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The entire ‘Karate Kid' franchise, ranked (animated series included!)
This week, the Karate Kid franchise is back in theaters for the first time in 15 years with Karate Kid: Legends. And unlike the 2010 film, this movie is a true continuation of everything that came before it.
Who could have predicted that there would be a new Karate Kid movie over four decades after the original? The 1984 original has withstood the test of time, and it gave Ralph Macchio and Noriyuki "Pat" Morita two of their most iconic roles as Daniel LaRusso and his mentor, Mr. Miyagi.
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Although Morita died in 2005, Macchio has kept the flame of The Karate Kid alive in both the sequel series, Cobra Kai, and the newly released Karate Kid: Legends. In honor of that film, we're ranking the entire Karate Kid franchise, including the two TV shows.
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Unless you lived through the '80s, you may not appreciate how hilarious it is that nearly everything got a Saturday morning cartoon show, including R-rated flicks like Rambo and RoboCop. The Karate Kid's cartoon isn't exactly bad as far as old cartoons go, but it's more enjoyable as an unintentionally funny show than as a high-quality animated series.
Joey Dedio and Robert Ito stepped in to provide the voices of Daniel and Mr. Miyagi as they traveled the world with a Japanese girl named Taki Tamurai (Janice Kawaye) to retrieve a miniature magic shrine. Every episode ends with the shrine slipping from their grasp and starting things over again. But at least Pat Morita provided some in-character narration for most of the episodes.
Although this film has been retconned into the larger Karate Kid universe, the 2010 reboot is very close to a remake minus some changes. All of the major characters from the original film have counterparts here, including Jaden Smith in the leading role as Dre Parker, a teenager who gets the culture shock of a lifetime when he moves to China
Jackie Chan's Mr. Han plays the Miyagi role here as he helps Dre fend off his bullies. Even though the sequel acknowledged it, the fact that Mr. Han teaches Dre Kung Fu instead of karate means the studio should have given this film a new title. He's the Kung Fu Kid!
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As disconnected as the 2010 film was from the rest of the franchise, it's fun to see Jackie Chan sharing the screen with Ralph Macchio in Karate Kid: Legends. But it's not a partnership that takes up a lot of time in the movie.
Marco Zhang plays the new Karate Kid, Li Fong, the great-nephew of Mr. Han. And just like every other teen hero in this franchise, Li needs martial arts lessons so he can take down his bullies. Zhang might have a nice career ahead of him, and this is far from a bad movie. It's just not peak Karate Kid. The nods to the past are appreciated, though.
Hilary Swank is clearly the biggest star to come out of the Karate Kid franchise, and it's a shame she didn't do a Cobra Kai cameo to reconnect with her past. The Next Karate Kid also boasts Michael Ironside as the villain, Colonel Dugan and a young Walton Goggins as Charlie, so clearly the casting director had an eye for talent.
Morita returns as Mr. Miyagi one last time to mentor Julie Pierce (Swank), the granddaughter of one of his military friends. Julie also has an indirect link to Miyagi through the karate lessons he shared with her grandfather. And while Miyagi knew how to handle Daniel, there are times Julie was just a bit too much for him.
The Karate Kid Part III can be forgiven for being such a carbon copy of the first film because Thomas Ian Griffith was a fantastic villain as Terry Silver, an old buddy of John Kreese (Martin Kove) who wants revenge and to reestablish Cobra Kai.
Silver had a nonsensical plan to fake Kreese's death and ruin Daniel's karate mojo by teaching him the wrong way to practice the martial arts. There is some good drama between Daniel and Miyagi, but when push comes to shove at the All-Valley tournament, you know how it's going to go.
Cobra Kai did a fantastic job of fleshing out William Zabka's Johnny Lawrence — one of the main villains in the first film — by giving him a redemptive journey through the reopening Cobra Kai. Johnny also backtracks a bit by starting a new rivalry with Daniel, but the way these two have slowly become friends over the course of the series is a beautiful thing and great character development.
This show was a love letter to all things Karate Kid. Some of the new generation of martial artists, including Xolo Maridueña and Peyton List, seem like they're well on their way to becoming stars as well. In three decades, the kids on this show may be starring in their own Cobra Kai spinoff.
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The film that started it all handled the Karate Kid formula better than any movie that came after it. As compelling as Zabka is in Cobra Kai, he's the perfect bully in this film when Daniel moves to town and romance's Johnny's ex-girlfriend, Ali Mills (Elizabeth Shue).
Morita's gravitas as Miyagi was so apparent that he deservedly earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting actor. There's a real warmth between Morita and Macchio that's apparent whenever they're on-screen together. That's one of the big reasons why this is such a beloved classic over four decades later.
Why does The Karate Kid Part II get the nod over the original? For one thing, it's got a much better power ballad on the soundtrack with Peter Cetera's Oscar-nominated "Glory of Love.' It's also the only sequel that didn't try to recreate the story structure of the first film. Instead, The Karate Kid Part II dares to try something new by sending Daniel back with Miyagi to revisit some unfinished business in Japan.
It doesn't take long for Daniel to find a new love interest, Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita), and a new rival, Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okumoto). But the real drama comes from Miyagi's broken friendship with Chozen's uncle, Sato Toguchi (Danny Kamekona), who wants to fight his old rival to the death. There's no tournament this time, and the film is better for it.
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