'Karate Kid: Legends' review: A crane kick to the face

Courtesy of Sony

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Clearly greenlit and streamlined to capitalize on the emotional goodwill and popularity of the recently concluded “Cobra Kai” television series, “Karate Kid: Legends” tries to revitalize a franchise using the same formula that worked back in the 1984 original. But despite its efforts, the film keeps getting in its own way. A surface-level clash-of-styles story with the benefit of a few well-constructed training montages and some kick-ass fight choreography, “Legends” buckles under the weight of studio executives who likely insisted on cramming in connective tissue between multiple films—including the 2010 reboot with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan—without ever finding a tasteful way to do it.

In fact, you could argue there’s no real need to bring Chan’s Mr. Han back for a half-hearted team-up with Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso. And for those of us who watched “Cobra Kai” (guilty as charged), seeing LaRusso jump back into action lacks the swagger the filmmakers clearly think it has. Instead of leaning into what works—namely the introduction of a new protégé played by Ben Wang—the movie gets caught up in the past, banking on nostalgia to drag it across the finish line and hoping audiences won’t feel duped.

Wang, to his credit, brings plenty of swagger and screen presence. He plays Li Fong, a teen recently relocated from Beijing to Brooklyn looking for a fresh start (sound familiar?), and is trained in kung fu by his uncle, Mr. Han. Fong’s mother, however, insists he give it up after the tragic death of his brother. Fong then goes through all the standard Karate Kid motions: bullied at school, a budding romance with the cute girl at the pizza parlor, escalating tensions with local thugs, and eventually, a spot in the Five Boroughs tournament. Naturally, the final fight pits him against a one-note nemesis whose only defining feature is looking tough.

LaRusso’s involvement, meanwhile, feels tacked on. For anyone who watched “Cobra Kai,” it’s baffling that Danny would drop everything—his family, his businesses, his life in California—to suddenly show up in New York just because Han asks him to. The movie conveniently ignores everything we know about him in order to make this crossover happen, which only highlights how forced it all feels.

Directed by Jonathan Entwistle, the film’s greatest strength is its new cast. Wang has a fluid physicality and charm, and his early scenes with Sadie Stanley’s Mia are some of the film’s best. Their chemistry works, and for a moment, it feels like we might be in good hands. But then the legacy characters take over, and the story pivots toward the cartoonish Five Boroughs tournament, which feels like something out of a “Street Fighter” arcade game. It’s loud, lifeless, and completely lacking in stakes or investment.

There’s even a promising subplot involving Mia’s father, played by Joshua Jackson, a former boxer in debt to violent loan sharks. But like everything else that doesn’t involve a legacy cameo, it’s quickly dropped to make way for the big names on the poster. It’s a real shame.

Then again, that’s par for the course these days. Where “Cobra Kai” succeeded by embracing its camp and self-awareness, “Legends” tries to play things straight. It’s a jarring shift in tone, and like many of the film’s creative decisions, it drains the fun out of what could’ve been an enjoyable next chapter.

Grade: C-

KARATE KID: LEGENDS is now playing in theaters.