I don't keep current with movies, so I was completely unaware until today about this coming out tomorrow. I watched...
...this trailer from 5 months ago...
...and this trailer from 1 month ago...
...and I stopped there, not wanting to spoil it for myself.
But I've learned enough. It's now official that Mr Han inhabits the same universe. There are plausibility problems with that, but hey, the Karate Kid saga never shied away from THOSE before. And it's entirely possible that I won't like this new "Li" character. I'm thinking of how much I disliked Adonis Creed, which is why I never saw Creed III, but I had to see the first 2 Creed movies to see Rocky Balboa. Likewise, even if I hate Li, I'd like to see more of Daniel LaRusso.
In the last 20 years I watched only 4 movies in the theater, preferring instead to take DVDs out of the library, which is my plan for this movie too. Still, I'm interested. Not even 3 months ago I posted this message about the ending of Cobra Kai. Even if I don't see the Karate Kid: Legends movie until next year, I just feel pleased to think that the next chapter in the story is coming so soon.
Okay, I finally saw it on DVD.
Well, it's certainly not the worst Karate Kid movie. (That would be The Next Karate Kid from 1994.) I can say some good things about Karate Kid: Legends. It made me laugh many times. It brought Daniel and Mr Han together in a way that wasn't... TOO implausible. It had a few surprise plot twists to keep me interested.
But I felt the movie skipped lightly across - or completely over - certain parts that it should have delved into. I guess it's typical for a movie trailer to show the best parts, which can disappoint the audience when the movie fails to deliver what the trailer vaguely promises. For instance, in the trailer, Daniel says he can't come to New York. Okay, so what changes his mind? The movie never tells us. Daniel just... appears in New York, just like that. The movie could have showed us something, like... Daniel lying in bed awake, his conscience bothering him, and then he gets up and starts looking at the picture of Miyagi with Mr Han. But no, the movie does nothing like that.
And how about that business with Li freezing up? I expected some development with that subplot, to resolve it, but nothing happened. Maybe just fighting in the tournament was supposed to give Li his confidence back, or something? I didn't think the movie made that point clear. As it was, the movie failed to convince me that Li really needed to fight in the tournament. Maybe the script could have used some work, or maybe the script dealt with my difficulties but the editing of the film messed it up.
I started a third viewing of Cobra Kai some time ago (and intend to get back to it one day, despite its great length). I even watched The Karate Kid, Part III three times, despite that movie's severe flaws. But while I enjoyed Karate Kid: Legends and have no regrets about watching it, I feel no desire to see it a second time.