Before most of the rest of the culture began to turn away from Cobra Kai (2018-2025), I grew tired of the popular Netflix series.  Please forgive me, but the constant teenage angst and drama, all of which seemed to be settled with martial arts and egged on by middle aged adults, became repetitive.  By the third or fourth season, I started watching the first episode or two and then skipping ahead to the last pair.  Of course, that means that there was some interest on my part, but I blame that on whatever it is you want to call it inside of me that hates to leave something unfinished.  Yet, if there is one thing that can draw my interest to almost anything, it is kung fu.  Having studied the discipline for a few years, I have always considered it superior.  Call me crazy, but my favorite film in the series that inspired the aforementioned streaming show is the 2010 version of The Karate Kid, with Jackie Chan playing Shifu Han, its Mr. Myagi (Pat Morita).  Hence, I was cautiously optimistic to see Shifu Han in Karate Kid: Legends, though worried about the influence of franchise stalwart Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio).  Let me tell you how it balanced the two.

The first thing Karate Kid: Legends wants to tell you is about is a time in The Karate Kid Part II (1986) when Daniel and Mr. Miyagi were in Okinawa back in 1986, and the sensei told the story of how his family’s brand of martial arts was influenced by China.  It is there we go next because that is where we get Kung Fu.  From his humble roots in The Karate Kid (2010), Shifu Han now has a large school at the beginning of Karate Kid: Legends.  His prize pupil is Li Fong (Ben Wang), though his mother, Dr. Wong (Ming-Na Wen), is not keen on all her son’s kicking and punching.  Her aversion stems from the death of Bo Fong (Yankei Ge), Li’s older brother, who had been killed by jealous rivals after a martial arts tournament.  Hoping to give Li a fresh start, Dr. Wong has come to collect her son to inform him that they are moving to New York City.  Like any high schooler in a similar situation, he is not excited about having his life uprooted.  All the same, and with mom’s admonition about no fighting, he explores his surroundings on their first night in the Big Apple.  He had gone to an American school in Beijing, so language is not a problem.  Looking for something to eat, he happens upon a pizzeria owned by Viktor Lipani (Joshua Jackson).  Li asks for stuffed crust, and when he is derided for his choice, Viktor’s daughter, Mia Lipani (Sadie Stanley), intervenes.  Li and Mia become fast friends, made all the more helpful by the fact that she goes to the same school.  Assisting her with errands for the restaurant, they pass by a karate dojo that captures his interest for a few moments.  She tries to warn him away because inside training is Conor Day (Aramis Knight), her jerk of an ex-boyfriend and multi-time winner of the prestigious Five Burroughs martial arts tournament.  Li and Mia’s brief stop is enough to garner Conor’s notice, and now, because the ex has not accepted that the relationship is over, Li becomes a target for Conor.  If you have seen any of the other iterations of these films, you will recognize the pattern.  While Li can handle himself, at first he is no match for Conor’s bullying.  Still, he is up to helping defend Viktor from people coming to collect a debt he owes to the owner of Conor’s dojo, O’Shea (Tim Rozon).  Being a former boxer himself, Viktor believes he can win against the three thugs, but is knocked out almost immediately.  When he comes to, Li has taken them all down.  So impressed is Viktor that he asks Li to train him for an upcoming amateur bout that will hopefully clear the business’s debts.  With some encouragement over the phone from Shifu Han, and after getting Mia’s approval, Li begins teaching Viktor Kung Fu.  Viktor improves in a lot of ways and is feeling confident heading into the match.  Unfortunately, O’Shea is present and has put money on Viktor’s opponent.  As the fight swings in Viktor’s favor, a nod from O’Shea gets the other boxer to throw some dirty punches that end up sending Viktor to the hospital.  A stunned Li freezes, being vividly reminded of what had happened with Bo.  He shuts down from everyone, which prompts a worried visit from Shifu Han.  Upon getting to the Fong’s apartment, Shifu Han notices a crumpled flyer for the Five Burroughs tournament.  Seeing this as an opportunity for Li to reclaim his confidence, Shifu Han insists that his student enter.  However, because the bouts will see a lot of karate, Shifu Han decides to bring in a specialist to teach Li some new moves.  This person is, of course, Daniel.  With a visit to his California dojo, Shifu Han convinces Daniel to come to New York to give Li what the teenager needs.  At first, Daniel is not sure it can be done in time, but when he sees what Li already knows, Daniel trusts he can impart his knowledge quickly.  Thus, we get to the inevitable showdown between Conor and Li, with Li landing the last kick to claim victory.  Everyone goes home happy, and Li sends Daniel in Los Angeles a thank you pizza that the sensei plans to share with Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka).

As alluded to in the introduction, Karate Kid: Legends is an offshoot of Cobra Kai, though it also stands on its own.  The inclusion of Daniel and Johnny cements the connection, but otherwise it is focused on Li and kung fu.  Either way, my expectation of Karate Kid: Legends was that it was going to be exactly like everything else the franchise has brought us.  Then again, who am I to argue?  As a Catholic, I am used to and appreciate regularity.  Yet, the relative sameness of daily and weekend Masses is meant to remind us of God’s constant presence in our life.  Because God gave us brains capable of a great deal of creativity, I prefer some variation in cinema.  To that end, this film did not get off to the greatest start.  Immediately when you see Conor, you know how it is going to end, even if you have never seen any of the predecessors.  What might have been a fresh take would have been for the script to take its own advice.  Dr. Fong’s repeated warnings about not fighting could have been a kung fu of its own, which is not an absurd take since one of the lines is literally “everything is kung fu.”  That would be the more Christian approach to solving problems, like turning the other cheek. Then again, that style would probably lose the audience.  As such, there is at least one thing that we can say is different about this one.  Unlike the ones that came before it, Li already knows martial arts.  With the others, it is always about learning to fight in order to defend yourself against a bully.  In this one, the bullied and bully are proficient.  In the end, the edge goes to the innovator.  The rest is pretty familiar, but Li’s slick moves are a departure from the norm.

One other slight difference in Karate Kid: Legends, though going along with Li’s knowledge base, is the fact that he is a student and a teacher.  It is while he is training Viktor that I got some of the best bits for discussing the film from a Catholic perspective.  Perhaps the best line is when Li tells Viktor that instead of trying to be like stone, the pizza maker must be like water.  Clearly, there is no Christian intent behind these words, and they are oft used metaphors in martial arts.  One of the foremost practitioners for the big screen, Bruce Lee, often talked about his movements flowing like water.  This Catholic, though, thought of Ezekiel 36:26, “I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh;” and John 7:38, “Rivers of living water will flow from within him.”  In the Christian context, stone is an impediment to the living water that is a life in Christ.  What this also refers to is finding a path, which is a theme in the movie.  Li is trying to do what his mother wants by not fighting.  It also does not help that he has an emotional hurdle to clear from Bo’s murder.  However, though it is actually God that should be seen in this light, for Li, kung fu is everything.  It gives discipline, like practicing the Faith.  Further, Dr. Fong, albeit well meaning, was asking that Li not fight for herself.  Li ultimately realizes that he has to do it for himself.  That is what having a relationship with God means.  We follow Him because it means everything for us, and by doing so, we can help others.  That describes the path Li follows, even if he does it in a less than prayerful manner.

The path in Karate Kid: Legends is also a remarkably short one.  I comment on this because there are aspects of it that feel rushed.  For example, we do not meet Daniel, aside from the opening flashback, until an hour into the movie.  Had some aspects of the plot been explored in a deeper way, this would be a stronger recommendation.