Karate Kid: Legends - Is It Worth It? What Works, and What Doesn't?

Karate Kid: Legends is a new Hollywood movie that premiered on May 8th, 2025 in cinemas all around the world. Curiously, it will only premiere in the U.S.A. on May 30th, 2025.

Directed by Jonathan Entwistle, produced by Karen Rosenfelt, and written by Rob Lieber, this movie also features Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio. It is the 6th movie in the Karate Kid franchise, and is set 3 years after the events of Netflix's Cobra Kai series.

Li Fong, a Kung Fu student, is forced by his mother to move with her from Beijing to New York, looking for new beginnings after a family tragedy.

In the city, he makes new friends and ends up also being forced to fight at a tournament. Trained by his Shifu, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) and by Sensei Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), Li intends to combine their knowledge and styles into a singular thing. That's the basic plot of the movie!

Official Trailer

The Karate Kid (1984) is the first movie in the franchise. It tells the story of Daniel LaRusso, a teen boy who learns Karate from Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) to defend himself from bullies like his arch-nemesis, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka).

The Karate Kid Part II (1986) is the second movie in the franchise. In it, Daniel and Mr. Miyagi travel to Okinawa, the Sensei's homeland, where they face new challenges and reunite with old friends.

In The Karate Kid Part III (1989), an old enemy returns to get revenge from Daniel and Mr. Miyagi, and that leads them to a dangerous duel.

In The Next Karate Kid (1994), Mr. Miyagi starts tutoring a new student, Julie Pierce (Hilary Swank), a teen girl with anger issues who needs to learn how to control her emotions through Karate.

The 2010 remake, The Karate Kid, was actually supposed to be a reboot of the original movies. Starred by Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, it introduces different characters and stories, and actually focuses on Kung Fu, not Karate. Or, at least, it tried to, considering it was supposed to be a reboot - it actually turned out as more of a remake. It was directed by Harald Zwart and produced by Jerry Weintraub, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, James Lassiter, and Ken Stovitz.

The plot goes like this: Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) moves to China with his mother and sees himself in a very different country, with incredibly unique customs. He knows a bit of Karate, but his knowledge is not enough to defeat the school bully, Cheng (Wang Zhenwei). Dre ends up befriending Mr. Han, a martial arts expert, who teaches him the secrets of Kung Fu so he can, hopefully, defeat Cheng, and maybe, who knows, conquer the heart of the beautiful Mei Ying (Wenwen Han).

Cobra Kai ran for six seasons - the last and final season came out in February 2025. The overall story focuses on the rivalry between Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso, thirty years after what happened at the original 1984 tournament. The plot follows Johnny, who leads a hard, financially unstable life with no real job, as he reopens the Cobra Kai Dojo and reignites his old rivalry with Daniel, now a successful businessman.

After the death of his mentor, Mr. Miyagi, Daniel has left Karate aside to cope with his grief. The reopening of the Cobra Kai Dojo forces him to open his own school, the Miyagi Dojo.

The series explores the consequences of the past and how they influence the new generation of students of these two Dojos.

While we kept up with Cobra Kai, Karate Kid: Legends was announced as the next movie in the franchise. And, as a fan of the original movies, I was quite anxious to see it, particularly to see how they would connect this new chapter to the old movies and develop a new story.

This new iteration actually follows the same premise as the 1984 and 2010 movies. A boy moves to a new town, starts learning a new martial art, and is guided by a master who uses unconventional methods. This same-old formula was a bit frustrating to me at first, specially in the first act of the movie. However, as the story goes on, I realized this movie wasn't exactly following the same formula as its predecessors, and that seemed promising to me.

By leaning on some fanservice, the movie captures our attention, particularly considering it features two movie legends, Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio, playing their old characters again. What really makes us, nostalgia fans, want to watch this movie is the promise of seeing Daniel LaRusso again in another context. And, of course, seeing these two together combining their own knowledge is quite fun too.

Nonetheless, though they really tried to connect this new story with the other movies in the franchise, the whole attempt was a bit forced, and shallow. The movie itself has a few plot holes, and doesn't really explore some characters as well as it could have. Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio could have been in more scenes, and that's really frustrating, considering we hoped to see more of them together in a new Karate Kid movie. Personally, I believe this would have been better to carry the franchise forward.

So far, most critics have highlighted how this movie managed to balance nostalgia and originality, and how it also honored the legacy of this franchise. The plot might not be that innovative, but is considered functional and depicts the characters, their emotion and charisma, really well. The fighting sequences were also praised for their beauty and for how the young actor Ben Wang, who plays Li Fong, uses it to represent the overall atmosphere of the movie.

Some platforms, like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB, don't have reviews for this movie because it is yet to premiere in the U.S.A. and other countries, like Portugal. You can expect to see it in these international theaters by late May.

On Letterboxd, it has an average of 3,1 out of 5 stars considering over 7.3 thousand reviews.

Seeing Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio together on the big screen, representing different generations of the franchise as well as different fighting styles, is very appealing on its own. The dynamic between these two characters as masters is fascinating and enriching.

Karate Kid: Legends isn't only about martial arts or nostalgia, either. It also has inspiring messages about friendship, love, and resilience.

It is very entertaining if you're a fan of the original movies, but it can also introduce new fans to this franchise rather well.

So, go watch this movie with your friends and family for yourself, and draw your own conclusions. Without a question, it will be a great experience!

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!