The Karate Kid Part II (1986) Review

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

The Karate Kid has been looked as one of the best sports films for families to watch together. Due to it making its own box office success, it was bound for the cow to be milked like Rocky. Was it worth it? I guess so.


PLOT


Part II takes place following the events of the first film. After Daniel LaRusso defeated his bully Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) in the All Valley Karate Tournament, the latter’s sesnei John Kreese (Martin Kove) would take the loss so personal that he lashes out on the protege. Luckily, Daniel’s trainer Nariyoshi Miyage intervenes and shows compared to him by tweaking his nose. Six months after, Daniel has broken up with Ali and his mother Lucille goes out to a business trip in Fresno. In the meantime, the young LaRusso spends the summer in Okinawa Island with Miyagi when getting a letter that his father is dying. It is a big deal for his mentor to return home because he hasn’t been there in decades. He was previously in love with another woman named Yukie and wanted to marry her before instead marrying his then wife. He didn’t go through with marrying Yukie because she was arranged a wealthier man named Sato Toguchi who was a close friend at the time and he chose to leave rather than fight over her. Now back home, Sato does pick up Miyagi & Daniel with the assist of his nephew Chozen and still wants to fight him, but his rival still refuses. Miyagi takes Daniel to his old village where they meet Yukie and her niece Kumiko. There, Yukie reveals not only did she refuse to marry Sato, but his years of anger has led him to impoverish the village by destroying the fish population that he’s gotten away with in his work as an industrialist using super trawlers. When Miyagi’s father inevitably passed, Sato gives him three days to mourn before having their overdue fight. During this time, Miyagi shows Daniel how to practice counter striking through the use of a den-den kaiko. Daniel would also develop a romance with Kumiko when exploring the town together, but he’d be at odds with Chozen when discovering corruption in his grocery corruption. The feud would be so taken so far that Chozen would vandalize the Miyagi property until Nariyoshi fends them off. This leads to him wanting to leave before it can get any worse, but Sato threatens to destroy the village if he doesn’t fight. The fight never happens though due to a typhoon attacking the village. Sato would let go of all his animosity & pride when Miyagi and Daniel save him from his dojo falling onto him. Even during saaid typhoon, Daniel would save a child trapped in a bell tower and Sato would choose to disown Chozen for refusing to help. The village would be quickly rebuilt with Sato's help afterwards, and the village would celebrate an O-bon festival in a nearby castle. The moment is ruined though by Chozen who challenges Daniel in a fight to the death. LaRusso only accepts when Kumiko is threatened. He does get overwhelmed in the process, but regains momentum when Miyagi and the villagers twist den-den daikos in unison, motivating him to use the same technique. It works in terms to overpower Chozen and he chooses to mirror his sensei's actions by twisting his nose before dropping him to the ground. The film would end with the onlookers cheering and Miyagi looking proudly like before.


THOUGHTS


It's hard to not say no to a sports film becoming a franchise because that in turn would lead to people respecting the culture that it's all about. This one is no exception because the more that are made, the more people catch on martial arts like karate are all about what humility and peace. Director John G Avildsen was able to capture this perspective again in a slower pace that is still effective to say the least. The true selling point for me is due to the duo of Ralph Macchio & Pat Morita remaining onboard as Daniel and Mr. Miyagi because their chemistry is too palpable to let go of. What I liked a lot this time is that even Danny is unintentionally walking into trouble, he is more fearless when defending himself and he is more patient with the advice Miyagi chooses to share. In this case, their relationship is about letting forgiveness and respect be an important part of your life which is what they go through together. Danny has claimed to be a more accepting son after his dad died of an illness before moving to California because his time with Miyagi taught him to not be angry of things past his control. In turn, the latter maintains his morals while still making things right with those he left behind. He would've not done that without the former explaining how much he meant to him. Forgiveness and respect is truly embraced through those connected to his past who never understood why he left behind the life he would've wanted. It's so easy to enjoy the presence of Yukie due to how graceful actress Nobu McCarthy presents her and Tamlyn Tomita reflects that as Kumiko. The latter hits it off with Daniel so fast because she sees how big his heart is and respects him being so open minded, similarly to how the former preferred Miyagi over Sato. She chose to be loyal with what her wanted over anything else because she refused to be devoted to another person that wasn't gonna make her happy. Enter Danny Kamekona who was ruthlessly driven with honor and chose to let that get the best of him. He felt that violence was the only way to solve his problems, but everytime Miyagi stood his ground that he wouldn't reciprocate, he would slowly accept his anger was all for nothing. He was jealous that Yukie loved Miyagi more and couldn't handle he'll never be like him, hence being so hostile at every chance he had. Sadly, he passed on this behavior to his nephew who thought that was the only to earn respect. Yuji Okumoto makes Chozen very different from Johnny Lawrence because he sees himself incapable of changing, thinking what he was taught is the only way to live. Once he asked for what he wanted, Daniel sure gave it to him and then some. In the end, pride can be just as bad as being selfish and the village will forever praise Daniel for showing that to a young generation. This movie is neat on its own, but there are some things that don't make much sense to me. For starters, why the hell would Kreese attack Johnny in public? If he didn't want anyone like Miyagi or the cops to get in the way, he was sure acting dumb in that cold open. Also, what exactly convinced Lucille to allow Johnny to go to Okinawa? I'm sure she trusts Mr. Miyagi, but that is a big ask in the long run because there is no guarantee her boy would be safe. It’s even dumb to create suspense in having us believe Daniel wouldn’t make it to Okinawa when the whole point of this trilogy is about their relationship. And in all honesty, I think both guys should've been more suspicious about Chozen picking them up since they didn't know he was gonna pick up nor tell anyone they were coming. And what made Sato feel so surprised that Mr. Miyagi would come back to see his father before he goes? I mean if he’s waited so long to fight him, this shouldn’t be a surprise at all. He’ll, not even Yukie should be surprised of him remembering their love song since he left Okinawa for her sake. Lastly, I feel like Kumiko should've not taken Daniel to the town outside the village because they were bound to run into Chozen a lot if he's running the place with his uncle. At the same time, LaRusso should’ve respected her request to avoid going to the club that was considered too bad to handle. Ignore this, then you'll enjoy the rest of this movie for what it is. In short, The Karate Kid Part II is a solid sequel for still having enough heart to show with given action. if you like that about sports films and enjoyed the first one dearly, check this out when you can.