A reflection on Karate Kid: Legends

This Karate kid film hits different— in the same familiar universe, but with a new kind of unexpected challenge.

By J.A. Aleman

I went to watch “Karate Kid: Legends” (Legends) starring Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio and Ben Wang and the experience surprised me with its storytelling efforts. It was a film where old lessons meet new challenges in an experience that feels both familiar and unexpected. 

The film is a coming-of-age story with the added themes of older teachers passing knowledge along, reminding you that you are back in the Karate Kid universe. The rules of teaching why fight in the first place apply every time, no matter the story being told. 

The series has had a karate kid from New Jersey, one from Detroit, a bunch of kids from Los Angeles and now a kid from China living in New York. Let’s face it, today’s film industry wants to connect every story together. We can either thank the Marvel Cinematic Universe for that or hate them. But in this instance, I think it’s a nice touch to bring the entire franchise together into one big universe while preventing potential reboots. Plus, we now have the first Asian American in the main role. 

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Ben Wang said, “What I love about the Karate Kid franchise is the idea that anybody can be the karate kid and I think this is just the next chapter.”   

The way New York was filmed was amazing and I feel like the city was brought to me. The only other films I feel did the same are West Side Story (1961), Manhattan (1979), Do the Right Thing (1889), Anora (2024) and Little Manhattan (2005) to name a few. The film felt street level rather than just showing the audience the skyline and a generic view of the city, allowing the character’s experience to feel more real. 

In this one, the culture shock was from the other side, with a kid from China having to understand and find his way in America. In a way, they have had that element of stranger comes to town tropes. The films with Jaden Smith and “Legends” are the ones with perhaps the biggest culture shock. This added more to the already confusing element of being a teenager in a new place, and audiences get to see what it’s like to immigrate to America from a different culture. 

Every film Jackie Chan makes will always have his quality of fighting, and I’m pleased to say we see a little bit of his own fighting humor in this film. “Legends” is a celebration of fighting styles, or better yet, a celebration of marital arts and the choreography done by Chan, his team and performed by Wang has his unique signature. 

There are fight scenes in back alleys, the school yard and in the ring catered to honor past films but bringing everything together to answer the question of why fight in the first place. The entire franchise is built on answering this question but looking at a kid who already knows how to fight refuse to fight until the need arrives is refreshing. 

Jackie Chan, in an interview with Fandango said, “This kind of movie is not like a superhero. We tried to do the real things, old school. These days, you cannot just use one kind of style to make a movie. You have to use gymnastic, parkour, judo, karate, combine then becoming a good great action movie.” 

It’s not about dojo vs dojo in “Legends,” but it’s about fighting for a purpose. Each film in the franchise has had that theme in varying degrees, but this one is truly about finding that purpose. 

Ralph Macchio in an interview with Fandango said, “I care about the authenticity, the dedication. It’s not all special effects and CGI. It’s trying to be authentic to the martial arts and then propel the story forward.” 

Nothing will beat that first tournament in 1984, and the music felt classic. Not to mention the film had that 80s antagonist perfectly cast with William Zabka. 

Karate Kid (2010) had the best fighting tournament wise, but the best story and I’ll admit it’s my favorite, is Karate Kid 2, when Daniel and Mr. Miyagi played by Pat Morita go to Okinawa and we find out more about his character.   

In “Legends,” the villain isn’t the villain. The story was written from an eastern lens, which makes sense for how someone from the eastern world would handle adjusting to the western world. The hero’s change in that sense must come from within rather than just defeating a bad guy. In western stories, there must be a showdown between good and evil. 

I’m very appreciative of the way they made this nostalgic film by bringing Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Han back to work together. This film added to the “Karate Kid” series lore and fits nicely into the larger universe they created, along with all the films and the “Cobra Kai” series. 

The “Karate Kid” universe is one I can always go back to and find coming-of-age stories and some funny teenage situations that bring me back to my childhood. For the sake of nostalgia, “Legends” was a nice trip down memory lane.