegoer who doesn't need two hours of explosions/violence/death. But also, as a busy working parent, getting two hours to turn off my phone, put up my feet and eat whatever I want while my child is fully entertained is the definition of movie magic. So that's what this is — one entertainment reporter + her 10-year-old + friends — seeing family-friendly fare, indulging in film-themed treats and replying all, to you, about the experience. Welcome to the kids movie club. 'Wax on, wax off' — those were the last words I heard, courtesy of the guy behind me, as Karate Kid: Legends started and our party of six (three moms, three kids, ages 8-10) settled in to watch. With a 41-year-old franchise — which has spawned six films and the Netflix show Cobra Kai — there's a lot of familiarity with the martial arts franchise from different eras. I remember seeing Karate Kid in the theater during the summer of 1984 — and doing crane kicks on the beach for the rest of my vacation when I wasn't trying to catch flies with chopsticks. When I went home, I cut out photos of Ralph Macchio from Teen Beat and taped them to my bedroom wall. I also vividly remember someone giving me what they claimed was 20-something-year-old Macchio's phone number and calling it — on a corded phone, youngsters — with my friends. I'm pretty sure we hung up on whoever answered. While to this day I could recite most of the film, with all the life lessons Mr. Miyagi taught Daniel-san, you don't have to have seen it or any of the others to enjoy Legends — and my daughter hadn't. Though it makes for a better watch. One mom-daughter pair in our crew saw the original the night before, and the tween yelled 'Johnny!' in delight during the mid-credits scene. My kid had no idea who Johnny (William Zabka) was. (He's come a long way, baby.) This installment of the martial arts franchise, which I enjoyed while sipping a Ruby Red Kicker (a mocktail with ruby red grapefruit, cream of coconut, agave and lime), sees Macchio (Daniel in the first three movies as well as in Cobra Kai) and Jackie Chan (Mr. Han in 2010's The Karate Kid with Jaden Smith) reprising their roles as they come together to help Li Fong (Ben Wang) best his bully rival in the 5 Boroughs Tournament. Li, who is Han's great-nephew, studied kung fu in Beijing before moving to New York City. However, his brother was fatally stabbed during a dispute they had with a kung fu opponent after a tournament. Li is haunted by that — and so is his mother, played by Ming-Na Wen, who doesn't want him to practice kung fu anymore. And what's a Karate Kid movie without a love story? Li meets Mia (Sadie Stanley) — daughter of Joshua Jackson's Victor, a former boxer turned pizza shop owner who owes money to the wrong guys — and their PG relationship sparks trouble with her ex, karate champ Conor (Aramis Knight). Legends takes place three years after Cobra Kai's series finale. It includes nods to its history, starting early on with a throwback scene of Daniel and Mr. Miyagi (the late Pat Morita) from Karate Kid II. It led to the explanation of the deep connection between Miyagi and Han. Han also visits Daniel at Miyagi-Do dojo in California, with the iconic yellow convertible parked outside, to convince him to come to New York to train Li. But there's lots of forward momentum to the story, down to the crane kick being replaced by the acrobatic, spinning dragon kick. While the film may be lagging in box office expectations, the room of moviegoers I was with clapped at the end — and I can't remember the last time that happened. Our young film enthusiasts again liked the funny parts: They laughed as masters Daniel and Han squabbled over which of their martial arts styles was better while training Li. ('What happened to two branches, one tree?' Li asked. 'One branch stronger than the other,' Han replied.) They cracked up when Johnny brainstormed Miyagi-Dough pizza ideas with an exasperated Daniel. ('Olives on, olives off' was the funniest thing to the kids, despite none of them ever even trying one.) They also liked Li's tutor turned friend Alan (Wyatt Oleff) with his comedic relief. While nobody needed comfort during the movie, the eldest girl in our group told me the PG-13 rated film was the 'most violent' and 'intense' movie she had ever seen. Moments included Jackson's character being knocked unconscious and hospitalized as well as a recurring flashback of Li's brother's death. 'I don't hate Karate Kid, but I don't love it because I'm afraid of violence,' she said. (The same kid also danced excitedly through the closing credits, so it was a range of feelings.) My own child felt 'on guard the whole time,' telling me, 'I liked it, but it was not a relaxing movie. Everyone was jumping around. Fighting. The drama. The violence. The emotions. And it was so sad that Li's brother died.' The adults lapped up all the nostalgic elements. Before we even got in the theater, we had gone from talking about Macchio in Karate Kid to 10 minutes on The Outsiders, which came in 1983, also featuring Macchio, and had the cast of the century. It was all: 'I loved Johnny.' 