Karate Kid: Legends Lacks One Thing That Made Netflix's Cobra Kai So Satisfying

This article contains spoilers for "Karate Kid: Legends."

In 1984, John G. Avildsen's "The Karate Kid" was one of the best family movies around, and for the past 40 years, nothing has been able to keep it down. The series of films revolving around teenagers overcoming the obstacles in their lives through martial arts has somehow managed to evade obscurity by switching up the formula. Even the 2010 reboot starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith ended up being a pretty good movie in its own right. But let's be real. The only reason "The Karate Kid" franchise is still as prominent as it is today is because of "Cobra Kai."

The YouTube Red turned Netflix sensation is quite the anomaly. There were so many ways in which a legacy sequel series to an '80s phenomenon could have gone sour. But "Cobra Kai" struck hard by pushing those tropes to such an absurd degree that it circled back around to being shockingly endearing — for the most part. Not only did it make the less-than-stellar sequels feel meaningful, but it also transformed Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) from a run-of-the-mill teenage bully into the series' most interesting character. You would think that six seasons of a television series would have wrung every bit of juice out of the "Karate Kid" franchise, but alas, here comes another legacy sequel.

"Karate Kid: Legends" seeks to tie the 1984 and 2010 films together, while still telling a brand new story, and it's a pretty crushing disappointment. Ben Wang proves he has charisma and is undoubtedly going to be a star in the coming years, but the film doesn't do him any favors. It's a mostly forgettable reboot catered to TikTok attention spans that buckles under the weight of its own unfocused mediocrity. /Film's Witney Seibold was more positive on it than I was in his review.

Part of what made "Cobra Kai" a successful branch of the "Karate Kid" bonsai tree was its balance of fleshing out stories between the legacy cast and the new kids on the mat, which is very much something this film struggles with. I'm a sucker for this silly, silly franchise and yet, "Legends" misses the mark, especially when it comes to its antagonists.

In "The Karate Kid," the central villains operated out of Cobra Kai and were led by their toxic sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove). They were fundamentally in opposition to the level-headed teachings of Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) and challenged Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) every step of the way. In "Legends," however, Wang's Li Fong inadvertently finds himself in opposition to Demolition Mixed Martial Arts. As he befriends Victor Lipani (Joshua Jackson), Li learns the former boxer turned pizza shop owner is currently in debt to them. The gym's leader, O'Shea (Tim Rozon), ends up sending a few of his creditor goons to beat the money out of Victor, but Li intervenes. Mia (Sadie Stanley), Victor's daughter, at one point refers to Li as the Chinese Peter Parker and I'll be damned if her observations aren't right on the money.

Li gets knocked around a tiny bit, but his training with Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) back in Beijing kicks in when O'Shea's men are ready to beat Victor to a pulp. He can't shoot webs, yet he pretty much shares the agility of Marvel's signature wall-crawler and ends up taking them all out with minimal effort. This is what prompts Li to teach Victor kung-fu to get back into the boxing game and win enough money to pay off his debts. The only issue is that Demolition is as generic a villain hub as they come.

In addition to the Demolition thugs being easily disposable baddies, their central ringleader is such a non-presence. O'Shea is barely in the film and doesn't make any kind of an impact. There's no personality to the way Demolition runs things, whether it be their predatory money loaning practices or even how they run their studio. I'm not sure how you make MMA loan sharks boring, but "Legends" sure finds a way.

One of the biggest appeals of the "Karate Kid" series, and especially "Cobra Kai," is that its antagonists were people you loved to hate. Thomas Ian Griffith's Terry Silver was the coked-out villain of the maligned "Karate Kid: Part III" and ultimately blossomed into the deliciously rotten epicenter of "Cobra Kai." He's a fundamentally awful person, but Griffith's sliminess makes him so much fun to watch as he attempts to bring down LaRusso and Lawrence every chance he gets.

Other series villains like Kreese and Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okumoto) were cold-hearted baddies who reveled in their misdeeds, yet found redemption in their own respective journeys. The "Karate Kid" villains were multilayered and played by actors with personality. I wouldn't exactly be interested in seeing what O'Shea does in a potential sequel because he has virtually no screen presence here to build off of, even though he's the one who orders Victor's opponent to pull some illegal moves during their bout. Truth be told, I couldn't even remember if he had a name or not. The biggest sin against Demolition as a threatening force is that of its star pupil, who's mostly a big wasted opportunity.

Aramis Knight's Conor Day is presented as a personal obstacle to Li throughout "Legends." He's not only a champion fighter operating out of Demolition, but Mia's rude ex-boyfriend with a mean streak to his fighting techniques. In many ways, Conor hits a lot of the same beats as Johnny Lawrence. He gets aggressive when he catches Li and Mia together aboard the subway, wins a fight that the main character instigates, and makes it all the way to the finals of the big martial arts competition.

There's an inconsequential piece of dramatic tension when Li appears to see Mia and Conor on a date together that amounts to nothing. When he brings it up to her later, the matter is resolved within the same scene. It's even more baffling that Mia finds herself momentarily going back to Conor, knowing full well that his mentor is harassing her father, and yet he continues to work with O'Shea anyway.

The most interesting aspect of Conor is that brief moment when you see his humanity come out in the presence of his overbearing Sensei trying to push him beyond his limits. But the difference is that Kreese is a constant presence in Johnny's karate life in both the dojo and the All-Valley championship. There's wiggle room for "Legends" to build upon the absentee mentor figure in the face of Mr. Han and Daniel in Li's corner, but O'Shea's barely present in the film, let alone at the 5 Boroughs' final rumble.

Johnny demonstrates a vulnerability in the face of Kreese's brash mentorship that Conor never really experiences him getting the brunt of it. Knight only ever comes across a retread of a more interesting character, who sadly doesn't really have a lot going for him with what he's given here.

"Karate Kid: Legends" is now playing in theaters nationwide.