Karate Kid: Legends brings Jackie Chan's Mr. Han and Ralph Macchio's Daniel LaRusso together, a pairing with obvious appeal for fans. The film around them is much less exciting. Its nostalgia packages a standard outsider story without finding a convincing new direction.
Ben Wang plays Li Fong, a young kung-fu practitioner who moves from Beijing to New York and encounters familiar bullying and competitive pressures. Wang has presence, energy and credibility in the fights. He does more to carry the film than the writing does.
The plot is predictable, with developments that feel announced rather than earned. Emotional moments are carefully arranged but rarely moving. Joshua Jackson's supporting strand offers a possible variation, then settles into familiar mechanisms too.
Chan and Macchio bring charm, yet their participation often resembles extended cameos. They seem less integrated into the new story than useful as reminders of the franchise. The younger cast is not developed strongly enough to compensate.
The action lacks the emotional expression that gave earlier films their spirit. Busy cutting and unclear movement blunt the choreography, leaving few fights that stay in the memory. The music does its job without supplying a distinctive identity.
I give it 2 out of 5 stars. Wang, some attractive images and Chan's reliable appeal keep it from being entirely empty. The rest is too cautious and formulaic. A meeting of familiar mentors should have offered more than this nostalgic shadow of stronger films.
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