'Karate Kid: Legends' took me back to the '80s. For the tweens I watched with, the film packed an emotional punch.
This post contains spoilers. Don't say we didn't warn ya.
Hello, Yahoo Entertainment readers. My name is Suzy Byrne, and I've been covering entertainment in this space for over a decade — and longer elsewhere, but … details!
I am not the cinephile who sees every big, splashy new release the moment it hits theaters. What brings me big-screen joy are kid-friendly flicks — like Lilo & Stitch, which had humor and heart, with my ohana.
I'm a tenderhearted moviegoer who doesn't need two hours of explosions/violence/death. But also, as a busy working parent, getting two hours to turn off my phone, put up my feet and eat whatever I want while my child is fully entertained is the definition of movie magic.
So that's what this is — one entertainment reporter + her 10-year-old + friends — seeing family-friendly fare, indulging in film-themed treats and replying all, to you, about the experience. Welcome to the kids movie club.
'Wax on, wax off' — those were the last words I heard, courtesy of the guy behind me, as Karate Kid: Legends started and our party of six (three moms, three kids, ages 8-10) settled in to watch.
With a 41-year-old franchise — which has spawned six films and the Netflix show Cobra Kai — there's a lot of familiarity with the martial arts franchise from different eras.
I remember seeing Karate Kid in the theater during the summer of 1984 — and doing crane kicks on the beach for the rest of my vacation when I wasn't trying to catch flies with chopsticks. When I went home, I cut out photos of Ralph Macchio from Teen Beat and taped them to my bedroom wall. I also vividly remember someone giving me what they claimed was 20-something-year-old Macchio's phone number and calling it — on a corded phone, youngsters — with my friends. I'm pretty sure we hung up on whoever answered.
While to this day I could recite most of the film, with all the life lessons Mr. Miyagi taught Daniel-san, you don't have to have seen it or any of the others to enjoy Legends — and my daughter hadn't. Though it makes for a better watch. One mom-daughter pair in our crew saw the original the night before, and the tween yelled 'Johnny!' in delight during the mid-credits scene. My kid had no idea who Johnny (William Zabka) was. (He's come a long way, baby.)
This installment of the martial arts franchise, which I enjoyed while sipping a Ruby Red Kicker (a mocktail with ruby red grapefruit, cream of coconut, agave and lime), sees Macchio (Daniel in the first three movies as well as in Cobra Kai) and Jackie Chan (Mr. Han in 2010's The Karate Kid with Jaden Smith) reprising their roles as they come together to help Li Fong (Ben Wang) best his bully rival in the 5 Boroughs Tournament.
Li, who is Han's great-nephew, studied kung fu in Beijing before moving to New York City. However, his brother was fatally stabbed during a dispute they had with a kung fu opponent after a tournament. Li is haunted by that — and so is his mother, played by Ming-Na Wen, who doesn't want him to practice kung fu anymore.
And what's a Karate Kid movie without a love story? Li meets Mia (Sadie Stanley) — daughter of Joshua Jackson's Victor, a former boxer turned pizza shop owner who owes money to the wrong guys — and their PG relationship sparks trouble with her ex, karate champ Conor (Aramis Knight).
Legends takes place three years after Cobra Kai's series finale. It includes nods to its history, starting early on with a throwback scene of Daniel and Mr. Miyagi (the late Pat Morita) from Karate Kid II. It led to the explanation of the deep connection between Miyagi and Han. Han also visits Daniel at Miyagi-Do dojo in California, with the iconic yellow convertible parked outside, to convince him to come to New York to train Li. But there's lots of forward momentum to the story, down to the crane kick being replaced by the acrobatic, spinning dragon kick.
While the film may be lagging in box office expectations, the room of moviegoers I was with clapped at the end — and I can't remember the last time that happened.
Our young film enthusiasts again liked the funny parts: They laughed as masters Daniel and Han squabbled over which of their martial arts styles was better while training Li. ('What happened to two branches, one tree?' Li asked. 'One branch stronger than the other,' Han replied.)
