Karate Kid: Legends

There is no relationship building between the characters, it's like the director thought "let me take all the cliches and make this predictable garbage". Should not count as a Karate Kid movie. I do not remember a movie that has ever been so rushed. Don't know why haven't they used a different director, there was a lot of potential but, sadly it was all wasted.

The emotional stakes are nonexistent, and every scene feels like it's checking off a box rather than telling a story. Even the choreography-something you'd expect to shine-felt uninspired and repetitive. Fans of the original deserved much more.

Karate Kid: Legends might be the only movie with such a rushed pacing that i still end up recommending, i completely understand why some people might not enjoy it, the pacing really is all over the place, and the story editing moves way too fast, but despite that, Ben Wang, Sadie Stanley, and the rest of the cast brought enough charm and authenticity to their characters that i found myself liking them in a surprisingly short amount of time.

And yes i was desperate with the movie when they trying to get Daniel finally on the screen, but when the time comes, it's a great relief, also lifted by the spark Jackie Chan brought to the film, his portrayal felt like another version of Mr. Han, not quite the same one who trained Jaden Smith in the 2010 Karate Kid remake, but still recognizably Jackie, wise, quirky, and effortlessly entertaining.

Ralph Macchio return as Daniel was brief, but enjoyable enough, there's a fun, short-lived chemistry between him and Jackie Chan, and that alone made parts of the movie worth watching, if only the film had taken a bit more time to develop its story and give these likeable characters more room to breathe, it could've been something really special.

The fighting sequences and choreography are exciting, charismatic, energetic, and fun, there are some genuinely funny moments too, and a fun surprise at the end that left me smiling.

Yes, it's incredibly rushed, and especially after watching the whole saga of Cobra Kai, what a weird timeline and little visit Daniel had during this whole movie, but in the end, i had fun, and maybe even more on a rewatch.

Unlike some other reviews, I appreciated that it honored the same clichés of this franchise: moves to a new city, meets a girl, run into trouble with girl's ex, fight it out in tournament. For what this movie offered, I really wish the movie was a bit longer for more character and plot developments without feeling so rushed and choppy. It felt like 2 separate movies compacted into one short movie of only 1.5 hours. Especially the entire second half which felt like a montage throughout to the end. One thing I did not appreciate was the animations with big fonts and vivid colors. It seemed like they were targeting more younger audiences to join the Karate Kid fandom which is fine, but the animations were just too much and felt over-done. Really wish they used Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio better throughout the entire movie. It was a little disappointing to get so little of them in the movie. Did love getting Joshua Jackson though. The final scene before rolling into the end credits was extremely appreciated. Ultimately, the movie was a fun watch and overall enjoyable thanks to the awesome choreographies. The movie was good but it could've been great. If they continue to expand this franchise, which I hope they do, I hope they will put the actors to better use for better storytelling than trying so hard to appeal to a younger audience.

This Karate Kid movie is OKAY but unfortunately, the writers just went with the most classic combination of clichés, some examples without spoilers, just what you can see in the trailer:

-boy moves to a new city -boy is bullied -boy meets girl -girl loves boy -bully is the main boss

Yet, the movie manages itself to not be annoying and extense. The pace is certainly fast, but I insist, there's no character development because everything is just too obvious from the very beginning.

There are some Artificial Intelligence effects involved which really surprised me. This is just getting better and who knows? We might see a spin-off of a young Miyagi sensei one day haha.

All in all, I kinda enjoyed Karate Kid: Legends even though it was one of the most obvious storylines I watched.

PS: The best scene will come just before the credits. Trust me.

Only the final scene with Johnny (after the fight) was good. The rest felt like a long cinematic from a Need for Speed game. Too rushed, too irrational, too obious and boring, too... American.

A weak scenario, with chinese people speaking English between them - so the brain of the average American viewer doesn't get overwhelmed, listening to a foreign language for more than 10 minutes.

Cliché scenes, typical disney-channel-like smart-ass dialogues, leading to an emotianlly weak, typical "I'm proud of you" moment.

If you are over 13 years old, don't waste your time with it. Watch the original one instead!