Kung Fu

Kung Fu appears to have been created by someone who hated every single element of the original except the Kung Fu part. Old west to modern day, Man to woman, last-resort fighting to ready-to-rumble, real-word to supernatural elements, isolated loner to deep family connections. If there is any feature you remember from the original besides a monastery premise and a bunch of fight scenes, you can be assured it's not in this version.

It's really hard to understand why they bothered to say this is based on the original, since it's clearly not.

Some changes are good. The lead character is played by an Asian instead of a white guy who doesn't look remotely Asian. Even as a white kid in the 70s that made zero sense to me. And while it's been years since I saw the original, I think the fight scenes are probably better in this one, although no less gratuitous (in the original, Kaine always said he didn't want to fight, but he fought in every episode).

But let's ignore comparisons to the original and just think about this series as though it is a totally new creation. Is it good on its own terms?

Not really. This is your basic CW teen/early adult drama, with annoying pop songs, a bunch of annoying, attractive young people with dubious acting skills, a hey-kids-let's-put-on-an-investigation approach to crime, and a high annoying quotient. As always, I feel obligated to note that I'm an old man who has a lower tolerance for these series than a youngster - if I'm going to watch a teen show, it needs to be as smart and original as Impulse or Sweet/Vicious.

I wish this were an Asian/female version of the original show, with the same Daoist philosophy and unusual approach. But it's not, it's just another CW show that I can do without. But if you like stuff like Riverdale maybe it's the show for you.

Kung Fu and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues were interesting primarily because there was this one outsider, Cain, with a strong moral code about being kind to others, but who didn't really understand the world around him especially well. Cain would always zero in on some simple truth or flaw that lied at the heart of the episode's conflict, and explain what this was with an outsider's wisdom.

In this version, the new Cain, Nicky, is not an outsider at all. In the first episode, she returns to her childhood home to live with her large family and catch up with her friends. There is no real reason her perspective should be much different to that of the others, and it really isn't in any significant way. She's just a woman who fights well, occasionally with mild superpowers like in the original. The end result is something that's barely different to any other procedural with some mystical MacGuffins thrown in, and it's so very dull.

The first episode was promising but after that it went down hill. It's not a good action series.

The original "Kung Fu" TV series was about morality. Yes, the fight scenes were fun and brought something new to Western audiences that amazed us all, but at the heart of the series was a map for how to live a moral life; how to connect with all things.

This series is a disgrace to the "Kung Fu" name. It is written for a young audience and it appears to center around a sword with magical powers (Holy Green Destiny, Batman) and only its rightful owner can hold it (shades of Thor's hammer).

The first episode hints at magical powers to come, and it implies that the charismatic young heroine has developed amazing kung-fu skills in three short years at a monastery. At least in the original series, Caine grew up learning kung-fu and the ways of their Taoist. Zen philosophy.

Apparently the producers of this new series believe young people are not interested in thinking deeply. The plot is as thin as a bad kung-fu movie where the plot centers around, "You killed my teacher!" And of course, they threw in a Tong war. So far, there is no hint of the series that might have been -- a wise and skilled young woman coming back home and helping people not only with her fists of fury, but also helping teach them to accept others and live a more balanced life. As a result, the producers have ripped the heart out of the "Kung Fu" series and shown it to us, beating in their hands, before the series dies.

Based on the writings of Bruce Lee, Warrior (2019) is an excellent TV show with some well choreographed martial arts.

It IS possible!

But then someone creates this teenage angst driven show, calls it Kung Fu and runs away.

The acting and fighting reminds me of Iron Fist. It's just not any good. The story is horrible and this show is just such a lackluster.

I'll go watch Into the Badlands again and bite my pillow because I had such high expectations to this show.