Harry's Movie Review

Karate Kid: Legends takes the franchise in a new direction by shifting focus to a young kung fu prodigy displaced from Beijing to New York. The film works best when it commits to the fish-out-of-water story and the tension between two martial arts traditions. It's straightforward storytelling, which is refreshing in a property that could have been tempted by excess.

Ben Wang carries the film as Li Fong with a naturalness that suggests he understands the character's isolation without performing it. Jackie Chan as Mr. Han shows restraint—he doesn't grandstand or deliver motivational speeches. He simply shows up, demonstrates, and lets the work speak. Joshua Jackson feels like he could have been given more to do, but what he has, he handles with credibility.

Director Jonathan Entwistle keeps things moving across 94 minutes without padding scenes with manufactured emotion. The training sequences have weight because they're shot clearly, not obscured by quick cuts or music swells. There's one limitation: the climactic competition itself feels inevitable rather than earned, as if the film knows where it needs to end without fully convincing you the journey there matters as much as it should.

What stayed with me wasn't the tournament or the merging of fighting styles, but the smaller moments—Li learning to exist in a place that isn't home, Mr. Han recognizing something in a young fighter that needs guidance. The film doesn't try to be a tragedy or an underdog story trying too hard. It just lets these people work through their problems with their hands and their heads.