'I loved Ponyboy.' 'Oh, Matt Dillon.' 'Ah, Rob Lowe.' 'Tom Cruise got so much better looking after that movie.' 'Emilio Estevez was my favorite.' Speaking of teen heartthrobs, during Legends, I was amused when, after Jackson had already appeared onscreen several times, my friend leaned over and said, 'Ohhh my gosh, it's PACEY!' just realizing the Dawson's Creek alum was playing a middle-aged movie dad. Someone has clearly not been watching Doctor Odyssey. Jackson was a nice addition to the film, and his pizza shop training with Li was a fun callback to Daniel and Miyagi of old, but then his character practically disappeared toward the end, even after all the training he did for the role. The team behind Legends wasn't trying to reinvent the wheel here. While there were new faces and impressive martial arts moves, the story played out in a similar way to past films, with a big tournament finale as a defining moment. In this one, Li bested Conor to win, and while he celebrated his winning moment, Conor came at him. Li not only stopped him, again, but then showed him mercy by not punching him when he could have. Li actually extended a hand to his rival. It reminded me why I liked the franchise in the first place, and it was a good lesson for the kids. There are so many movies the kids want to see this summer (shortlist: Elio, How to Train Your Dragon, The Bad Guys 2, Smurfs), yet we were served a trailer for R-rated Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight followed by a Blair Underwood Lexus commercial. It was definitely not a preview to remember. 'We went home and googled the ages of Pat Morita when the first Karate Kid came out (52) and Ralph Macchio in the current one (63),' my friend wrote. For the last few days, I've been stuck on the fact that Daniel is now older than Mr. Miyagi. Rule No. 1: Karate is for defense only. Rule No. 2: Googling your teen crush's current age as an adult is instant regret.
Straits Times
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Actors Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio join martial arts forces in Karate Kid: Legends
LONDON – Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio blend fighting techniques to train a new karate kid in the latest instalment of the martial arts movie franchise. Karate Kid: Legends, opening in Singapore cinemas on June 5, stars Ben Wang as Beijing gongfu whiz Li F ong. He moves with his mother to New York, where he befriends pizza restaurant owner and retired boxer Victor (Joshua Jackson) and his daughter Mia (Sadie Stanley). When that friendship irks a local karate champion (Aramis Knight), Li enters a karate tournament and begins training with his old gongfu teacher Mr Han (Chan) and Macchio's Daniel LaRusso, the protagonist of the original 1984 film The Karate Kid who learnt karate from mentor Mr Miyagi (Pat Morita). 'They presented the concept to me... connecting Miyagi to the Han family and how that made sense. I was like 'That's kind of clever, so how do we maintain this connective tissue into Li Fong's story that is organic and truthful?'' American actor Macchio, 63, said in a joint interview with Chan and Wang. 'That was the challenge at first and figuring that out. Working with Jackie was like, 'Sign me up.' And then, who's the kid? If we don't love this kid, then you have no movie. So all that, like it happens with The Karate Kid universe, is magic dust that comes down, and somehow it continues to resonate. I'm excited for the next-generation version.' Karate Kid: Legends is Macchio's fourth Karate Kid film playing LaRusso, a character he also portrayed in the martial arts comedy series Cobra Kai (2018 to 2025). Hong Kong superstar Chan, 71, reprises the role of Mr Han, a character he first played in the 2010 film The Karate Kid opposite American actor Jaden Smith. 'Now, we've both become a Miyagi,' Chan said, referring t o his and Macchio's characters becoming mentors. 'I remember when I saw the first one. Why Macchio? Why not me? I want to be the Karate Kid. Now, we work together.' (From left) Actors Ralph Macchio, Ben Wang and Jackie Chan at a photo call to promote their film Karate Kid: Legends in London, Britain, on May 20. PHOTO: EPA-EFE Wang, 25, said Chan's 2010 film introduced him to the franchise. Best known for playing the protagonist in Disney+ series American Born Chinese (2023), the American actor said: 'Stepping into it, it's a terrifying thing in a certain way because it's a beloved franchise and the fans love it so much so that I want to do right by them. 'But it's also a great honour because a lot of people auditioned for this part, so I know how special and lucky it is that I get to do this with the two of them.' REUTERS Karate Kid: Legends opens in Singapore cinemas on June 5. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