They cracked up when Johnny brainstormed Miyagi-Dough pizza ideas with an exasperated Daniel. ('Olives on, olives off' was the funniest thing to the kids, despite none of them ever even trying one.) They also liked Li's tutor turned friend Alan (Wyatt Oleff) with his comedic relief.
While nobody needed comfort during the movie, the eldest girl in our group told me the PG-13 rated film was the 'most violent' and 'intense' movie she had ever seen. Moments included Jackson's character being knocked unconscious and hospitalized as well as a recurring flashback of Li's brother's death.
'I don't hate Karate Kid, but I don't love it because I'm afraid of violence,' she said. (The same kid also danced excitedly through the closing credits, so it was a range of feelings.)
My own child felt 'on guard the whole time,' telling me, 'I liked it, but it was not a relaxing movie. Everyone was jumping around. Fighting. The drama. The violence. The emotions. And it was so sad that Li's brother died.'
The adults lapped up all the nostalgic elements. Before we even got in the theater, we had gone from talking about Macchio in Karate Kid to 10 minutes on The Outsiders, which came in 1983, also featuring Macchio, and had the cast of the century.
It was all: 'I loved Johnny.' 'I loved Ponyboy.' 'Oh, Matt Dillon.' 'Ah, Rob Lowe.' 'Tom Cruise got so much better looking after that movie.' 'Emilio Estevez was my favorite.'
Speaking of teen heartthrobs, during Legends, I was amused when, after Jackson had already appeared onscreen several times, my friend leaned over and said, 'Ohhh my gosh, it's PACEY!' just realizing the Dawson's Creek alum was playing a middle-aged movie dad. Someone has clearly not been watching Doctor Odyssey.
Jackson was a nice addition to the film, and his pizza shop training with Li was a fun callback to Daniel and Miyagi of old, but then his character practically disappeared toward the end, even after all the training he did for the role.
The team behind Legends wasn't trying to reinvent the wheel here. While there were new faces and impressive martial arts moves, the story played out in a similar way to past films, with a big tournament finale as a defining moment.
In this one, Li bested Conor to win, and while he celebrated his winning moment, Conor came at him. Li not only stopped him, again, but then showed him mercy by not punching him when he could have. Li actually extended a hand to his rival. It reminded me why I liked the franchise in the first place, and it was a good lesson for the kids.
There are so many movies the kids want to see this summer (shortlist: Elio, How to Train Your Dragon, The Bad Guys 2, Smurfs), yet we were served a trailer for R-rated Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight followed by a Blair Underwood Lexus commercial. It was definitely not a preview to remember.
'We went home and googled the ages of Pat Morita when the first Karate Kid came out (52) and Ralph Macchio in the current one (63),' my friend wrote. For the last few days, I've been stuck on the fact that Daniel is now older than Mr. Miyagi.
Rule No. 1: Karate is for defense only. Rule No. 2: Googling your teen crush's current age as an adult is instant regret.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Is the ‘Ballerina' John Wick Movie Streaming on Netflix or Amazon Prime?
