Karate Kid: Legends

by George Wolf

The success of cable’s Cobra Kai probably made a new Karate Kid movie pretty inevitable. So here we are, in the Kai universe, bringing Ralph Macchio, Jackie Chan and the ghost of Pat Morita all together for Karate Kid: Legends.

Don’t expect “The Crane,” the new move is “Dragon Kick,” but getting to it follows the well worn KK formula. Li Fong (Ben Wang, last seen in Mean Girls) and his Mom (Ming-Na Wen) move from Bejing to NYC, where Li meets the cute Mia (Sadie Stanley) even before the first day of high school.

But Mia’s ex-boyfriend Conor (Aramis Knight, who should license his name for a new cologne) is mean, jealous and the reigning champ of the 5 boroughs karate tournament. And this year’s tourney is coming up.

Can Li put aside his tragic past – not to mention the vow he made to his mother – and shock the crowd?

Give screenwriter Rob Leiber credit for working some much appreciated script flips inside these plug-and-play story beats.

First, Li is no novice when he comes to town. He’d been studying with Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) back home, and is already skilled enough to train Mia’s Dad (Joshua Jackson) – a former boxer looking for much needed prize money – for his upcoming fight.

Plus, the choreography for Li’s early fights with baddies and bullies is total Jackie Chan – complete with nimble acrobatics and a humorous, Chaplin-esqe style that delights. Still, Li is in need of help, so Mr. Han arrives to provide it.

But Han’s specialty is Kung Fu. Where can they find a karate master? Enter Daniel LaRusso (Macchio), the prize student of Han’s old fried, Mr. Miyagi.

It is a nostalgic kick seeing them train Li together, and some nice moments of goofy humor come from the pairing. But like almost every other positive in the film, they’re buried under director Jonathan Entwistle’s breakneck pace.

At barely 90 minutes, a film that was already less-than-subtle becomes a lightning quick series of contrived blows to the head that we know are coming but powerless to stop. Whether from meat cleaver editing or a calculated nod to short attention spans, the result feels too much like an ESPN 30 for 30 highlight reel, robbing us of any chance to get truly invested and forget that we already know how this ends.

Still, Legends manages to land a few fun blows. Just don’t blink or you’ll miss ’em.