Karate is Japanese. Kung Fu is Chinese. The best thing this film did was link the two disciplines in the fictional narrative. That one has been bugging me ever since Jackie Chan took over for Pat Morita in this franchise. Ah, now we understand. Mr. Miyagi has a Chinese background. Well, ok, this now makes more slightly sense than it did. I appreciate the opening here, even if it played simply as a means to include both Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio as mentors at the same time. And don’t kid yourself; that’s exactly why this scene is here … well, that and the fact that this story needed a bunch of padding.
Li Fong (Ben Wong) is the teenage protégé of legendary kung fu master Mr. Han (Chan). Three seconds after this intro, Li and mom have emigrated from Hong Kong to New York City where the very first person Li meets (speaking of padding) is Joshua Jackson. I guess Li didn’t want to wait for his life to be over to meet NYC’s most mediocre celeb. Seriously, Victor (Jackson) is the father of Mia (Sadie Stanley), Li’s Yankee Doodle arm-candy for this film.
And wouldn’t you just know it? Mia’s ex- is Conor (Aramis Knight), karate bully and reigning five-borough karate champion. Because of course he is. In the customary early film confrontations, Conor makes Li look real bad, twice. In the second encounter, Conor defeats Li without taking his hands out of his pockets. I might give up my martial arts dreams if I ever got beat that badly.
So, naturally, Li then tutors Victor, who is trying to revive a dead boxing career.
I did mention the padding, right? While the “having a teenage tutor for a sport he doesn’t know” storyline doesn’t work, it does allow us to get a few more characters into the story cuz -Lord knows- Ben Wang and Ming-Na Wen are not entirely up to the task of carrying us through the early part.
Suffice to say, disappointment is happening, enough such that Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio show up. The rest of the film is, essentially, about those two. Karate “Kid,” you say? Sure, he’s around here somewhere. Can’t have Jackie Chan or Ralph Macchio enter the five-borough championship … or can we … ?
How exactly are the spots/seeds determined for such a tournament? I saw 16 slots available. Are you trying to tell me that in a metropolitan area the 
size of NYC, there are only sixteen people interested in this title? There must be pre-lims, right? When did those happen? And are adults allowed? I don’t understand.
Of course, the point isn’t to understand. The point is to recognize that this is, essentially, a tongue-in-cheek remake of The Karate Kid, less some gravitas and life lessons exchanged for a few wistful smiles at history’s expense.
Jackie Chan is finally starting to look old. Sigh Ralph Macchio still looks pretty good at 63, and both men remain comfortably nimble, but Chan now looks 71. Had to happen eventually, I guess. Doesn’t matter. The point is the film has given us a very recognizable plot and dilemma and we roll with it. Would it have made sense for Li to take a more Gandhi-like passive role to solve his problems? Oh, Hell yes. You want to start and lose a fight badly on day one of your new school? That’s a good way to scar you for life. Oh, and I forgot to mention, Li has already been scarred for life specifically because of kung fu issues.
In other words, I don’t have a great deal of respect for this film. It’s derivative, cheesy, and has a habit of introducing painful drama it has zero plans to revisit. HOWEVER, the odds are it will entertain those who choose to watch it.
There once was a street kid named Li
Who needed to prove himself with karate
To help on his journey
He entered a tourney
Which drew more fogies than a doomed prophecy
Rated PG-13, 2025 Minutes
Director: Jonathan Entwistle
Writer: Rob Lieber, Robert Mark Kamen
Genre: Taking names? No, that doesn’t seem right
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Members of the Ben Wang experience
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: “Hey, where’s Elisabeth Shue?”
