- Action, Adventure, Drama
- 94 min
- PG-13
When masters unite a new legacy begins.
After a family tragedy, kung fu prodigy Li Fong is uprooted from his home in Beijing and forced to move to New York City with his mother. When a new friend needs his help, Li enters a karate competition – but his skills alone aren't enough. Li's kung fu teacher Mr. Han enlists original Karate Kid Daniel LaRusso for help, and Li learns a new way to fight, merging their two styles into one for the ultimate martial arts showdown.
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Character
Classical in form, resolved, effortless and earnest.
- classical in formformally daring
- resolvedopen-ended
- effortlessdemanding
- earnestironic
- unpretentiousprestige
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- Yohan Yukiya Sese Cuneta 사요한on TMDB · Jul 20256/10
The «Karate Kid: Legends» (2025) tries to carry the legacy of the original trilogy—«The Karate Kid» (1984), Part II (1986), and Part III (1989)—but it doesn not quite land. Something about it feels off. The heart that made the original films memorable is hard to find here. It is not just nostalgia—it is the way those earlier stories balanced conflict discipline, and standing for what is right. This version feels like a toned down version. It is not strong enough to stand beside the classics either. It is not the cast. They are fine. It is the story that lacks the weight and soul to live up to what «The Karate Kid» once meant. And as much as it wants to honour Mr. Miyagi, it does not quite reach that level of tribute. It is not unwatchable. But for those who grew up with the originals, it is hard not to notice what is missing.
Read the whole review on TMDB - CinemaSerfon TMDB · Jun 20256/10
The marketing around this has been terrible, I thought, so I was not really expecting much - but it’s not so very bad after all. That’s almost entirely down to a cheeky and engaging effort from Ben Wang as the young “Li Fong” who has recently (and reluctantly) arrived in Los Angeles from Beijing with his doctor mother (Ming-Na Wen) after a family tragedy which we go into a little more, later. He befriends pizza family “Victor” (Joshua Jackson) and his teenage daughter “Mia” (Sadie Stanley) but quickly - and quite brutally - discovers that former prize-fighting dad is in hock to a loan shark and so wants to try to punch his way out of his problems. When he realises that the young lad has some skill with kung-fu, they decide to team up and that’s the start of their escapades that ultimately pitches the new arrival against local champion “Conor” (Aramis Knight). For that challenge, he is lucky to have the help of his visiting Chinese mentor “Shifu” (Jackie Chan) who manages to elicit the assistance of the original “Karate Kid” himself (Ralph Macchio) so he may practise the more cerebral “Miyagi” form of karate. Predictable? Well, yes and Macchio is about as wooden as one of his late,
Read the whole review on TMDB - daniel_carron TMDB · Jan 20266/10
While I think Jackie Chan is a wonderful person, I have never found any of his movies to be that great. He is a funny guy, but his movies are not for me. But I loved the original "Karate Kid" and this one was actually a great movie. Some of my favorite actors and with a solid story and emotional it was good!
Read the whole review on TMDB
Cast
- Jackie ChanMr. Han
- Ben WangLi Fong
- Joshua JacksonVictor Lipani
- Sadie StanleyMia Lipani
- Ming-Na WenDr. Fong
- Wyatt OleffAlan
- Aramis KnightConor
- Ralph MacchioDaniel LaRusso
- Olivia Yang AvisYoung Girl
- Aaron WangYoung Student
Crew
- Jonathan EntwistleDirector
- Rob LieberWriter
- Justin BrownDirector of Photography
- Dominic LewisOriginal Music Composer
- Dana E. GlaubermanEditor
- Colby Parker, Jr.Editor
- Karen RosenfeltProducer
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