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Karate Kid: Legends is a film that tries to do too much and ends up feeling like a overstuffed training montage—energetic but exhausting. As the sixth installment in the franchise, it’s clearly designed to be a love letter to fans, cramming in callbacks to every era, from the 1984 original’s underdog charm to the 2010 reboot’s cultural shift. The problem is that in its rush to pay homage, the movie often forgets to tell its own cohesive story. The plot is a whirlwind of familiar tropes: a bullied new kid, wise mentors (plural, because one isn’t enough), and a high-stakes tournament — this time to save a struggling pizzeria from mob debts. It’s all executed with enough flair to keep you entertained, but the sheer density of fan service leaves little room for emotional depth or character development.
Ben Wang’s performance as Li Fong is the film’s brightest spot. Unlike previous Karate Kids, Li isn’t a wide-eyed novice; he’s already a skilled fighter grappling with PTSD from his brother’s death. Wang brings a rare combination of physicality, wit, and vulnerability to the role, making Li feel like a fresh take on the franchise’s formula. His chemistry with Sadie Stanley’s Mia is charming, though their romance is underdeveloped, lost in the shuffle of competing subplots. You can’t help but wish the movie had focused more on Li’s personal journey instead of juggling so many legacy characters.
Speaking of legacy characters, the film’s handling of Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han and Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso is a mixed bag. The idea of these two icons sharing the screen should be electric, but their roles feel oddly sidelined. Mr. Han is reduced to a series of cryptic wisecracks, while Daniel’s sudden arrival—to teach Li karate in a single week—strains credulity even by Karate Kid standards. Their banter is fun, but their presence often feels like nostalgic padding rather than integral to the story. The script tries to retroactively weave their histories together with a series of convoluted retcons, but the effort is more exhausting than enlightening.
The villain, Connor Day (Aramis Knight), is serviceable but forgettable. He’s got the requisite sneer and a generic rich-kid-with-daddy-issues backstory, but the film doesn’t give him enough screen time to become a true threat. The real antagonist might as well be the script itself, which forces in a half-baked mob subplot involving a struggling pizzeria. It’s a bizarre choice for a Karate Kid movie, feeling more like a discarded Rocky sequel than part of this franchise. The stakes—saving the pizzeria—are oddly low-key for a series that once had us cheering for Daniel to overcome brutal bullying.
When the film finally reaches the Five Boroughs Championship, the pacing goes into hyperdrive. The tournament, which should be the emotional and action-packed climax, is rushed through with little buildup or tension. Fights that could have been showstoppers are over in seconds, and Li’s PTSD arc—one of the film’s most compelling elements—gets resolved in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment. The final crane kick homage is satisfying, but it’s undercut by the movie’s insistence on cramming in one last lore dump before the credits roll. At just 90 minutes, Legends is a rare sequel that desperately needed more runtime to let its ideas breathe.
Tonally, the film is all over the place. The score is pure ’80s cheese, all blaring horns and triumphant crescendos, while the visuals aim for a gritty-but-cozy NYC vibe that feels nostalgic but not quite authentic. One minute, the movie is a dark drama about grief and trauma; the next, it’s a slapstick comedy with Chan and Macchio bickering like an old married couple. The whiplash makes it hard to invest emotionally, even when the performances are strong. Ming-Na Wen brings quiet dignity to her limited role as Li’s mother, and Sadie Stanley is effortlessly charming as Mia, though she’s saddled with some clunky exposition.
As a legacy sequel, Karate Kid: Legends is more successful as a compilation reel than a standalone story. If you’re a die-hard fan who can recite every Cobra Kai episode, you might thrill at the deep-cut references and retcons (though the attempt to turn Miyagi’s dojo into a multigenerational secret society is a bridge too far). But if you’re looking for a tight, emotionally resonant underdog tale, this isn’t it. The film’s greatest sin is assuming your nostalgia will fill in the gaps where character development should be.
Still, there’s fun to be had. The fight choreography is crisp, Wang is a star in the making, and that final crane kick will still make you cheer. Legends isn’t a bad movie — just a frustrating one, because you can see the better film buried under all the fan service.
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