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The Karate Kid was a seminal movie for me. I related to the movie on different levels, for different reason and all of them relevant. It’s the movie that inspired me to start training in martial arts and to continue the journey for over half my life.
I’ve seen every Karate Kid movie and TV show, read the book, played all the video games, owned a few action figures and the headband. As I write this post The Karate Kid Part II is playing in the background. (I may have a problem).
The Karate Kid franchise seemed to be over in the 90s after the much maligned, but underrated, The Next Karate Kid movie. There was a bit of a revival in 2010 with the reboot starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith. While I’m a huge Jackie Chan fan the movie didn’t seem to fit in to The Karate Kid Universe. It’s a decent movie, but not a Karate Kid movie.
Then in 2018 The Karate Kid Universe got a huge boost with Cobra Kai, a 10-episode series released on Youtube Red (now Premium). It told the story of Daniel and Johnny, 30 years after the events of the original Karate Kid movie. Daniel was a successful businessman while Johnny was a down-and-out deadbeat.
The first season was so successful it was eventual sold to Netflix and ran for six seasons. With season six wrapping up this year. I loved the Cobra Kai series. Overall it was a fantastic addition to the Karate Kid Universe and gave more depth and insight into Daniel and Johnny, as well as other characters from the franchise.
One of the story lines I liked the most was the Sensei Kreese origin story. In Season 3 of Cobra Kai, there are short flashbacks into Kreese’s younger years showing how he became the man he is. I could watch an entire season of Kreese during his early years.
With the success of Cobra Kai and the revitalization of the Karate Kid franchise it was announced in 2022 a new Karate Kid movie was being developed. The new move, Karate Kid: Legends unites Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) into the same movie. Which would seem to indicate the 2010 movie wasn’t a remake, so much as a similar story set in China.
The trailer for Karate Kid: Legends mentions combining Miyagi-Do Karate with Han Kung-Fu. The story seems to follow the same formula that made The Karate Kid a success. Young kid gets bullied, young kid learns karate (and now Kung-Fu) young kid wins the tournament/match/fight-to-the-death.
There’s enough intrigue and mystery in the trailer to keep my attention. What happened to Li Fong’s brother? What is Han’s relationship with Li Fong’s family? How does Han know of Miyagi and Daniel? There’s a short bit in the trailer that alludes to the Miyagi family knowing the Han family and hopefully they expand on it in the movie.
I don’t know if the movie will be any good but I have enough questions that I’ll be watching to get the answers.
Kareate Kid: Legends star Ralph Macchio, Jackie Chan, Ben Wang, Ming-Na Wen and Joshua Jackson. It is scheduled to hit theaters on 30 May 2025. I hope it’s the second blockbuster of the summer! (Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning opens the week before and is sure to be a blockbuster)
Watch the trailer and let us know in the comments below if you are looking forward to Karate Kid: Legends. You can share your thoughts on X too. The main Retro Network channel is @TRNSocial and I’m @MileHighSamurai You can also find me on Bluesky @MileHighSamurai
