Karate Kid Legends 2025 480p WEB-DL x264

There is only one major issue with this film, and that is that the third act feels incredibly rushed. Every major issue stems solely from the fact that it needed to be twenty minutes longer. That being said, I have a phenomenal time watching this and will definitely go again! The characters were fun and engaging, particularly Ben Wang as Li Fong. He carries an energy and charisma essential to the position, and is clearly an excellent martial artist. He carries the weight of the entire movie well, although Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio, while relegated to supporting characters, bring their usual heart and soul, and we get a moderately sized new supporting cast in the form of Ming-Na Wen, Joshua Jackson, Sadie Stanley, and Wyatt Oleff, who each bring something unique and charming to their parts that made me care about each of them. Technically, the film is wonderful. The lighting and sound design stuck out to me the most, very realistic but with enough pop to make the shots and fight scenes sing a symphony for your eyes and ears, on top of the actual symphony that is the beautiful film score by Dominic Lewis. The fights themselves are fantastic, three specifically make an awesome showcase of Ben Wang and the stunt team's skills and have the Classic Jackie Chan flair, even if a couple of the faster fights are slightly harder to follow visually at times. As for story, I appreciated the choices they made as a framework, such as starting with a character that is already proficient in martial arts, unlike his two predecessors, and the idea to give him prior trauma beyond the prerequisite "dead dad". They also do a good job of setting up the need for him to fight in the final tournament, however... The film is so short that the ending is fairly abrupt. Don't get me wrong, it is still fairly satisfying and the very last scene is perfection itself, but there is not much time to really soak in the story or give the characters much time to come to terms with the situations they find themselves in. There are several montages, and the last third feels like one long one until the final confrontation. The villains also leave something to be desired. While Aramis Knight's Conner feels like a definite threat, as does his sensei O'Shea, and their animosity with the heroes does carry hight stakes, some of that threat wanes towards the end as we just don't get to explore them much. Nevertheless, the film has my recommendation. It's no masterpiece, and the one big problem it has, time, is a BIG one, speaking of it solely as a piece of film. But it was fun, energetic, funny, heartwarming, beautiful, and with just the right hit of nostalgia to make you cheer at a couple parts. So with all that in mind, go buy a ticket and have a great time.
- Jackie Chan
- Ben Wang
- Joshua Jackson