With Karate Kid: Legends just around the corner, all those who wished they could train under Mr. Miyagi are getting ready. This isn’t just about Daniel LaRusso’s story, though. We’ll also get to see Jackie Chan return to the franchise.
Karate Kid: Legends focuses on a new child learning more about martial arts and the lessons within the fighting. There are sure to be many tweens and teens who want to check it out, but is it worth sitting down and watching the original Karate Kid movies first? What about Cobra Kai?
Karate Kid: Legends continues the stories already told
At the very least, you will want to watch the Karate Kid movies. All of them! That includes the one with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith.
Karate Kid: Legends is a continuation of the five movies that have already come before. The first three were a trilogy surrounding Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi. After that success, Mr. Miyagi returned to train a new student, Louisa. It’s unlikely that Louisa’s story will come up in Karate Kid: Legends, but it did involve a little more of Mr. Miyagi’s backstory that may be worth investigating.
After all of that, there was a reboot of sorts of the original Karate Kid movie. Jaden Smith played the young Dre Parker, who moves to China after his mom’s job takes them there. He meets Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han, and while the movie itself wasn’t as good as the original trilogy, it will be important for the latest instalment because Mr. Han is back.
Cobra Kai probably isn’t as important to watch
Now, as a Karate Kid fan, I will tell you to go and watch Cobra Kai. It’s an excellent look at life after the original trilogy, with the focus on Johnny Lawrence rather than Daniel, although Daniel does come up in the story a lot. After all, there is still a rivalry between the two of them.
The end of the series did bring up more about Mr. Miyagi’s past, but it’s possible that this won’t come up too much in Karate Kid: Legends. After all, the latest movie is a look at a new student, and Daniel pays a visit to Mr. Han upon Han’s request, who knew Mr. Miyagi.
Legends will see Li Fong struggle to fit into a new school in New York. When he learns about a karate competition, he decides to enter. After all, how different is kung fu compared to karate? That’s what he’s about to learn, and that’s why Mr. Han need’s Daniel’s help so that Li can merge the two styles. It’s not like Daniel hasn’t gained experience in merging styles considering he and Johnny merged Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai styles.
Karate Kid: Legends is out in theaters on Friday, May 30.