‘Karate Kid: Legends’ review: Members only

Fans of Mr. Miyagi will be the only folks who enjoy the choppy editing and cliché characters of Karate Kid: Legends.

Karate Kid: Legends is the sixth film in the Karate Kid franchise, but the first to tie together the 1984 original with the spinoff series, Cobra Kai, and the 2010 reboot starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith. Hailing from Beijing, Dr. Fong (Ming-Na Wen) accepts a job in Brooklyn and brings her son, Li Fong (Ben Wang, Chinese name Wang Puchun), a pupil of Mr. Han (Chan), with one rule: no fighting. Li makes a new friend, Mia (Sadie Stanley), and a new enemy, Conor (Aramis Knight), and their connection leads to one road: fighting in the 5 Boroughs tournament. Can Li move forward after a family tragedy and fight again? Mr. Han believes that he can if they join forces with Sensei Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio).

Choose your fighter.

Director Jonathan Entwistle (I Am Not Okay with This), writer Rob Lieber, and editors Dana E. Glauberman and Colby Parker Jr., make more mistakes than leaving some of their quality actors on the sidelines. They seem to conflate a dynamic story with rushed direction and overediting. The occasional screen wipe transition is fine, but scenes barely end before the next one begins, and the flow of events often lack transition and feel like the cinematic version of a non sequitur. The evolution of Li’s fighting prowess is a haphazard tale. Li eats pavement in his first onscreen fight, which happens to be with Conor, but subsequently, he can single handedly take on a gang of toughs in an alley. Where was that guy in the schoolyard?

Wang’s physicality is unquestionably solid, making Li affable and easy to cheer. It’s delightful to finally have an Asian actor play the titular character, and to be at a point in film history when a young Asian man gets to star in a mainstream movie and still be considered relatable to most people in the US. A few of his moves have comedic notes like Chan’s signature style, which is a great way to convey that Li is indeed Mr. Han’s favorite student. Acting through movement is a difficult feat to accomplish, but when it happens, especially when the fight choreography is challenging, it’s a special moment.

That doesn’t help elevate the wooden dialogue in Karate Kid: Legends. Everyone feels like they’re performing for a camera crew and not organically living in the world. Li is going through the Karate Kid stations: be the new kid on the block, meet a girl, make the champion jealous, kick butt. Though Mia discusses Conor in a way that’s more mature than the narrative, don’t expect the relationships to be too deep. Conor exists in a world without law enforcement or juvenile offenders. His fighting style is lethal and the movie gives him few seeds of redemption. Watching Conor attack Li feels like a hate crime, making the stakes feel too serious. O’Shea (Tim Rozon) runs the dojo where Conor trains and seems to be channeling Marlon Brando, meaning he didn’t get the memo that only Tom Hardy gets to do that in The Bikeriders.

Put them in, coach.

The unexpected twist to this story is the relationship between Li and Mia’s father Pacey, ahem, Victor (Joshua Jackson). Li’s father is not referenced in Karate Kid: Legends, so Victor functions as a father figure helping Li get acclimated to his neighborhood and as a permissible reentry point for Li to resume fighting without breaking his mother’s rules. While Mia gives Li a reason to have a relationship with Victor, she’s not the motivation for fighting. Though the accent is laid on thick (for the older people), Jackson will be the winning eye candy that helps certain audiences stay interested in a movie primarily geared towards teenagers. Once he disappears, it’s harder to stay invested.

Cue Chan, who is the real reason to watch Karate Kid: Legends. Sadly, he’s in too few scenes and only a supporting character, so the lemon may not be worth the squeeze. Chan is a consummate professional who single-handedly brings humor and chemistry to every scene. He makes trite, tired material into a meaningful, emotionally-grounded saga. He also sells the idea that he needs Daniel. No disrespect to Macchio, but that is the most absurd part of this narrative. Chan and Macchio as “two branches from the same tree” works since they coach in tandem or fight together to protect Li.

If Karate Kid: Legends misses a huge opportunity, it’s casting Wen and just making her play an archetypical figure; the strict, overprotective mom. Wen is the voice of Mulan! Wen played the Calvary in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a one-woman army without powers who traveled through time and space to save humanity and her loved ones, but Wen could not do one martial arts move to show that Li was shaking what his mama gave him. Julia Louis-Dreyfus fought more in Thunderbolts*. Maybe there is a good reason why they kept her in the margins, but it feels like a massive ripoff. Other than Mia, the majority of the movie is a complete sausage fest.

The bottom line.

Karate Kid: Legends is for the hardcore franchise fans, although young newcomers will also have fun. People who saw the original movies and never returned for Cobra Kai will probably discover that they’re too old to return to the franchise. It is a movie devoted to fan service, and overthinking moviegoers are bound to be bored senseless. If you are desperate for family friendly fun that packs a punch, it has the monopoly.

Karate Kid: Legends is now playing in theaters everywhere. Watch the trailer here.

Images courtesy of Sony Pictures. Read more articles by Sarah G. Vincent here.

Sarah G. Vincent

Originally from NYC, freelance writer Sarah G. Vincent arrived in Cambridge in 1993 and was introduced to the world of repertory cinema while working at the Harvard Film Archives. Her work has appeared in Cambridge Day, newspapers, law journals, review websites and her blog, sarahgvincentviews.com.