Latest news with #KungFu
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Karate Kid: Legends Review: SOOOOO Many Cliches
HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – Karate Kid: Legends is the sixth Karate Kid film, not counting the spinoff series Cobra Kai, and it is so riddled with cliches that there is almost nothing new, special, or interesting about this rehashed, remixed, clone-of-a-clone-of-a-clone-of-a-clone of a movie. Jonathan Entwistle directs Karate Kid: Legends, which stars Ben Wang as Li Fong, this film's titular Karate Kid – who actually practices Kung Fu. Jackie Chan returns from the remake made in 2010, Ralph Macchio returns from the original three films from the 1980s, and Ming-Na Wen plays Wang's character's mother, who initially disapproves of Li fighting. The story is familiar to anyone who has seen a Karate Kid movie: Li must fight in a city karate tournament to save his girlfriend's father's pizzeria from loan sharks. Friendship review Karate Kid: Legends is entirely composed of cliches. It is easy to know exactly what fights he's going to win, what fights he's going to lose, and where these characters are going to go at every single turn. If the mother character begins by disapproving her son's karate, what do you think is going to happen by the end? If there is a fight at the midpoint that would solve all of the characters' problems, do you think the protagonists are going to win? If Li needs to train to be successful, do you think there's going to be a montage? That question I can answer without fearing spoilers: yes, in fact, there are going to be several montages. Even if you're going to Karate Kid: Legends for the martial arts action, you will be disappointed. The martial arts action is cut to ribbons; the editing makes it almost impossible to figure out what is going on in these fights. Like most modern action films, the frenetic cutting makes it feel like stuff is going on, but any clarity of motion or geography gets lost in all the cuts. Most deceptive is the film's use of the two great stars of the franchise, Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio. These two actors are given almost nothing to do in Karate Kid: Legends. The plot bends itself into a pretzel to include them, and yet it still gives them nothing to do. Neither character has an arc, and both characters don't show up on screen for any extended amount of time until the film is half-over. Heavily featured in the training montages, they exist to spout cliché dialogue and block a few punches in sparring sequences. For fans of the franchise or Cobra Kai, Karate Kid: Legends wastes the franchise's main draws. Most of the film's heavy lifting relies on Ben Wang, and he is the one good thing about Karate Kid: Legends. He is almost charming enough to save it, and it is through sheer force of will that he is able to make the movie halfway watchable. But with hackneyed 80s villains, bad action sequences, and a plot that regurgitates cliches, not even Wang's strong performance can save Karate Kid: Legends. Eyewitness News. Everywhere you are. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Post
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
How ‘Karate Kid: Legends' filmed climactic fight on NYC skyscraper: director
Wax on, wax off. The latest movie in the 'Karate Kid' franchise, 'Karate Kid: Legends,' ended with a dramatic fight — that included hundreds of background actors. 'We had 650 extras in there on the [sound] stage for that sequence, to really sell it,' director Jonathan Entwistle exclusively told The Post. Advertisement 11 Ben Wang as Li in 'Karate Kid: Legends.' ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection 11 Ming-Na Wen, Wyatt Oleff, Ralph Macchio, Ben Wang, Joshua Jackson, Jackie Chan, Sadie Stanley in 'Karate Kid: Legends.' ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection 11 Li (Ben Wang) and Connor (Aramis Knight) fighting on top of a skyscraper in 'Karate Kid: Legends.' Columbia Pictures Advertisement 'Karate Kid: Legends' follows a new character, Li (Ben Wang), who has trained in Kung Fu with martial arts master Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), who was friends with the late Mr. Miyagi (Nariyoshi Miyagi). When his mom moves him from China to New York, Li befriends local Pizzeria owner Victor (Joshua Jackson) and crushes on Victor's teen daughter, Mia (Sadie Stanley). Eventually, Li finds himself in a karate tournament, facing off against Mia's aggressive ex-boyfriend, Connor (Aramis Knight). Mr. Han comes to help Li train, since he knows Kung Fu but not karate, and also entreats original 'Karate Kid' Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) to help train Li. 11 Ralph Macchio, Jackie Chan and Ben Wang attend the 'Karate Kid: Legends' Photocall at Trafalgar Square on May 20, 2025. Getty Images for Sony Pictures Advertisement 11 Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio in 'Karate Kid: Legends.' ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection 11 Ralph Macchio in 1984's 'Karate Kid.' Li and Connor's climatic fight takes place on top of a fake New York City skyscraper — filmed on a soundstage. 'We filmed using the volume technology,' he explained, referring to the visual effects technology that's also been used on shows like 'The Mandalorian' and 'House of the Dragon.' Advertisement 'The whole skyscraper building with the elevator and all of those things – we built it for real on a stage. And then we built big 40-foot screens all the way around this set.' 11 Ben Wang on top of an NYC skyscraper for the final climactic fight in 'Karate Kid: Legends.' Columbia Pictures 11 Director Jonathan Entwistle talking to The Post for 'Karate Kid: Legends.' Page Six 11 Li (Ben Wang) during the fight on top of an NYC skyscraper. ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection He said production then went to New York City, 'and we found the exact pinpoint position in Manhattan where we could take the camera and the drones all the way up – to get the exact skyline that we wanted at the exact same time of day.' Once they captured the New York City skyline footage they wanted, they filmed for over 24 hours to 'get all the sky versions.' Once they got the footage, 'we tweaked the sunset to get a most perfect sunset with the most perfect New York skyline to be able to work with that. Because it's very important for me that the movie felt like it was in New York.' 11 Ralph Macchio, Ben Wang and Jackie Chan in 'Karate Kid: Legends.' ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection Advertisement 11 Ben Wang (L) and Ralph Macchio promote the upcoming film 'Karate Kid: Legends' at the Sony Pictures Entertainment presentation during CinemaCon, the official convention of Cinema United, at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on March 31, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Getty Images 'By New York, I mean Manhattan – kind of Flatiron [building] adjacent. That's New York for the vast majority of people in the world,' he explained to The Post. 'I was, like, 'let's make it feel like we were right in the middle there.'' The epic fight sequence took about two weeks to film. And because they were on a soundstage with 40 foot screens displaying their Manhattan skyline footage, production 'had a perpetual sunset.' 'Karate Kid: Legends' is in theaters now.
