Review - Karate Kid: Legends (2025)

       Hey guys, Chuck here. Karate Kid: Legends is the newest film in the Karate Kid franchise, and it stars Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio, Ben Wang, Ming-Na Wen, Sadie Stanley, Joshua Jackson, and Aramis Knight, and is directed by Jonathan Entwhistle. 

       The movie follows kung fu prodigy Li Fong, who was trained by Mr. Han, as he and his mother move to New York. It's here where he grows close to a girl named Mia, and meets her father Victor, who is a former boxer and pizzeria owner. Unfortunately, Li draws the attention of local karate champ Connor, and Li must face him in the upcoming Five Boroughs karate tournament. To help prepare Li, Mr. Han recruits Daniel LaRusso to travel from Los Angeles to New York to train Li in the art of Miyagi style karate. 

      So, I  should mention that the summary I just gave is only the back half of the movie. The first half sees Li growing close to Mia, as well as Mia's father Victor, who is a former boxer and owns a pizzeria. And, Li winds up training Victor for an upcoming boxing match. And, while I think that having the boxing match be part of the movie isn't inherently a bad thing, it does come at the expense of giving the fans what they came to see. 

     To be honest, I had fun with this movie. While it's far from the best overall Karate Kid movie, I would certainly rank it among the better entries in the series. I thoroughly appreciated the way that the movie calls back to a scene from Karate Kid - Part II where Mr. Miyagi tells Daniel LaRusso of how an ancestor of Mr. Miyagi wound up in China, learned Kung Fu from the Han family, and used it as the basis for Miyagi style karate. And, to have that connection furthered by establishing a connection between Mr. Miyagi and Mr. Han was kind of clever. 

     The performances were good, with Ben Wang doing a terrific job as Li. In fact, seeing him in this movie got me more excited for his role in the next Hunger Games movie. The supporting cast of Ming-Na Wen, Sadie Stanley, Joshua Jackson, and Wyatt Oleff were also terrific, and as a fan of the Mighty Ducks movies, I loved seeing Joshua Jackson in this movie. But, the big draw here was Jackie Chan as Mr. Han and Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso, and both of them were fantastic, and work exceptionally well off of each other. 

    The martial arts in Karate Kid: Legends was very on point for the Karate Kid franchise. While we didn't see anything as tense as the Karate War showdowns from the multiple seasons of Cobra Kai, we did get quite a few entertaining martial arts fights throughout the movie. And, I thought it was pretty clever how Mr. Han and Daniel work to build on Li's kung fu knowledge with the skills learned from Miyagi style karate. 

      Overall, I can recommend checking this one out if you're a hardcore fan of the Karate Kid franchise, but I suggest watching the first two movies, the 2010 film, and the entirety of Cobra Kai first. Karate Kid: Legends isn't the best movie I've seen so far this year, but I was certainly entertained as a fan. And, definitely stick around for the ending, as there's a really hilarious scene that fans of Cobra Kai will get a kick out of. 

      Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys in the next review. 

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