A One Mann’s Movies review of “Karate Kid: Legends” (2025).
As I get relentlessly teased about by my son-in-law, I have never seen the original “Karate Kid” from 1984… but I get the general idea. Then in 2010, “The Karate Kid” was remade with Jaden Smith as the kid in need of training and Jackie Chan playing Mr Han, his Sensai. Now whizz forwards another 15 years and we have “Karate Kid: Legends” which kind of smashes those two universes together into a Karate Kid sandwich… but one that pretty much follows the same sort of ‘anti-bullying’ plot.
“Karate Kid: Legends” is a pretty lightweight film in terms of story and acting, but I can’t deny that, as a Karate Kid virgin, I had fun with it. I think for a family with young teens, and possibly slightly younger children, this would make a fun family cinema trip.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
“Karate Kid: Legends” Plot:
Li Fong (Ben Wang) is being coached on Kung Fu in Beijing by Mr Han (Jackie Chan). But his mother (Ming-Na Wen), a surgeon, takes a new job at a New York hospital and Fong has to move with her and set up a new life there. He is befriended, and falls for, Mia Lipani (Sadie Stanley), the daughter of a pizza shop owner. But Mia is the on/off girlfriend of local teenage Karate-expert Conor (Aramis Knight) who doesn’t take kindly to Fong’s interest in ‘his girl’.
Certification:
UK: 12A; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC web site: “Moderate violence, injury detail, language”.)
Talent:
Starring: Jackie Chan, Ben Wang, Joshua Jackson, Sadie Stanley, Ming-Na Wen, Wyatt Oleff, Aramis Knight, Ralph Macchio, Tim Rozon.
Directed by: Jonathan Entwistle.
Written by: Rob Lieber. (Based on characters created by Robert Mark Kamen.)
Running Time: 1h 34m.
“Karate Kid: Legends” Summary:
Positives:
- An engaging, if predictable, story with the Fong / Mia relationship being quite sweet.
- Great fight-action-sequences leading to a tense final showdown.
- Some clever throwbacks for Karate Kid fans.
Negatives:
- The story is so predictable that it almost writes itself.
- Some of the dialogue is eye-roll worthy and in some cases poorly delivered.
- Li Fong seems too skilled to be so easily beaten up!
Review of “Karate Kid: Legends”:
A fun family film.
I went into this with pretty low expectations, but I found myself having fun. It is not going to challenge any awards ceremonies, but for families with suitably-aged kids (there’s no sex, but obviously some violence), this struck me as a great film for them to go and see all together. The story is definitely un-taxing, but develops a quite sweet fledgling relationship between Li Fong and Mia with both young actors doing well with their roles.
The trailer – involving Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio (the original Karate Kid of course) – is a bit misleading. The training you see in the trailer only really happens in the final reel of the film. The rest of the story revolves around the struggle of Mia’s Dad, ex-boxer Victor (Joshua Jackson), to keep his pizza shop from repossesion at the hands of the local mob boss (and Conor’s father) O’Shea (Tim Rozon). While this is a perfectly fine sub-plot, that ties into the main story well, fans awaiting Macchio and the main event might be forgiven for thinking “Come the Fuck on Bridget”. When this portion of the film comes, it seems to be rushed through and real fans might feel a bit cheated.
Great fun for Karate Kid fans.
I’m sure my son-in-law is not alone and there are a bunch of fans of the original films out there. If so, then they are going to dissolve into a messy puddle of soggy nostalgia at the opening of the film which takes up back to 1985 and, via the uncanny valley, a meeting between Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio-ish) and Mr Miyagi (an uncredited Pat Morita-ish). Spin forwards to the present day and Mr Han is the Sensai to Li Fong and is played (as in the 2010 remake) by the legend that is Jackie Chan who, now in his early 70’s, can still move! There is actually a nice photograph of ‘Mr Han meeting Miyagi’ which looks like a genuine photo of the actors, Jackie Chan and Pat Morita, meeting up in the past. (Morita died in 2005).
There is also another surprise for fans of the franchise before the end credits roll, which meant nothing to me but probably will to you!
Clunky dialogue and dodgy acting.
For all my positive words about the film, some of the dialogue is seriously dodgy and some of the acting is of the B-roll variety. Conor (Aramis Knight), in particular, makes for an almost cartoonish pantomime villain.
There also seems to be a dichotomy between the capabilities of Li Fong depending on who he is fighting. He basically gets his arse kicked by Conor in the schoolyard and on a subway train, but seems to have no trouble at simultaneously tackling and thrashing three baton-wielding thugs in an alley. This didn’t make a lot of sense to me.
But great action scenes.
But you don’t come to films like this for the acting or for a fully consistent plot! The secret sauce in this movie burger are the fight scenes. And they are very well executed. We actually have three forms of combat on display – Kung Fu, Karate and Boxing. The action leads up to the “Five Boroughs” competition where (you’ll NEVER guess this!) ends with a final showdown between Fong and Conor on the rooftop of a high-rise building.
The film places much emphasis on the Five Boroughs tournament. But we actually spend very little running time of the film in eithr the heats or the final. But the final showdown is well done, if totally predictable!
Will it be suitable for my kids?
I was pondering whether this film would or would not be suitable for my older grandkids to see (ages 7, 8, 10 and 10). I’d suggest a good read through of the BBFC Content Guidance for the film (go here, then “Cinema”; “+”; “Content Advice”). My only hesitation is that some of the fighting – especially the boxing match of Victor versus the dirty tactics of one of O’Shea’s men – is a bit on the brutal side. One brief scene also shows a knife being used to fatally stab someone. So it will depend on what your child has been exposed to on film or TV to date.
Summary Thoughts on “Karate Kid: Legends”
I’ve perhaps been a bit generous with my rating, but ‘family films’ that parents and early-teenage and pre-teen kids can go and enjoy together are as rare as hen’s teeth. So this movie deserves some credit for creating an energetic and envigorating ride: one that also ticks the nostalgia boxes for some adults.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “Karate Kid: Legends”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhRXf-yEQqA.
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