Karate Kid: Legends (2025) Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPzOyzsnmio

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

It is not easy to pass what you learn to the next generation but when you do, you just have sure it’s put to good use.


PLOT


Karate Kid: Legends follows Li Fong moving out of Beijing to New York with his mother who accepted a job in the state. Although he enjoyed learning kung fu from his great uncle Shifu Han, his mom has remained against further training after his brother Bo was fatally stabbed by a vengeful opponent a year prior. It does become a struggle at first for Li to fit in originally, but he ends up befriending his tutor Alan and falls for a girl named Mia Lapini, whose father Victor owns a pizzeria after retiring from boxing. Eventually, the time Li spends with Mia gets the attention of her ex boyfriend Conor Day, a local karate champion. He bullies the protagonist to the point of him trying to defend himself, but is proven to be more powerful when countering his best moves. One night, Li would also catch Victor jumped by goons sent loan shark O’Shea, who also owns the dojo Conor trains at. Wanting to help without actually competing, he trains him so he can pay off the debt and keep the pizzeria, with encouragement from Han on the phone. Sadly on the day of the fight, it is rigged by O’Shea who orders the opposing fighter to beat the veteran with illegal blows. As Victor would be sent to the hospital to recover and his mother expressing disappointment that he got involved in fighting again, Li would feel all the more heartbroken as it all reminds him of Bo. Han comes to NY to encourage him to return to officially for the Five Boroughs Torunament that’ll not only earn him $50,000 should he win the whole thing, but also help him confront his past. Li also gets the assist of Daniel LaRusso, one of the last people to be trained by the late Nariyoshi Miyagi who had also trained Han in the past. As Victor recovers, Li’s relationship with Mia would mend into a romance. Above Alan’s rooftop garden, Han & Daniel teach Li both styles of kung fu and karate that help him create a new counterattack. After many days of dedication, Li is able to reach the finals against Conor. O’Shea does try sending more thugs after him, but Daniel & Han protect him from getting injured. With enough convincing from Shifu, Li’s mom accepts that his training has been helping overcome his grief. On the day of the finals, Li & Conor face off in an intense eight point bout and although the latter starts out dominant, the protagonist is able to break the tie and swiftly win while still showing mercy. As he celebrates with his friends & family, he later gives the money to Victor to create a second pizzeria location. The film then ends with Li sending a pizza to Los Angeles for Daniel to share with his rival turned friend Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), who embarrassingly pitches a dojo themed pizzeria named after Miyagi.


THOUGHTS


When binging on the past five films in advance, I did feel a little hesitant about this spinoff not for the fact that this was the theatrical debut of Jonathan Entwistle, who was famously known for producing popular Netflix shows, I Am Not Okay With This and The End of the Fucking World, but the fact the repetition was just as high as you would expect from a superhero movie. What I wanted more from this was not just a better effort in creativity compared to The Last Karate Kid, but maintaining its heart you want out of most sports flicks in general. Without overthinking it, I think was pleasing enough to say it was all worthwhile. There was a solid score by Dominic Lewis that kept me focused and the editing by the pair of Dana E Glauberman & Colby Parker Jr. succeed in making the training & fighting scenes interesting. A big change of scenery does occur though with young training old before inevitably joining the tournament. Having said that, I deeply respect writer Rob Lieder is able to keep the ball rolling on theme to how true strength comes from emotional discipline which in turn can be the best way to overcome trauma rather than display dominance. Breakout Ben Wang easily brings a reflection to past protagonists as Li since he doesn’t fit into somewhere unfamiliar to him and it is his past loss that emotionally cripples him most. He has that survivors guilt blaming himself for his brother’s death when it was far from his fault and wants to regain inner peace the way his mom intends by moving to NY. Ming Na Wen shows her to an ideal strict figure which is fair on her end because she doesn’t want to lose another child to a world she can’t understand. Li doesn’t want to let her down, but the fact trouble comes his way is where he can’t help taking action. He does get creative about it when trying to train someone else, but at the end, he knew he was more capable of finishing the fight with his will instead of someone else’s. It was cool for him to bond with Victor since Joshua Jackson made him relatable in portraying him to be a laidback & devoted dad yet very resilient to trust someone younger who has fighting experience. With a good first impression, it was easier for Ali to bond with Mia. Sadie Stanley makes the latter interesting because she does a good job being a headstrong figure who wants to see the best in people. She thought she saw that in Conor until he went down the wrong path. She gets a good vibe with Li because she respects he doesn’t want action to be his first answer and sees how much he holds back for the better. He likes her back in return because he admires how she doesn’t completely judge his approach, apart from the annoyance of not going to the hospital with her to check her dad in, which is valid on her end since he didn’t tell her about his brother. With that being said, it’s good that they get to continue her dad’s business together with the second chain. Moving on, there’s not much to say about Alan, but Wyatt Oleff makes him a neat guy. He chooses to be more of a friend than a tutor as he wants him to be better mentally more than intelligently, hence offering his garden to train. And plus it is sweet he’s even working at the second pizzeria with Li & Mia. The one thing that most repetitive of this franchise has to be a copy paste of an antagonist because Aramis Knight presents Conor as another arrogant bully who is only ruthless because Tim Robin makes a vicious mentor out of O’Shea who thinks relentlessness is the only way to win. Both were sure proven wrong the hard way, but like before it is the former that becomes content and proves when bowing to the one who beat him. Let it be known however, this path to success for Li does not become possible without the training of two ideal mentors. Getting Jackie Chan’s Han and Ralph Macchio’s Daniel share the screen together is ultimate fan service as that what brought me onboard the most. I mean it’s hard to not be impressed seeing them train and fight together. What makes their shared presence all the more memorable is the fact they’re equally passionate with the martial arts they’re skilled with, hence the chemistry being quite fluent. I’m sure Han would be great enough of a trainer without LaRusso for Li’s sake, but it felt important for Daniel to be there because it felt right for one disgruntled boy to be trained by one who used to be in his shoes. Han & Daniel may be proud to have trained many people in their lifetimes with what they learned in their youths, but the time they spent off the clock with Li would undoubtedly make Miyagi proud. Looking back, I think the reason this movie has a hard time connecting to some would go to a handful of things that don’t make much sense storywise. I mean I don’t mind Victor being sarcastic to Li over stuffed crust, but he’s losing business if he’s telling him to go to the mall rather than encourage him to try what he has to offer. And talk about the odds Li would have to pass ‘Demolition’, the same gym Conor goes to after seeing an ad on the train the same day before seeing him on the train by evening. It then feels way too dumb for four teachers to intervene only after the fight is over. It’d be more interesting for them to intervene mid fight. Hell, Victor is pretty lucky that O’Shea’s goons didn’t keep coming when he was training for the fight. I’m even surprised Victor didn’t get a disqualification victory since his opponent used illegal blows. He probably could’ve gotten enough money to recover had he won via DQ. And if Han & Daniel wanted Li to better time his ducking, they could’ve practiced with a limbo rather than a subway turnstile. If you can ignore these issues however, then you can still say Karate Kid: Legends is a spinoff that does way better in being a solid sports flick that does enough fan service to be pleasing. If you’re still a fan of this franchise after binging on Cobra Kai, then I’m sure you’ll enjoy this too.