When Dr. Fong moves her son, Li, from Beijing to New York City, she only has one rule: no violence.
“You practice violence, you get violence,” she chides Li. One year ago, she lost her other son, Bo, when an embarrassed kung fu opponent stabbed him after losing the duel. She refuses to let anything like that happen to Li, too.
The rule frustrates Li, who had been growing more confident in his kung fu ability and overcoming his grief under his teacher, Mr. Han’s, tutelage. Still, he relents for his mother’s sake.
But even though Li might not practice violence, he still can’t seem to get away from others who do.
That’s because he’s become close friends with Mia, the cute girl whose father, Victor, runs the pizza place down the street. Her ex-boyfriend, Conor, is an expert in karate, and he’s none too pleased to see Li chatting with “his” girl. Pretty soon, Li’s getting harassed and beaten by the jealous teen daily.
And that’s not all of Li’s woes, either: Conor’s dojo just so happens to be operated by a violent loan shark who won’t stop harassing Mia’s father for his late payments. It’s a fact Li learned when he was forced to use his kung fu to save Victor from being beaten by baseball bat-wielding thugs.
But then Li learns of a way he might solve everything: the annual Five Burroughs karate tournament boasts a $50,000 cash prize for the winner, and Conor’s the reigning champion. It’d require some training in karate, but if Li could beat Conor and take that cash prize, he’d be able to solve both his and Victor’s problems.
Of course, doing so would require Li to break his mother’s one rule.
We see many instances of people helping each other throughout the movie; and as Li grows close to Mia, he likewise becomes friends with her father. When Li finds Mia’s father, Victor, about to get beaten down by loan sharks, Li fights them off and later provides the man with some kung fu fighting tips. Likewise, after Li takes a few hits, Victor patches Li’s face up and offers the boy some tips in boxing. He also consoles Li about some guilt he’s been carrying around.
Later, when Mr. Han begins to discern that Li is in trouble, he willingly flies from China to New York to train Li. And when Han meets Victor, he immediately chooses to help that man, too.
And, speaking of help, The Karate Kid protagonist Daniel LaRusso also eventually flies across the country to help Han prepare Li for the Five Burroughs. But even though both older men were dear friends with their sensei, Mr. Miyagi, their teaching styles differ: Daniel teaches karate, while Han teaches kung fu. However, they recall that Mr. Miyagi’s specific karate form was itself a mix of Japanese and Chinese influences.
The film depicts this blend as “two branches on one tree.” Daniel and Han, in pursuit of that ideal, choose to honor their teacher by blending their karate and kung fu styles together so that Li can carry on that tradition. (Victor and Li do something similar by blending their kung fu and boxing fighting styles together.)
Li’s mother is rightfully concerned about Li’s fighting. She lost one of her boys as a result of a violent attack, and she’s scared that the same thing will happen to her other son. However, she eventually relents when Han reminds her that those blows will come regardless of it Li practices martial arts; and if he refuses to practice, he’ll be beaten while he’s down. But if he does practice, he’ll be better equipped to face that danger and hopefully to prevent a tragedy from happening.
Victor tells Li that he used to be the city’s best boxer. However, when he learned that he was going to be a father, he gladly left the ring and put on a pizza apron so he could provide a stable income for Mia.
Li and his mother visit a Chinese temple to partake in a lantern festival. Li’s mom burns a stick of incense next to a picture of Li’s deceased older brother—a Chinese practice sometimes used to serve as an offering to the deceased relatives or ancestors.
One of Li’s opponents is named “Buddha Stevens.”
Li and Mia quickly develop romantic feelings for each other. The two of them share a kiss. A high school boy and girl get caught by a teacher kissing.
An older teen gets stabbed during a fight. There’s no blood, but the boy later passes away from his wounds. Someone takes a baseball bat to the back of the head. He also suffers a few illegal elbows to the face during a boxing match and winds up unconscious in the hospital. After getting punched in the face, Li has a black eye.
We see Li fight off some attackers with a variety of punches and kicks to their groins, shins, faces and more. Li and others take a few nasty falls onto concrete or car windows while fighting, but they all get back up with some groans. A few people, after being kicked in the head, fall to the ground in pain.
Someone tells his karate disciple, “We don’t fight for points; we fight to kill.”
We hear the s-word three times, and we hear “d-ck” once. There are also five instances of “a–.” We also hear “h—,” “crap” and “screwed.” God’s name is used in vain four times.
Background characters drink alcohol. We’re told that Mr. Miyagi’s father loved both fishing and the Japanese beverage sake, and he once drank too much and ended up sailing from Japan to China.
None.
It was a surprise when the Final Destination franchise decided to release a new film nearly 15 years after its supposed “last” movie. Seemingly not to be outdone, The Karate Kid franchise followed suit.
The last film, featuring Jaden Smith’s Dre under the tutelage of Mr. Han and a general retelling of the first film, came out in 2010. And after 15 years and a buzzy television show, Karate Kid: Legends brings the franchise back to the big screen.
And if you’ve seen a Karate Kid film, the elements making up its PG-13 rating are about what you’d expect. As for violence, we see someone die from a stab wound, though there’s no blood. And, of course, there’s a whole lot of martial arts action. As for crude language, the film is roughly on par with the first film: a few uses of the s-word and a spattering of other profanities, including several misuses of God’s name.
After six movies, I feel comfortable in saying that part of the franchise’s charm is like that of a Hallmark movie: You’re in for a similar plot every time. An underdog moves somewhere new, strikes up a potential romance and beats up the cheap-shotting “bad guy” at the big karate tournament.
This sixth installment in the franchise, then, isn’t going to turn heads by any means. But it’s a perfectly serviceable addition within the series well-established narrative framework.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He’s also an avid cook. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
