I’m going to confess to being a pretty big fan of Karate Kid: Legends, although my gut tells me I’m going to be in the minority. This oddball franchise reboot unites a 40-year-old movie with a hugely successful reboot from 15 years ago (!!!), and does it with a, let’s be honest, cut-and-paste Karate Kid story that almost anybody could write if they put in minimal effort. And yet, it’s a story that is familiar and comforting; a simple underdog and cultural fish-out-of-water tale with some solid martial arts action to boot. Sure, the story is kinda weird and involves Joshua Jackson flipping pizzas and learning kung fu, but its charms will win you over if given the chance.
Karate Kid: Legends centers on Li Fong, played by rising star Ben Wang in an incredibly physical, athletic performance. Li is a kung fu prodigy training in Beijing under the guidance of Mr. Han, played once again by Jackie Chan. Han is also the uncle to Li’s mother (Ming-Na Wen), who doesn’t like him fighting after a tragedy already lost her one son. When she gets a new job in New York, Li is forced to move away from everything he knows and start anew in the Big Apple. Basically, this story is the inverse of what happened in the 2010 Karate Kid.
Once he arrives in New York, Li makes friends with Mia (Sadie Stanley) and her father, Victor, (Jackson), who run a nearby pizza joint. He also gets on the bad side of Mia’s ex, Conner (Aramis Knight), a bullying karate champion who wins an annual tournament every year. This is essentially the same basic plot of most of the Karate Kid, although there are a few welcome changes.
Li isn’t a kid who needs to learn how to fight. He’s pretty much fully-formed and can kick ass. So he puts those skills to use helping Victor, a former boxing champion, train for a fight so he can win enough money to pay off the debts he owes to a local crime boss…who also happens to be the guy that owns the dojo where Conner trains. The only thing Li needs is a little bit of seasoning, a Miyagi-style confidence boost that only Mr. Han and, you guessed it, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) can bring.
It’s a clever idea by screenwriter Rob Lieber and director Jonathan Entwistle to flip the Karate Kid formula by making Li the sensei. He comes into his own while passing along his knowledge and grows in confidence, making him a character that’s really easy to root for. Admittedly, Chan and Macchio don’t have huge roles and that is unfortunate. Macchio in particular, feels kinda forced into the story, probably because of the popularity of Cobra Kai, and is practically air-dropped into the plot more than halfway through. That said, he’s more than comfortable playing Daniel again and he’s got some fun comedic chemistry with Chan as they bicker on how best to train Li so he can win the tournament, defeat Conner, overcome past guilt, and maybe win Mia’s heart, too.
The second half of Karate Kid: Legends feels kinda stitched together to mirror the kinds of Karate Kid stories they know audiences are expecting. Clocking in at just over 90-minutes, there isn’t a wealth of plot and the film races to cram in Li’s tournament battles. There’s simply not enough time to properly flesh out Li’s world, or to even reflect on the teaching of Mr. Miyagi. They are given lip service, but not much else.
Wang’s skills as a lead and an action star are clear, though. He’s got the roller coaster athleticism of Chan with charisma to match. He’s booked some other high-profile roles since landing this one and I expect we’ll be seeing a lot from him over the years. But will he be the one to carry this franchise into the future? “Two branches, one tree” is the saying that gets drilled into Li as he trains. It’s the coming together of two philosophies for one common cause. Or in this case, it’s the coming together of two sides of this franchise to begin something new. While imperfect, Karate Kid: Legends plants the seeds from which an enjoyable series can grow.
Sony Pictures releases Karate Kid: Legends on May 30th.