If you can't get enough of the John Wick franchise, I have good news for you: a new John Wick spin-off movie, Ballerina, opens in theaters this weekend. And even though he's not the star, Keanu Reeves makes an appearance in the Ballerina movie as Mr. Wick himself. Ballerina—aka From the World of John Wick: Ballerina—is a spin-off film that takes place between the events of the John Wick: Chapter 3 and John Wick: Chapter 4. Ana de Armas stars as Eve Macarro, a ballerina training to become an assassin. That's quite the career pivot! Her character also appeared in the third movie, but was portrayed by Unity Phelan, whom de Armas replaced for the spin-off. Also starring Gabriel Byrne, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Norman Reedus, with Anjelica Huston, Lance Reddick, Ian McShane, and Reeves all reprising their roles, Ballerina is a can't-miss film for John Wick fans. Read on to find out where to watch the Ballerina movie, and when we expect to be able to watch the Ballerina John Wick movie on streaming. For now, Ballerina will only available to watch in a movie theater, when it opens in theaters in the U.S. on Friday, June 6. You can find a showing near you via Fandango. Ballerina is not yet available to watch online or on streaming. Ballerina is not streaming on Netflix right now. That said, Ballerina is a Lionsgate release, and another recent Lionsgate release, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, began streaming on Netflix after two-and-a-half-months in theaters. So, maybe you'll see Ballerina on Netflix in about two and a half months, around late August 2025. However, don't count on it, because plenty of Lionsgate movies have not streamed on Netflix. You will be able to purchase Ballerina on Amazon Prime Video eventually, when the movie becomes available to buy and rent on digital. You also might be able to stream Ballerina on Prime for free eventually, thanks to the new deal between Lionsgate and Amazon that will send the 2026 Lionsgate movies to Amazon Prime for the 'Pay 1' window, after the films play in theaters. Even though it's still 2025, according to Variety, Prime Video also got the streaming rights to a 'package' of 2025 films, too. It's not clear which films those are, and if it includes Ballerina. But it's possible that Amazon subscribers will be able to streaming Ballerina for free on Prime before the end of the year. Ballerina is not yet streaming on Starz. You might see Ballerina on Starz this year, because it is a Lionsgate film, and Lionsgate extended its output deal with Starz, despite the fact the studios are still planning to separate in 2026. Supposedly, under the new terms of the deal, Starz will have exclusive rights to Lionsgate films post-theaters, and that the window will now come sooner after the movie's theatrical run. But in practice, the recent Lionsgate films don't seem to be streaming on Starz at an accelerated rate. The 2025 Lionsgate film Den of Thieves 2: Pantera began streaming on Netflix about two-and-a-half months after opening in theaters, and yet the movie is still not streaming on Starz. So, that's confusing! Recently, the 2025 Lionsgate movie, Flight Risk, began streaming on Starz about four-and-a-half a half months after the movie opened in the theaters. If Ballerina follows the same release pattern, you might see the movie on digital in about two-and-a-half weeks, around late June 2025, and on Starz in about four and a half months, which would be around late October 2025. But clearly, not all Lionsgate movies are following that strategy in 2025, and some may be going to Prime. Right now, we don't have a clear look at Lionsgate's 2025 release strategy. If you want to see Ballerina right away, you should go watch it in a movie theater.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
How this S.F. company's $100 million gamble made ‘Lilo & Stitch' one of Disney's biggest hits
There's an old Hollywood adage, attributed to comedian W.C. Fields, that advises filmmakers and actors never to work with children or animals. Good thing the makers of the new live-action ' Lilo & Stitch ' didn't listen to such nonsense. In the less than two weeks since its release, the Disney film is one of the most beloved of the year, pulling in more than $600 million at the global box office. It is already the second-biggest Hollywood release of 2025, and has a good shot at supplanting ' A Minecraft Movie ' ($947 million) as the top earner. Obviously, one of the reasons it has become one of Disney's most successful live-action remakes is audiences' warm memories of the 2002 animated film. But a major factor is the undeniable chemistry between 6-year-old Maia Kealoha, who plays Lilo, and the beautifully realized 2025 version of Stitich, the tiny irrepressible alien who lands in Hawaii and becomes Lilo's chaotic companion. The secret to developing that relationship was spearheaded by Industrial Light & Magic, based at the Presidio in San Francisco. As the visual effects team was grappling with how to turn the 2D animated version into a fully fleshed-out CGI character, a crucial decision was made: to aid the-yet-to-be-cast child actress who would play Lilo, the $100 million production would use animatronic puppets to interact with her and serve as a visual guide for the VFX team. 