The most exciting and intriguing thing about the new movie, Karate Kid: Legends, is its unification of a 40-year-old franchise. On one side, you have Ralph Macchio, the star of three Karate Kid movies and a long-running TV spin-off, Cobra Kai. On the other side, you have Jackie Chan, one of the most famous movie stars on Earth, who remade The Karate Kid 15 years ago to massive financial success. Seeing these two, literal, Karate Kid legends sharing the screen for the first time is why this movie exists. So, would you believe it if we told you they’re not in it that much? And when they are, the story is incredibly rushed and confusing? You probably don’t believe it, because it doesn’t make any sense, but such is the disappointing oddity that is Karate Kid: Legends.
Directed by Jonathan Entwistle, from a script by Rob Lieber, Karate Kid: Legends centers on Li Fong, played by Ben Wang. Li is a teenage kung fu student in Beijing whose mother (Ming-Na Wen) is the niece of Mr. Han (Chan). She gets a new job, though, so she and Li leave China for New York. Once in New York, Li falls for a local girl named Mia (Sadie Stanley) and gets caught up in a rivalry with her ex-boyfriend, Conner (Aramis Knight), who just so happens to be a local karate champion. All of which sounds familiar because it’s the plot of both the original Karate Kid, as well as its remake.
Things change from there, though, because, as we mentioned, Li already knows martial arts. So he finds himself helping Mia’s dad, Victor (Joshua Jackson), a former boxer who is in debt to a local loan shark/sensei and hopes to get out of it by returning to fighting. It’s in this first half of the movie where Karate Kid: Legends is actually kind of interesting. It takes that tried and true Karate Kid formula and twists it in an unexpected way, turning the student into the teacher. Stanley and Jackson are both likable and charismatic through out, while Wang instantly asserts himself as a dynamic, lovable, exciting leading man. Together, they’re fun to cheer for and things are looking, dare we say it? Legendary.
This is a more accurate depiction of Karate Kid Legends than any other image you’ve seen – SonyUnfortunately, that changes very quickly. Because, as you’ve probably discerned, there are two major pieces missing from that storyline: Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) and Mr. Han. They’re sprinkled in there slightly, Han more than LaRusso because of the family connection, but even as Karate Kid: Legends keeps your attention with this new twist on the old formula featuring a star-making performance, you can’t help but wonder, “Where the hell are the characters I’m here to see, and how do they fit into the actual story of this movie?”
Without getting too detailed, Han and LaRusso arrive to train Li for his own mega karate tournament. Why is Li now fighting in a tournament when he spent half the movie training Joshua Jackson’s character? Well, because Karate Kid: Legends finished that story and then tacked on another one with some incredibly loose and unconvincing plot connections. Han shows up first, for reasons that are murky at best, and then he brings in LaRusso. LaRusso’s addition is even less convincing, however, to the point where the movie straight up jokes about it not making sense and then never explains it in a satisfactory manner. We just have to be okay with it.
At this point, everything in Karate Kid: Legends has changed so much–its main story, supporting characters, various motivations, and so on–it feels as if there should be a good hour or so left to at least keep everything in balance. This isn’t the case. Once LaRusso and Han fully arrive, there are only about 30 minutes left in the 94-minute movie. And so, the movie proceeds to hit the gas like an F1 car on a straightaway. We watch Li’s training regimen with a literal countdown on the screen, which then leads right into the tournament with barely any time in between. You want motivation? You want introspection? You want character development? Karate Kid: Legends doesn’t care. The second half of the movie unfolds so unbelievably quickly, you can almost hear a studio executive typing an email that said, “If we can cut this down to 90 minutes, we could fit in an extra showtime per day.”
Ben Wang rules in Karate Kid: Legends – Sony.That probably didn’t happen, but the movie sure feels like it did. How else can you justify a warp speed pace that completely undercuts everything the first half of the movie was trying to do, while also avoiding a fully developed and cohesive plot? The villain, Conner, for example, has zero arc. Li’s own backstory, involving a dead brother, feels shoehorned in and underdeveloped. Both Mia and Victor take a major back seat after being at the forefront. We never specifically, or at least adequately, understand why Mr. Han needs Daniel at all, and Daniel adds so little to the movie, you almost feel bad for him. At least there are a few little winks and nods to other Daniel stories that almost make it worth it for long-time fans but, like the movie, they’re painfully short-changed. Even the final tournament–the very cool-sounding “Five Boroughs,” which takes place in outdoor locations all across New York–is never given any real weight or excitement, because there’s just not enough time. The rules are screamed at us like a manic YouTube video and the whole thing, including the final match, happens with little to no real drama, then barrels right along to the credits.
All of which is such a shame. I really, truly, wanted to love Karate Kid: Legends. I am a Karate Kid super fan and was so ready to see this franchise get taken up a notch coming off the huge popularity and momentum of Cobra Kai and on the capable shoulders of the excellent Ben Wang. But, it turns out, the film doesn’t aspire to any of that. It zips its way through one story, then haphazardly jumps into another with little concern about emotional or narrative cohesion. Karate Kid movies of the past worked because we cared about the characters. We felt their pain. They were the underdogs who triumphed over evil. Some of that is here on the surface, but never beyond that. It’s just plain weird how badly it messes everything up.
Throughout Karate Kid: Legends, there’s a phrase that gets repeated over and over again: “Two branches. One tree.” It’s the film’s way to explain how and why Daniel and Mr. Han, and thereby these two sides of this franchise, are connected. It’s also, unfortunately, the perfect way to describe this movie what this film wants, but fails, to be. It’s two movies in one, both of which seem as if they are connected–but they never quite come together.
Karate Kid: Legends opens this Friday, May 30.
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