Karate Child: Legends is the primary movie within the franchise in 15 years. The 2010 reboot of the franchise with Jackie Chan was profitable sufficient that improvement started on a sequel, however the momentum pale and finally sputtered out. The IP went into hiatus earlier than the mostly-acclaimed Cobra Kai present debuted and revitalized curiosity within the property. Makes an attempt at a brand new movie had been reborn, however with the intent of remaining inside the authentic canon.
Legends is the primary notable franchise movie to retroactively flip a reboot into a part of the principle collection canon, because the trailers teased Jackie Chan returning as Mr. Han and uniting with Ralph Macchio‘s Daniel LaRusso. The function movie is about three years after Cobra Kai and brings collectively two icons of the collection, however might it actually unite each a TV present and two (previously) totally different movie canons?
Sadly, Legends appears to have little curiosity in any of the fabric the trailers had been constructed round, and it merely makes use of its predecessors as window dressing for a brand new story. It looks as if a film at conflict with itself, stuffing 2-4 storylines right into a mashed mess that’s each overstuffed and too quick abruptly.
The movie’s strongest facet is the brand new protagonist. Performed by Ben Wang, Li Fong is coaching in kung fu underneath the tutelage of Mr. Han in Beijing. The story kicks off with he and his mom (Ming-Na Wen) transfer to New York Metropolis following his older brother’s tragic dying. Li Fong’s mom bans him from persevering with to do martial arts. Li Fong quickly makes mates with a peer, Mia (Sadie Stanley), and her father (Joshua Jackson) who run an area pizza store.
The primary half of the movie largely focuses on Li adjusting to life in New York whereas transitioning right into a reverse of the standard Karate Child setup. Li presents to show his buddy’s father kung fu to assist put together for a boxing match and repay his debt to an area shark, who additionally occurs to be the sensei of Connor (Aramis Knight), an area martial arts fighter and bully. Whether or not or not kung fu really interprets to boxing is a query finest left ignored, however this part of the movie proves an amicable showcase for the charisma of Wang as an actor, and that he’d be an admirable selection to steer a brand new model of this franchise.
The second half abruptly shifts to a extra conventional Karate Child story, with Li Fong now deciding to struggle in a martial arts event after Jackson’s character fails in his boxing match. With barely any connective tissue, Chan arrives in America to assist practice Li, after which calls in Ralph Macchio to assist practice him as effectively.
In sum, the movie primarily tries to pack two totally different movies’ value of story into one, and suffers for it. Maybe this was a distinct script that was retooled within the wake of Cobra Kai‘s recognition so as to arbitrarily plug in LaRusso. Nevertheless it occurred, the movie rushes by way of its scenes with haphazard and odd enhancing, seemingly in a rush to pack in as a lot in as attainable within the brief 94-minute runtime.
There is no such thing as a room for any of the characters to breathe, and little to no reference to no matter Mr. Han or LaRusso have been doing since prior entries. Calling this movie Legends appears completely wasted, because the film has no want to have mentioned legends really exhibit character traits or something of substance. Whereas seeing Chan and Macchio banter with one another is vaguely amusing, they lack even one true character second with one another and even with the protagonist, making their inclusion unnecessary.
It isn’t solely the script that appears all over, because the directing fashion dramatically shifts from second to second. Chunks of the movie are edited and shot in zippy method with plenty of visible graphics that really feel misplaced with the extra contemplative elements of the film. The soundtrack can also be a grab-bag of discordant songs that don’t at all times appear to match the tone of the scenes.
There are rewarding points of Legends. It leans into the identical underdog storytelling that made prior movies work. However the all-over-the-place storytelling and enhancing restrict this movie’s potential. The dearth of significant character moments, sloppy cuts that make the fights troublesome to observe, and extremely tacky dialogue make Legends a mediocre film. Like so many fashionable franchise movies, it appears in a rush to be over, as if it doesn’t actually need to inform its personal story.
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