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Karate Kid: Legends - The Age of Legacy
- Yadav B V
- May 31
- 5 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
In my opinion, it all started with Spider-Man: No Way Home, which brought together varied generations of actors playing the same role simultaneously. Then came Deadpool & Wolverine, where Deadpool gathers "the others" with Wesley Snipes as Blade, saying "Legacy." Now, we have Karate Kid: Legends - "Two branches, one tree."
TMJ Rating: 🍿🍿🍿🍿/ 5
Karate Kid: Legends is a fast-paced action movie that continues the legacy of Sensei Miyagi with loads of history, a good screenplay, a great cast, crisp editing, and amazing execution. Watch It!
The Plot of Karate Kid: Legends
Mr. Han from the terrible remake with Jaden Smith has now opened a grand dojo of his own in Beijing, China. He is coaching a student named Li Fong played by Ben Wang who with his mother is recovering from losing a loved one, Li's brother and Dr. Fong's son.
When Dr. Fong, played by Ming-Na Wen, gets a better job opportunity in New York City, she ensures she takes her son with her, mirroring how Daniel ( Ralph Macchio ) moves into Reseda with his mom in search of a new and better life.
But Li Fong is struggling with the trauma of losing his brother in a violent altercation, unlike Daniel, and has to fit in with a whole new crowd as well. He makes fast friends on the very first day in the Big Apple with the charming Sadie Stanley as Mia Lipani, which also leads to friction with one of her exes, played by Aramis Knight as Conor.
Hence begins the showdown between good and evil, between wrong and right, with a lot of fast-paced action, great background score, good humor, and blink and you'll miss it callbacks.
I don't know about the US release, but in Bengaluru, India, there is this rough movie editing at least once that I noticed in which the transition felt abrupt. But otherwise, the movie is really crisp and clean, no sloppy sections, no lingering, just lightning-quick scene transitions in both the first and the second acts.
There's even a scene where Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan team up on a couple of people in a massive crowd and diffuse the situation faster than it started - simply brilliant. I wonder how much Jaden Smith's terrible remake had to do with making this movie as clean and fast as possible.
The Age of Legacy Movie-Making
Marvel began with phase one, where it created detailed origin stories and fleshed out characters in high detail, beginning with Iron Man and ending phase one with The Avengers in 2012.
The age of legacy actors has officially begun! And I'm loving it! Bringing disparate yet related storylines into a single narrative is what will continue to drive the story since Marvel started creating its universe.
The next level of storytelling is to dig up either successful or obscure franchises, be it series or movies, breathe new life into them by supporting them with current storylines, and pray to the gods of cinema that it will work. You might argue - those are just reboots and remakes, aren't they? Not even close.
A remake or reboot is what happens when you dust off old movie scripts, ignore any plot points, and start afresh, such as the trials and tribulations of the Hulk movie franchise, the Superman movie franchise, and most definitely The Batman movie franchise. But now, however, after Christopher Nolan's golden touch with his Dark Knight trilogy, even Matt Reeves' take on The Batman is doing well.
The Flash movie was a wonderful way to weave in legacy actors organically while retaining the plotlines of every generation intact, making it an awesome watch. You get to see and hear "You wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts!" and also the iconic "Yeah, I'm Batman"
The Cast
Ben Wang as Li Fong plays a great Karate Kid for both Shifu Han and Sensei LaRusso to train in a record-breaking time of one week to fine-tune Fong's Kung-fu and teaching very particular portions of Karate needed to win a massive Karate championship.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Joshua Jackson as Victor Lipani, who, along with every fan of 90s shows and movies. My clearest memory of him was from The Mighty Ducks movies and Urban Legend, although many of you will know him from Dawson's Creek or other shows or movies.
Sadie Stanley as Mia Lipani is a breath of fresh air as the quintessential New Yorker supporting her single dad in his pizza place and trying to live life as best as she can. Her expressive face and body language make it a pleasure to watch her perform on-screen in this movie, reminding me so much of Melissa O'Neil from the hit series The Rookie.
Ming-Na Wen as Dr. Fong is one of the most versatile actors I've seen on screen, playing Charlie Harper's girlfriend in the sitcom Two and a Half Men, a bada$$ agent in the series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and who can forget her role as Chun-Li in the movie adaptation of the game Street Fighter.
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Wyatt Oleff as Alan, you might have seen him playing the squirrelly kid in the horror movie IT, and the Netflix series I Am Not Okay With This, all three roles with the character exhibiting a similar temperament.
I remember Aramis Knight most recently while watching the awesomely funny Psych series, and a few years ago when I saw Ender's Game. Here, he plays a random bully without much screentime for any depth or proper backstory.
Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso is basically himself in the movie, as the original Karate Kid, and shares an easy chemistry with Jackie Chan, who together make great jokes. As for Jackie Chan, it's Jackie Chan! He can just say his name for two hours consecutively, and I would still watch that movie.
For fans of Schitt's Creek, you might recognize Tim Rozon, who played Mutt Schitt, the son of the Mayor in the show Roland Schitt. Here, Rozon plays O' Shea, a loan shark who keeps unsavory company to collect on his debts.
Should You Watch It? Yes!
Karate Kid: Legends is a fitting homage to Pat Morita and the Karate Kid franchise in general. The movie is fast, with a simple yet well-executed plotline with legacy actors and a few new ones that outperform everyone on-screen - watch it!
