Why I love Karate Kid Legends (A Review and Defense)
Last weekend I finally got to watch Karate Kid Legends. As someone who's loved the Karate Kid films since childhood, the Cobra Kai series since day 1, and a real life Karateka myself, I really loved this film. I've talked about my thoughts a decent amount in some threads but I wanted to make this bigger comprehensive post with everything. Why I think this film is good and my response to common criticisms.
Disclaimer, this is all my personal opinion. Feel free to disagree, but please keep an open mind and read what I have to say first. Also, there will be SPOILERS from this point onward, I highly recommend watching the film before reading.
This'll be divided into 5 parts, please take your time. Thank you!
I. “Two Branches. One Tree.” - The Martial Arts
So about a month ago, in celebration of Cobra Kai's series finale and in anticipation for this film, I made this huge post nerding out about martial arts history as to why I was so hyped. Please read it if you're interested but to sum it up:
In real life, Okinawan Karate has roots in Chinese Kung Fu.
All the way back, Karate Kid 2 acknowledged this by having its own in-Miyagiverse backstory for Miyagi-Do Karate's origins, with Shimpo Miyagi. Nariyoshi's ancestor who was stranded in China for 10 years and returned to Okinawa with a wife, children, and martial arts, which over centuries became Miyagi-Do Karate.
Cobra Kai itself acknowledges the history, and similarly alludes to the connection between Karate and Tang Soo Do, the Korean martial art style Cobra Kai is based on, which was heavily influenced by Japanese Karate.
There are plenty of great videos on Karate's relationship with these two other arts. I recommend some in that post above. In recent years especially, a lot of great martial arts YouTubers (Jesse Enkamp for example) have been exploring these connections, comparing the similarities and differences. All while learning from each other to be better.
Sure enough, this film tackles this head on. It opens with the scene from KK2 itself, before adding new context and lines from Mr. Miyagi. We learn that it was the ancestors of Mr. Han who trained Shimpo Miyagi Sensei. This IMO was a brilliant way to cohesively connect the '10 remake and bring the two branches together, by grounding it in real and pre-established fictional history.
This film has excellent action choreography which portrays both styles distinctly.
Kung Fu, with its emphasis on fluid and dynamic movements
Karate on sharp and snappy technique.
But since they're related, they're ultimately not too different. They share similar ideas on structure and discipline, but also philosophy and tradition as well. There's comedy, character and narrative in the fights too.
Jackie Chan and his stunt team were awesome as always. Daniel, what little we do see of him in action, actually looks as though he moves like a real Sensei this time, sharper and heavier but also actually teaching some real techniques outside of stuff Mr. Miyagi and Chozen taught on-screen. He mentions and demonstrates the "Yama Zuki" at some point, uses real take downs, and teaches Li multiple Kata (even if briefly in montages). Li and Connor both have really good Shoto Uke (Knife Hand block) that snap more and have proper form/structure, and generally punch and kick like real Karate practitioners.
Cobra Kai, while far above story and characters wise, was honestly inconsistent in the martial arts aspect. I might still like some of the best fights from CK more but a lot of them do feel more generic. The difference between the two main styles of the show often blurred outside of philosophy.
But more on how this affects the themes and narrative points of the movie later!
II. Two Plots, One Movie?!
A common complaint or criticism is that this film feels like two in one, that the boxing "subplot" or "side quest" with Li, Victor and Mia feel out of place with the conventional KK story with Li fighting in a tournament. Some go as far as to say Li joins it out of nowhere and the final fight has no stakes. Some liked the first half more, with the role reversal with the Karate Kid being the mentor and not the student, and wish it wasn't paused to go back to the usual story.
Here's the thing that many of them miss:
The “subplot” literally ends with Victor sent to the hospital and not winning the prize money. Li failed the "side quest". Mr. Han entered Li into the tournament to help them after the hospital scene, telling Victor they had a saying:
"Friend's problem is my problem."
Li’s fighting for them the whole time, and Victor (who was in no shape to keep fighting) says in the ending that he saved the Pizza sh*p. Standing up to bullies like Conor’s still there but it’s not the only motivation he has. It’s not 2 films in 1, it’s 2 halves 1 story.
Here, Li’s both a student fighting for himself, and a mentor fighting for someone else. And that is important, as it gives a cohesive narrative difference between this film, the original and the remake. Miyagi and Han helped Daniel and Dre fight for themselves. That's still there here for Li, but he's also fighting for his new friends. Ali didn't need Daniel to win, and his first friend other than her abandoned him. So yes I understand why the first half is stronger for others, but the second half is still driven from it. Unlike with Johnny and Cheng, Conor bullying him isn't the main reason for him fighting. He has much more support here from family and friends, and he's fighting for them as much as himself.
All of this is made possible by Li being already a skilled martial artist from the start. But this does not diminish him being an underdog. If you're casually familiar with martial arts you'd know the disrespect some have for traditional arts, especially Kung Fu. Karate has it too but actually to a much lesser extent as it has had much greater history and success in Kickboxing and MMA.
But even without that, there is the element of grief and trauma Li has from losing his brother Bo. This actually dives deeper into why Li and his mother move to New York, and why the latter has Li try to move on from martial arts and fighting. Which as a retired Karateka I have to tell you, a lot of us martial artists can relate to on a certain level. Li here also learns to overcome his trauma, honor his brother and redeem his failure, while his mother accepts that part of his life.
III. Honoring the Legacy
Now we get to the big part. A lot of people say Daniel LaRusso didn't need to be in this film, or that he's just there for pure f*n service and a cash grab, but I disagree. Ralph Macchio himself has asserted multiple times, he's spent years rejecting pitches and just did 6 seasons of the one thing he accepted. He wouldn't do this either if there was no real connection, and if the film had no heart or soul.
