I kinda like the premise, but man did I find this installment of 'The Karate Kid' to be an irritating watch at times.
Pat Morita (Mr. Miyagi) remains the best part of these films, I had a solid time watching his scenes. Behind him, though, it isn't great at all. Ralph Macchio's performance is a little annoying in this, though he isn't helped by the very poor dialogue - which is seemingly just an attempt for Macchio (Daniel) to say as many words in as little time possible in a shouty manner.
Robyn Lively (Jessica) is only there to fill yet another love interest role for Daniel, a third from three films which is actually impressive. Thomas Ian Griffith, Sean Kanan and Martin Kove play the antagonists and they are the most irritating of all - so lazily written.
As noted, I did actually slightly like the idea that it attempts. It's nothing fresh or anything close, but if done differently it could've turned into an OK watch. Unfortunately, at least in my opinion, it's the opposite.
Just another lazy rehash of the themes of the original, with a ridiculous plot, some laughable moments and some insane performances. Morita is still charming in it, as usual.
Considering the second karate kid movie is one of my personal favorites of all time I can say I was very excited to see where the story would go. But after watching this film I can confidently say that the second film should have been the end of the franchise. This film feels lazy, over the top, stupid and completely unneeded. My biggest issue with this film is that it really does not raise the stakes all that much. The first two films felt like they had a progressive build up with the first being a tournament that Daniel fights in for respect and to get bullies off his back. The second film is about bad blood between families that culminates in a bloodspot style battle to the death that in my opinion in one of the best endings in a film ever. This film is simply just a rehash of the first one they bring us back to a tournament which feels like a step down its not new its not interesting. The third karate kid movie is completely worthless apart from fun and interesting three vs one fight towards the end of the film. That one fight is where the movie four points come from. If that scene was not in the movie I would probably give this movie a zero if I could.
Oh, wow, this is quite instrumental to understanding the backstory to the Cobra Kai TV show! A lot of things are clearer now / make much more sense :)
It's cool that "Cobra Kai" kept the song from the intro of this movie. It's a cool song and the modern version that is sped up is even better. I'm not quite sure if that song was also in the first two parts.
I was then a bit confused by the beginning for a moment but it quickly made sense once I realized that it started with some flashbacks (and that was quite useful since this third movie wasn't available on Netflix for a while...). And that Kreese vs. Mr. Miyagi fight is definitely something worth watching twice :) ("Honk" :D)
Lots of really nice quotes in this move, e.g., about forgiveness. Especially Mr. Miyagi has lots of funny and meaningful quotes, e.g.:
And now I also know what happened with Kumiko and who Terry Silver (Kreese's war friend) is.
Mr. Silver really has quite some dedication! I obviously don't like him but I gotta admit that he really planned that well... :o But man, that effort it took...
It's also no wonder that Daniel ends up becoming a car salesman. The way he "sold" Mr. Miyagi that store (how it's a good idea and how he visions everything) and that energy. It's just perfect :) Mr. Miyagi certainly must've seen his potential for becoming a salesman. And it was so sweet when Mr. Miyagi offered him a partnership.
After that it became kinda really frustrating as I could only stand by and watch how they started bullying Daniel. And they couldn't even leave Mr. Miyagi and Jessica alone... At least Mr. Miyagi could keep his balance/zen (singing happily because the bonsais are safe at their home and going fishing after realizing they've been stolen - what a legend! :D) and Jessica didn't get hurt as much as I feared.
At least we got to see Mr. Miyagi beat Terry and Kreese in a fight <3
After that final fight it is no wonder at all that Cobra Kai was banned permanently from the All Valley Tournaments. I'm just glad that Johnny Lawrence wasn't part of that Cobra Kai anymore. This also really explains how Daniel is so triggered by Johnny reopening Cobra Kai. And Johnny probably doesn't even know about that last part so it's no wonder how he doesn't get why Daniel is so out of balance due to it.
Btw: I find Daniel's walking, acting, and energy really familiar from the older Daniel in Kobra Kai :D It's so cool that they kept the original actors <3. The actor (Ralph Macchio) looks quite different now but there are also so many similarities / things to recognize.
PS: The older Daniel seemed ashamed of the fact that he temporarily joined Cobra Kai and thankful that Mr. Miyagi took him back. It's understandable that he isn't proud of that but he also doesn't have to be ashamed of it (but maybe he just made it a bigger deal for making his point that people can change). He was basically bullied into joining Cobra Kai and then he was a bit of a stupid idiot (or just too desperate). But he didn't feel hungry for power and he even burned that letter. So I wouldn't say that he was weak and gave in too easily.
The villains of this movie weren’t real people. They were cartoon characters. It was laughable how cartoonishly evil they were.
John Kreese, the Cobra Kai sensai is back and wants revenge. So he has a good friend Terry Silver, befriend Daniel and lie about Kreese being dead. Silver trains Daniel when Daniel is forced to enter a tournament and defend his belt. When Mr. Miyagi won't train Daniel. Silver teaches Daniel to go against his teachings and to do things Cobra Kai style.
Ralph Machio is whiny and annoying the most in this one with not his best performance. He's much better in the YouTube Red Cobra Kai series. While the plot is pretty goofy, I can't say there's a Karate Kid movie I don't like, even the remake lol.
:heart::heart::heart::heart::heart::heart::heart::heart: - I can watch this film many times and not get sick of it.
My rating system works:
10:heart:- Masterpiece :100:
9:heart:- Excellent
8:heart: - Amazing :ok_hand:
7:heart:- Great :sun_with_face:
6:heart: - Good :thumbsup:
5:heart: - Average :head_bandage:
4:heart: - Bad but watchable :octagonal_sign:
3:heart: - Bad :sob:
2:heart:- Awful :face_vomiting:
1:heart: - Bull Shit
We've lost pretty much all the charm that the original had at this point. Daniel is a bit annoying and the villains are absolute caricatures at this point. Using the kata as a one trick pony like the kick in the first? All just very lazy and treading over the same ground.
I remembered enjoying these films more as a child, I guess I didn't really know what good writing was back then!
This is already the third identical film.
Shout by Chi89BlockedParent2021-12-30T20:39:04Z
Another rehash of the themes of the original. The plot is lacking action from the previous 2 addions of the films. But there are some laughable moments that can crack you up and as always the performances are unreal. 8/10