Karate Kid: Legends Movie Review – This Unnecessary Sequel Sweeps Its Own Leg

For the past few years, Cobra Kai satisfied fans of the The Karate Kid saga, so why is there a new movie so soon after the show ended? After watching Karate Kid: Legends, I’m not sure of the answer. Besides the charm of lead star Ben Wang, it’s a derivative film that lacks the heart of the original trilogy and Cobra Kai. It might not be as bad as The Next Karate Kid or that horrendous reboot with Jaden Smith (I will forever be a hater of this movie), but it simply exists because someone at the studio decided to capitalize on the franchise’s renewed popularity.

Karate Kid: Legends introduces the viewer to Li Fong (Wang), who moves from Beijing to New York with his mother (Ming-Na Wen). He’s a former student of Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) and more than competent in kung fu. He meets and falls for Mia Lipani (Sadie Stanley), whose father Victor (Joshua Jackson) finds himself in major debt with a ruthless gangster who also happens to own a karate dojo. Li helps Victor, who’s a former boxer, to train for an upcoming fight in the hopes that Victor wins the cash prize and is able to pay off his debt. However, it doesn’t go as planned, so Li needs to enter Five Boroughs Tournament to help the Lipanis, as well as to face off against Mia’s ruthless ex and prize fighter, Connor Day (Aramis Knight).

Does this all sound familiar to you? It should, because Rob Lieber’s script borrows a bit from every Karate Kid movie before it. Yet, it does so clumsily. Connor, for example, proves to be one of the most one-dimensional antagonists in the franchise. Unlike Johnny Lawrence or Chozen Toguchi, he’s just a bully who’s jealous that his ex-girlfriend moved on. In addition to this, the viewer learns nothing about Connor’s dojo, except that it’s a bad place. It’s a Temu Cobra Kai.

Another issue is the pacing of the film. It appears as if director Jonathan Entwistle was mandated to keep this under 90 minutes, because the first half of the film – where Li comes to New York, meets Mia and trains Victor – goes smoothly, but everything thereafter feels like a rogue editor discovered a shear. Li’s training for the tournament and the actual event are extremely rushed. While not narratively incoherent – it’s an easy film to follow – Karate Kid: Legends could have used an extra 15-20 minutes to improve the flow of the story.

And to complete the trifecta of problems: The marketing for Karate Kid: Legends features Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso and Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han as front of the center of the film alongside Ben Wang’s Li Fong. Well, it’s a hoodwink. In reality, Macchio and Chan only show up as pivotal characters more than halfway through the film. Macchio, in particular, receives a small role, which is shoehorned into the story and largely unnecessary. Yet, both Macchio and Chan could have been excluded entirely from the story, since the most interesting part of Karate Kid: Legends happens before the tournament training begins.

What saves the film from being a total miss, though, is Ben Wang’s performance as Li. A few years back, Wang starred in the short-lived Disney+ show American Born Chinese, which was cancelled way too soon because streaming services have no clue what they’re doing. Already then, Wang demonstrated a warmth and likability as a lead that feels authentic on screen. The same holds true for his performance as Li in Karate Kid: Legends, as it’s easy to root for him because he’s a sweet teenager. 

The martial arts prove to be another plus point. There’s an alleyway fight between Li and several goons that feels like it could have been pulled from an old-school Jackie Chan movie, while it’s entertaining to watch Daniel and Mr. Han show off their skills and bicker about which style is better suited for Li, though this is also a recycled from Cobra Kai as Daniel and Johnny argued about Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai many times.

Funnily enough, Karate Kid: Legends shines the brightest when it tries to be different from the other films in the franchise. The real story here would have been the subverting of the trope of elder master training the young student. In this case, it should have been solely about Li training Victor – that’s where the magic lies. Unfortunately, it falls back into the bad habits and turns into an unnecessary and repetitive Karate Kid sequel. In a world where Cobra Kai exists, this just doesn’t sweep anyone off their feet.

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