'They immediately had a bond,' animation supervisor Matthew Shumway said during a recent Chronicle visit to ILM. 'Every day there would be cute moments on the set. It was really important to let (Maia) have a friend on set. It was really cute to see how black (Stitich's) nose was by the end of production; it was pretty rubbed off because she kissed it so much.' Shumway, who filmed test footage with his own 6-year-old daughter before Maia was cast, and visual effects supervisor Craig Hammack turned to Legacy Effects, a Los Angeles company that specializes in animatronic puppets (Grogu of ' The Mandalorian '), to create a series of Stitch puppets, including one suited for underwater scenes. Hayes called the child's performance 'huge.' 'A 6-year-old girl, a lot on her shoulders, and there's only one of her, you know?' Hayes said. 'She nailed the character, and she was very professional, and very impressive.' Hammack, a two-time Oscar nominee as visual effects supervisor on ' Deepwater Horizon ' (2017) and ' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ' (2022), agreed. 'Maia was phenomenal — very honest, very focused,' he said. 'It didn't feel like (the production) was being tailored to a child in that everything was able to stay on track and very productive for the time we had with her.' Because Lilo first thinks Stitch is a dog, some of the character's movements were dog-like. In those scenes, a French Bulldog named Dale stood in for Stitch in scenes with Maia. The animal 'always gave a little bit of unpredictability,' Hammack noted, which added spontaneity to the film. Somewhere, the ghost of Fields was spinning. Blending live actors with animated characters has been a thing since at least 'Anchors Aweigh,' the 1945 MGM musical in which Gene Kelly famously danced with Jerry the Mouse. The landmark 1988 film 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' upped the ante. But counterintuitively, because of ILM's cutting-edge technology, 'Lilo & Stitch' was able to deliver something Kelly didn't have: a physical scene partner. 'Our work works because Seth did his job,' Shumway said. 'Without it, we would maybe get a stale performance from Maia. By the time it gets to (the VFX team), we digitally remove (the puppet), but then we've got all the other elements that benefited from the work that he did. Because Maya gave a really good performance, then we can give a really good performance with Stitch. 'So really, it's an old school process, but it's still very modern in how we approach it.'
2 hours ago
For Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves' co-star 10 years ago and once again, 'Ballerina' is a pirouette
NEW YORK -- Years before Ana de Armas was using an ice skate to slice a neck in 'From the World of John Wick: Ballerina,' she co-starred with Keanu Reeves in a much different film. The erotic thriller 'Knock Knock,' released in 2015, was de Armas' first Hollywood film. De Armas, born and raised in Cuba, had just come to Los Angeles after acting in Spain. English was new to her, so she had to learn her lines phonetically. 'It was tough and I felt miserable at times and very lonely,' she says in an interview. 'But I wanted to prove myself. I remember being in meetings with producers and they would be like, 'OK, I'll see you in a year when you learn English.' Before I left the office, I would say, 'I'll see you in two months.'' Since 'Knock Knock,' her rise to stardom has been one of the last decade's most meteoric. She was radiant even as a hologram in 'Blade Runner 2049.' She stole the show in Rian Johnson's star-studded 'Knives Out.' She breezed through the Bond movie 'No Time to Die.' She was Oscar nominated for her Marilyn Monroe in 'Blonde. ' And now, 10 years after those scenes with Reeves, de Armas is for the first time headlining a big summer action movie. In 'Ballerina,' in theaters Friday, de Armas' progressive development as an unlikely action star reaches a butt-kicking crescendo, inheriting the mantle of one of the most esteemed, high-body-count franchises. 'It's a big moment in my career, and I know that. I can see that,' she says. 'It makes me look back in many ways, just being with Keanu in another film in such a different place in my career. It definitely gives me perspective of the journey and everything since we met. Things have come far since then.' While de Armas, 37, isn't new to movie stardom, or the tabloid coverage that comes with it, many of her career highlights have been streaming releases. 'The Gray Man' and 'Blonde' were Netflix. 'Ghosted' was Apple TV+. But 'Ballerina' will rely on de Armas (and abiding 'John Wick' fandom) to put moviegoers in seats. Heading in, analysts expected an opening weekend of around $35-40 million, which would be a solid result for a spinoff that required extensive reshoots. Reviews, particularly for de Armas playing a ballerina-assassin, have been good. 