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Film review: Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs are remarkable in The Salt Path
The Salt Path ★★★★★ The Salt Path Casting around in desperation in the moments before they are forcibly removed from their home, Ray alights on a battered travel guide, and makes a snap decision: despite Moth's incurable degenerative disease, the pair pack a small tent and start hiking out around the West Somerset Coastal Path. And that, in a nutshell, is the plot of The Salt Path, a story salted not only by ocean spray but bitter tears as Ray and Moth take stock of their lives, their marriage and themselves whilst slowly hiking the hard yards into their precarious future. Adapted by Rebecca Lenkiewicz from Raynor Winn's memoir, and directed by Marianne Elliott, The Salt Path is a story of major losses and tiny victories, of constant pain and simple joys, of sifting life's hard-earned truths from the chaff of ephemeral irrelevancies. The slow, epic trek is regularly punctuated with unexpected meetings, occasional rudeness and — more frequently — the kindness of strangers. With no roof over their head, Ray and Moth become more observant of the world around them, growing closer to nature and adapting their pace to the slower rhythms of nature. There's humour here too: at one point Moth is mistaken for the English poet laureate, Simon Armitage, which leads to a very welcome cold drink, hot meal, and even a massage for Moth's weary body; later, Moth — who is reading Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf as he trudges along — will lean into the mistaken identity and busk an impromptu public reading that buys that evening's fish and chips. But this is no idyllic hippy-dippy yarn: the couple are at the mercy of the ever-changing weather, subject to brutal economic realities and acutely aware that Moth's agony is worsening the further they go. Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs deliver remarkable performances, and particularly in terms of the couple's intimacy: married for 20 years, Ray and Winn are like a pair of trees growing into one another, stripped bare by an unkind climate, bent but never yielding. Marianne Elliott, transitioning from directing theatre and TV, delivers a film as spare as the story's plot; the film is as unsentimental and healing as the windswept landscape itself. All told, it's a tour de force. theatrical release Karate Kid: Legends ★★★☆☆ Jackie Chan, Ben Wang and Ralph Macchio in 'Karate Kid: Legends' The first rule of Kung Fu, apparently, is that everything is Kung Fu. Karate Kid: Legends (PG) stars Ben Wang as Li Fong, a Beijing-bred teenager and Kung Fu fanatic whose life is upended when his mother (Ming-na Wen) relocates to New York. There he meets Mia (Sadie Stanley), the daughter of washed-up boxer Victor (Joshua Jackson), whose pizza restaurant owes a large debt to a local mobster. And so, against his mother's wishes, Li starts training for the Five Boroughs street-fighting tournament and its $50,000 prize, aided and abetted by a pair of bickering mentors, aka the eponymous legends Mr Han (Jackie Chan) and the original karate kid, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio). Plot-wise, Jonathan Entwhistle's movie pretty much retells the story of Karate Kid (1984), although here, in a reversal of roles, the young Li gets to train the older Victor as the latter prepares for a make-or-break comeback bout, blending Kung Fu elements — the ability to 'move like water' and become sinuous, unbreakable — into the more traditional boxing skills. The young Ben Wang is an amiable presence in the lead role, even if Li's transition from martial arts novice to maestro is far too rapid to be plausible; meanwhile, the supporting characters are a likeable bunch. The martial arts are fast and furious, and the ever reliable Jackie Chan brings some much-needed humour to the proceedings. It's solid, but no knock-out. theatrical release Read More TV review: Stories of Surrender shows Bono baldly defending his reputation
Mint
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
Karate Kid Legends: Hidden money lessons from the dojo to your wallet
At the Han School of Kung Fu, one lad quietly practices at the Mu Ren Zhuang while his uncle Mr. Han tries to fob off his mom who makes it very clear that she does not like him fighting. And yes, they are moving to New York. The lad, Xiao Li does not wish to move. But has to, because mothers have their own way of saying that New York will help them start afresh. As in all good Kung Fu movies, you know that the lad will find Kung Fu everywhere. He has to defend himself from school bullies, and baddies in the neighbourhood. His late night fight with bullies who have come to beat up the pizza guy is so legit awesome, you know it's time to indulge in samosas. After all, every time a baddie breaks a bone, it's worth a legendary crunch! Are there hidden money lessons in a Kung Fu-Karate film? When you were a kid, you bribed your older brother to rent those 'kung-fu-karate' videos because you were too young to watch Bruce Lee or Black Belt Jones. And now, this film actually brings Kung Fu with Jackie Chan and Karate with Ralph Macchio - the original Karate Kid. And when the two legends meet to train a young lad, there is so much fun! 