This reboot-remake-sequel never strays far from what’s expected but succeeds thanks to cornball charm and some stirring fight sequences.
Loose ends make the longtime fans unhappy. They notice. They want their fantasy universes to make perfect sense. Therefore, on the heels of Final Destination: Bloodlines and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, here comes another sequel that ties together the various strands of its previous chapters while paving the way for future installments.
Karate Kid: Legends takes us through the usual outsider-proves-himself paces while informing audiences that Mr. Han and Mr. Miyagi — the trainers played by Jackie Chan and the late Noriyuki “Pat” Morita, respectively — were actually old buddies this whole time.
Not that The Karate Kid — a 40-plus-year-old franchise that spawned sequels and even a revisionist TV series focusing on the bad-guy dojo (Cobra Kai) — particularly cried out to have its narrative strands braided quite so tightly, but as Western civilization unravels in 2025, dotting every “i” and crossing every “t” must be some kind of soothing for the right viewer.
Our new kid in town this time around is Li Fong (Ben Wang, American Born Chinese), who trains at the Beijing martial-arts academy run by his uncle Mr. Han (Chan). Li’s doctor mother, played by Ming-Na Wen, disapproves, since her older son was stabbed to death by a rival after winning a tournament. (It’s a testament to Wen’s talent that she’s able to give so much to a character who, as of this writing, is listed on the film’s IMDb page as “Li Fong’s Mother.”)
Mom gets a job in New York City, forcing Li to start over, and she begs him to stop fighting. Wouldn’t you know it, though, Li immediately falls for Mia (Sadie Stanley), daughter of retired-boxer-turned-pizzeria-owner Victor (Joshua Jackson). Not only has Mia recently broken up with sociopathic karate champ Conor (Aramis Knight, Into the Badlands) but Victor also owes money to the creepy “we fight to kill” owner of Conor’s dojo, so of course Li must face off against Conor in the 5 Boroughs street-fighting tournament.
Han comes to town to coach his nephew, and he flies to California to recruit Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) from the original Karate Kid movies to instruct Li in the ways of “Miyagi karate”; turns out, the very first Miyagi sensei accidentally wound up in China centuries ago, learned the Han fighting methods, and incorporated them into the family teachings.
Credit the movie magic of director Jonathan Entwistle and editors Dana E. Glauberman and Colby Parker Jr. that Karate Kids: Legends makes it even remotely believable that Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio are peers in the arena of martial-arts training. What’s really special about the fight choreography here is that Li gets to be talented but not superhuman; early on, when he grapples with some goons trying to shake down Victor for money, the kid gets in some good licks and kicks while also enduring falls and face-plants that clearly hurt. Even the film’s inevitable final battle plays like a tense and hard-won match between equals.
It’s not hard to feel for Li when he’s getting knocked around because Wang so quickly establishes himself as a likable and empathetic screen presence. The actor puts us on Li’s side from the moment he appears onscreen, and his charisma goes a long way to giving heft to the various relationships the character builds or maintains over the course of the movie. (Chan and Macchio are mostly relegated to the sidelines, but longtime Karate Kid fans will get a thrill out of seeing the various offshoots of the series come together; “one tree, two branches,” as the characters frequently say.)
Is Karate Kid: Legends corny and predictable? You bet your obi. But this too-familiar tale is told with such winning spirit and brio that it works all the same. It’s merely a building block in an IP renovation, but it’s remarkably sturdy.