I already covered the Karate-Kung Fu connection, but more than that, Li is entering The 5 Boroughs, which is a Karate tournament (BTW, first time in the Miyagi-verse where the refs use real Japanese/Karate terms like "Otegai Ni Rei" and "Hajime" over English ones, besides Daniel's nightmare in S6) and his #1 opponent and bully Conor does have a very distinct Karate base. It reminds me of modern full contact styles like Kyokushin, Ashihara, Ukidokan and Machida Karate, but even then we see a lot of traditional stuff int here too.
Daniel’s here to pay respects to the OG films, to Kung Fu and Karate’s relationship, and he’s the one who thinks of the winning tactic based on past experience with opponents like Conor. Instead of just thinking of a new move or giving an old one to Li though, he analyzes Conor and Li's past fight, and modifies his brother's signature Dragon Kick.
Not unlike how he "modified" the Drum Technique to have a counter punch (which he asked Mr. Miyagi, not saying it's completely new, Karate techniques can be applied [Bunkai] all kinds of ways, but he thought of it himself). It's actually really smart of Daniel and shows his growth as a fighter and Sensei. Plus, come on, "sweep the leg", definitely a reference to Johnny. Followed by a throw referencing Daniel vs Mike, and Li choosing not to finish him off like Daniel with Chozen.
Ultimately, this film lives up to the title of the franchise (Karate Kid) and respects it as a whole. It would not have worked if they got some other random Sensei, and if it was just Kung Fu again and disconnected from the rest of the franchise besides the name, that to me sounds more like a cash grab. Speaking of which, some of those who still insist this film is nothing more than a heartless, soulless cash grab, still put Karate Kid 3 and TNKK above it. While I don't agree with this necessarily, many have and still say the same about those films, and truthfully Ralph Macchio, Thomas Ian Griffith and Robert Mark Kamen haven't been shy in criticizing 3 for this too. I love those films more than most as a KK fan though, but I also love this film more.
IV. Strength in Weakness
Honestly, even the weakest parts of the film, the romance and the villain, I'd say are often exaggerated. IMO, Li and Mia are no worse than Daniel and Ali or Kumiko. They actually spend a lot of time with them, showing off their chemistry, building their relationship, and then having an interesting dynamic once he starts training Victor.
Conor's no Johnny or Chozen, but honestly I'd put him above Mike. With everyone complaining about him and his Sensei being flat pure evil psycho villains, I was honestly surprised at Conor and argue there's more to him than most give credit for. His Sensei is the one who deliberately provokes him to attack Li by suggesting he's her new boyfriend. His main motivation is still basically the same as Johnny's, just meaner and more aggressive than even Mike. At worst he's a slightly worse copy of the former.
V. Director's / Extended Cut
One criticism I do agree with though, is that the film feels rushed, didn't have room to breathe and was too short. Many of the other criticisms could have also been addressed more or at all had it been edited better. Well, if you've been active on this sub the last few weeks, a lot of us have been theorizing on the film being cut down heavily from what the director intended. Shout to just some of the users who have made posts and/or I've discussed this with:
The original runtime announced for months was 118 minutes, but within last month or so it was changed to 94 minutes. Many of those who watched the film early confirmed it felt rushed and altered in the edit. Sure enough I agree. Some fight scenes were hurt too, and were more cut up. There's some added graphics and transitions to try hide or make up for it which someone has compared to Suicide Squad 2016 facing the same thing.
There's also a lot of evidence in the marketing and interviews. Tons of trailer scenes, both action and drama, were cut. Most significant to me though, is an emotional scene with Daniel and Li relating to each other that Ralph Macchio described. They both moved to a new place with their moms and got bullied obviously, but they also talk about why they moved being the loss of a loved one. For Li it's his brother, and for Daniel it's his father. Even in Cobra Kai, we always hear him talk about Mr. Miyagi but barely if ever his biological dad. Ralph later talks about it again this time knowing they cut it and just showed the end where he gives the headband.
(Edit: Oh man I just realized another parallel between Li and Daniel that I wonder gets pointed out in that missing scene. I talked a lot about how people didn’t get that even though his opponent cheated, Victor didn’t win the prize money and his business was still in danger while he was sent to the hospital. So the inverted Karate Kid story actually ends in failure, with Li needing to become the student again to win and save his student’s/friend’s livelihood.
Well, Daniel also trained a student that could’ve won a world tournament but lost even though his opponent cheated and injured him, which lead to the Karate Kid of that story having to win instead. Or actually you can also cut the middle man and draw the parallel to Li and Miguel (who was training Robby). Man now that's something they can do in a sequel.
Similarly, some people are complaining about Daniel giving Li that headband after only knowing him for a short time. Like I said in this post, besides the "Two Branches, One Tree" theme, that scene was originally longer and had them emotionally connect and relate to their backstories since they're so similar. In Cobra Kai, Miguel was the one who was most similar to him and he also gave him a headband after training for a short time which was what pissed off Johnny in S4 lol.)
A scene like this definitely would cement Daniel's importance in the story, and emphasize greater themes. Martial arts, standing up for yourself and others to bullies, being the outsider and underdog in a new place, all of these things transcend generations and cultures. No matter how different things seem, "history repeats itself, try and you'll succeed". That's all still there along with the other things I pointed out, but yeah a better paced, non-cut up version of movie with 20% of its runtime restored with more time for scenes to breath would've hit that home better.
I still love the film as is and honestly surprised it managed to keep what it did. But here's hoping releases that longer cut. If you've read this far, thanks! I hope this helped you appreciate the film more.
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