Karate kid formula that pays off

The sixth instalment of the 40-year-old franchise, ‘Karate Kid: Legends’ is not a retrofit of the old formula. It remains true and old-fashioned in its depiction of fight strife.

‘Legends’ begins with footage from ‘The Karate Kid Part II’, showing Ralph Macchio as David, and the late Pat Morita as his beloved mentor Mr Miyagi. But it’s not weighed down by that illustrious past though. At heart, it is a simple story about a boy, his mentors, the girl he has a crush on, and the bully whose ass he kicks.

This update introduces Li Fong (Ben Wang), a teenager who’s been training at the Beijing dojo of shifu Han (Jackie Chan). He is forced to relocate to New York after his brother’s untimely death in a fight. His mother (played by Ming-Na Wen), a doctor by profession, obviously wants to keep him safe and makes him promise to never fight again. But promises are hard to keep in a city crawling with bullies and vicious thugs prepared to kill for the moolah they deem as theirs.

Though Li has mastered the dragon kick, it isn’t enough for the climactic face-off with friend Mia’s (Sadie Stanley) ex-boyfriend Connor (Aramis Knight), who trains diligently under a sensei who is out for blood, and not just victory.

But before he can get to Connor, the narrative takes a sidestep and has Li training Victor, Mia’s father. Thus, turning the formula on its head for a brief spell.

Rob Lieber’s screenplay has Li attempting to get Victor, a former boxer-turned-pizza parlour owner, back in shape to win a prize fight that could earn him enough money to pay off some brutal loan sharks.

Well into the second act, in comes Li’s kung fu teacher Mr Han (Jackie Chan), who enlists the help of the original ‘Karate Kid’ Daniel La Russo (Ralph Macchio) so that Li can learn through a merging of two styles. The idea is to pay homage to the past while presenting a new way to fight. Li learns to fight in a style that merges kung fu and karate — Mr Miyagi’s Japanese style with that of Jackie Chan’s Hong Kong school.

It’s a film that’s simple, wholesome, and, at 94 minutes, stripped down to the bare minimum. The plot just about sets up the reason for a climactic showdown.

Li’s budding friendship with his high-school classmate Mia (Sadie Stanley), who works for her dad at the local pizza shop, becomes the trigger to break the promise with his mother. Mia’s ex-boyfriend, Connor, ends up being Li’s martial-arts antagonist in the big fight. Li Fong trains to win the “5 Burroughs Tournament”, billed as a massive martial arts tournament with 16 contestants. However, 14 of those people don’t matter since they barely register in the run-up.

Ben Wang is 25 but looks much younger. He is charming and not too serious. He evokes a fight style that is fast and savage but not kill happy. The team-up of veterans is fun and brings to the fore memories of the previous ‘Karate Kid’ movies. But this movie doesn’t stay with you because there’s no emotional core to the coming-of-age story.

The original ‘Karate Kid’ remains unmatched. This one mines nostalgia.

‘Karate Kid: Legends’ is a film in the vein of the previous ‘Karate Kid’ movies. It’s a formula that may not look spectacular, but pays off in simpler form.