'There's a lot of pressure,' says director Len Wiseman. 'It's a lot to carry all on her shoulders. But she'll be the first person to tell you: 'Put it on. Let me carry the weight. I'm totally game.'' De Armas, whose talents include the ability to be present and personable on even the most frenzied red carpets, has done the globe-trotting work to make 'Ballerina' a big deal: appearing at CinemaCon, gamely eating hot wings and cheerfully deflecting questions about her next film, 'Deeper,' with Tom Cruise. Yet for someone so comfortable in the spotlight, one of the more interesting facts about de Armas is that she lives part time in that bastion of young A-listers: Vermont. 'Yeah, it surprised many people,' she says, chuckling. 'As soon as I went up there, I knew that was going to be a place that would bring me happiness and sanity and peace. But I know for a Cuban who doesn't like cold very much, it's very strange.' Winding up in northern New England is just as unexpected as landing an action movie like 'Ballerina.' She grew up with the conviction, from age 12, that she would be an actor. But she studied theater. 'I never thought I was going to do action,' de Armas says. 'What was relatable for me was watching Cuban actors on TV and in movies. That was my reality. That's all I knew, so the actors I looked up to were those.' De Armas also had bad asthma, which makes some of the things she does in 'Ballerina' — a movie with a flamethrower duel — all the more remarkable to her. 'I couldn't do anything,' she remembers. 'I couldn't run. I sometimes couldn't play with my friends. I had to just be home and be still so I wouldn't get an asthma attack. So I never thought of myself as someone athletic or able to run just a block. So this has been a surprise.' At 14, she auditioned and got into Havana's National Theatre of Cuba. Four years later, with Spanish citizenship through her grandparents, she moved to Madrid to pursue acting. When she arrive in LA in 2014, she had to start all over again. Now as one of the top Latina stars in Hollywood, she's watched as immigrant paths like hers have grow increasingly arduous if not impossible. The day after she spoke to The Associated Press, the Trump administration announced a travel ban on 12 countries and heavy restrictions on citizens of other countries, including Cuba. 'I got here at a time when things were definitely easier in that sense,' says de Armas, who announced her then-imminent U.S. citizenship while hosting 'Saturday Night Live' in 2023. 'So I just feel very lucky for that. But it's difficult. Everything that's going on is very difficult and very sad and really challenging for many people. I definitely wish things were different.' Chad Stahelski, director of the four 'John Wick' films and producer of 'Ballerina,' was about to start production on 'John Wick: Chapter 4' when producer Basil Iwanyk and Nathan Kahane, president of Lionsgate, called to set up a Zoom about casting de Armas. He quickly watched every scene she had been in. 'How many people would have played the Bond girl kind of goofy like that?' he says. 'I know that I can harden people up. I know I can make them the assassin, but getting the charm and the love and the humor out of someone is trickier. But she had it.' In 'Knives Out,' Stahelski saw someone who could go from scared and uncertain to a look of 'I'm going to stab you in the eye.' 'I like that in my action heroes,' he says. 'I don't want to see the stoic, superhero vibe where everything's going to be OK.' But it wasn't just her acting or her charisma that convinced Stahelski. It was her life story. ''John Wick' is all hard work — and I don't mean just in the training. You've got to love it and put yourself out there,' says Stahelski. 'When you get her story about how she came from the age of 12, got into acting, what she sacrificed, what she did, that's what got my attention. 'Oh, she's a perseverer. She doesn't just enjoy the view, she enjoys the climb.'' When that quote is read back to her, de Armas laughs, and agrees. 'Being Cuban, and my upbringing and my family and everything I've done, I've never had a plan B,' she says. 'I've never had that thing of, 'Well, if it doesn't work, my family can help.' Or, 'I can do this other career.' This was it. And I also knew, besides being the thing I loved the most, this was my survival. This is how I live. This is how I feed myself and my family. So it's also a sense of, I don't know, responsibility.' That makes her reflect back to when she was just trying to make it in Hollywood, sounding out words, trying not to disappoint directors whose instructions she could barely understand, trying not to be intimidated by the action star across from her who had just finished shooting the first 'John Wick.' 'I was so committed to do it,' she says. 'I was so invested in the trying of it, just giving it a shot. When I give something a shot, I try my best, whatever that is. Then I can actually say: I gave it a shot.'
