Two Branches, One Tree
I'm seeing a movie in theaters for the second time for the first time this year. Karate Kid Legends is everything I wanted it to be and more.
For a kid who grew up bullied and had to find my own family, those movies have always been personal for me. It also has an excellent Cobra Kai moment.
I could write a glowing review but the truth is, you either already love KK and you'll love this one or you don't and you won't.
I know why some critics don't like it and I get it, but the audience acclaim is on point as well. In fact, KKL triggers one of my favorite critiques--this would never happen!
The first film feels almost grounded in our reality, the only clue being that karate is the biggest spectacle in California in the 80s. Not football or baseball, no everyone lines up and talks about the All Valley.
But this is a world adjacent to our own, a fantasy world where bad people face repercussions and kids learn the value of sports as a means of personal growth. Where masculinity means kindness and compassion. It's a mirror to our world.
Whenever people complain that it is unbelievable, I think of the atrocities athletes participate in now and are set free because of their promising future. A brawl in Cobra Kai reminds me of the bowling alley fight that theatened Allen Iverson’s Hall of Fame aspirations.
The world of Karate Kid isn't divorced from consequence and beyond that it always humanizes the villains (even if it takes a TV show decades later in the case of some of the evil doers).
This film turns NYC street ball competitions into a Street Fighter-esque battle for greatness, an homage to its JCVD roots. We get a little bit of Rocky and a healthy dose of everything KK.
Beyond that, the film plays with the formula in fun ways. Things I leave for you to discover if you intend to see it.
Beyond that, my life is about to get very hectic. You may be aware that I launched a fiction zine with some other writers, check it out here:
I have a serialized piece there, it's in first draft form (so just out of the rough draft stage). We wanted a place to share works in progress, to let people see how the sausage gets made.
I will have more pieces going up once that completes and the other writers are bringing the heat. I love seeing what they have to say and the worlds they say them in.
I am going to Colorado for a week, coming back and having RocketCon (our 10th anniversary). Then my nephew Thomas is here for a week, we go to Greece and then we are having a cocktail party to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary. If you want an invite, let me know!
I haven't said it in a while so I'll say it now, I appreciate everyone who takes time to engage with this in anyway. It means a lot to me. I have so many wonderful people in my life and I appreciate that I've gotten to know you.
If you do see KKL and you hate it, well, don't say I didn't warn you.