'Kung Fu is better', Jackie Chan says, but Ralph Macchio informs us that in the open 5 Boroughs fight, Xiao Lee will have to use Karate. With every training session - of course there's a jacket-on, jacket-off practice - the lad learns the value of both branches of martial arts. And those of us who grew up watching Jackie Chan and binged on Karate Kid reruns and the TV series called Cobra Kai, we are treated to happy nostalgic scenes. Thankfully unlike the interminable recap scenes we saw in the last Mission Impossible, we are not given a bad rehash of the glory of Kung Fu or Miyagi Do karate. We just know that both branches of martial arts make for a winning combination. That brings us to your stock portfolio. Any money manager worth his or her salt will tell you that it is best to have a combination of blue chip stocks as well as everything else (your cyclical stocks, penny stocks, IPO stocks, commodities stocks and yes, defensive stocks). You keep the Blue Chip stocks for the long term, and make short term gains with the others. Hence One portfolio, Two Kinds of Stocks. At first, you realise that Xiao Li's opponent, the undefeated Connor Day (played with very apt aggression by Aramis Knight) practices at the gym every day, all the time (except when he's bullying Li at school). But Xiao Li has bigger demons of his own to deal with: the fear, the hesitation that makes him freeze when he sees people he likes being attacked. Not giving any spoilers away, he has to learn to win that battle, before he can take on the bully. Xiao Li knows all the lessons: Kung Fu is everywhere and the lesson made famous by the one and only Bruce Lee: You have to be water… Easier said than done in real life, no? If you lose money at the stock market the easiest way is to give up rather than invest more money. People will try to bring you down by saying, 'This is not for you!' But as in the movies, you have to first acknowledge that you made a mistake and then pull up your socks and get into the ring once again. For that, you will need to learn, just like Xiao Li. Read, read, and then read up some more about everything you want to invest in. Not just about the company, but also about where the economy is going, and how political affairs affect the stocks you are interested in. And yes, you do need a sensei: your money manager. Be honest with them and then you will receive good advice. Just as young Xiao Li learns, you have to be beaten up before you can win. So get up, dust off your losses and get ready to invest again. After a long time a 95 minute film will see you stepping out of the theatre with a happy smile on your face. Young lad Ben Wang who plays Xiao Li Fong is very light on his feet and his action pieces are a great watch. Yes, you miss fabulous action by Jet Li and Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio's reluctant karate brilliance, but the guest appearance of Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) was like a super cheesy sauce on the samosas! The film is like a ray of sunshine after a bad movie after bad movies that have been raining on us… Manisha Lakhe is a poet, film critic, traveller, founder of Caferati — an online writer's forum, hosts Mumbai's oldest open mic, and teaches advertising, films and communication. She can be reached on Twitter at @manishalakhe.
Time of India
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Karate Kid Legends on OTT: Jackie Chan's film likely to premiere on Netflix in September
Karate Kid Legends on OTT: Karate Kid Legends, one of the most eagerly awaited films of the year, is finally out in theatres. The martial arts drama hit the screens on May 30 amid much fanfare. According to Decider, it will premiere on Netflix after its run in theatres. Sony, the company behind the Karate Kid saga, has a deal with the streaming giant. Karate Kid Legend may premiere on Netflix in September Jackie Chan is in the limelight because of his latest film Karate Kid Legends, which opened in theatres on May 30. According to Decider, the film will be available to stream on Netflix once its run in theatres ends. In 2021, the streaming platform signed a 5-year deal with Sony. It gives Netflix first pay window rights for Sony Films. Moreover, Karate Kid Legends will pair quite well with Cobra Kai. The Ralph Macchio-led series serves as a sequel/successor to the Karate Kid film series. There's no official word on the OTT release date. However, Sony films usually drop on Netflix four months after premiering in theatres. As such, one can expect it to premiere on Netflix in late September. About Karate Kid Legends Karate Kid Legends is a martial arts drama directed by Jonathan Entwistle. It centres on a Kung Fu prodigy who is forced to upgrade his skills to take part in a coveted competition. The cast is headlined by Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio, and Ben Wang. Its music is composed by Dominic Lewis.
