Movie Review

Karate Kid Legends

June 01, 2025
by Mish'al K. Samman

Old Philosophies Clash With New Ambition

I wanted to love this. I really did.

There’s something comforting about revisiting a world you grew up with. The promise of familiar music swelling as a new underdog rises. That feeling of legacy ... not just characters aging, but stories deepening. Wisdom passing down. But Karate Kid 2025 felt more like an echo than a continuation. Loud. Polished. But hollow.

It tries to bridge two separate worlds ... the original Karate Kid and the 2010 Kung Fu Kid reboot ... and it’s… clunky. Like watching two different families try to merge for a group photo. There's effort, there’s even warmth in places. But you can feel it ... something doesn’t fit.

The choreography? Genuinely great. The fights are fluid, the performers clearly trained. It’s the one part that felt grounded. But everything around it? Felt like a checklist.

Beat the rival. Impress the dad. Win the girl. Say the catchphrase.
Next scene.
No time to feel. Just keep it moving.

Even when the movie slows down, it doesn’t really settle. Characters change their minds mid-scene. Emotional arcs resolve in a single line. Not because it’s rushed ... but because it’s hollow. Like the heart of the story was swapped out for better pacing.

And the legacy characters ... Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio ... they show up, sure. But they’re not carrying wisdom anymore. They’re carrying punchlines. And after a while, you can tell: they deserved better than this. They deserved meaning. Not memes.

Which brings me to shirt on, shirt off.

I know. Cute callback. But… it doesn’t carry the same weight. Wax on, wax off wasn’t just a training trick ... it was philosophy. It was patience. Discipline. A metaphor for learning through life. Shirt on, shirt off? Feels like a TikTok challenge. A wink to the past without understanding why the past mattered.

And the hero? Powerful, fast, talented. Can beat anyone.
Except the final boss, of course.
Because, well… plot. That’s how games work.
And maybe that’s the thing ... it all started to feel like a game.

A high-budget, beautifully choreographed, emotionally weightless side quest.

There’s a bigger issue here, I think ... beyond just this movie. It’s a Hollywood habit. This push to turn every memory into a universe. Every character into a franchise. Every story into IP. But in chasing scale, they keep forgetting the quiet little truths that made things iconic in the first place.

The original Karate Kid didn’t need world-building. It needed heart. A boy with too much anger. A man with too much pain. A lesson taught in silence. You didn’t just watch Daniel-san grow ... you felt it in your bones.

This one? You watch. You nod. You snack. You move on.

So yeah, it wasn’t terrible. You’ll enjoy the action. The callbacks. The polish.
But if you’re hoping to feel anything lasting, don’t.

Hollywood remembered the brand.
They just forgot the soul.

Karate Kid Legends (2025) – When old philosophies clash with new ambition, a gifted fighter must find his path while two martial arts legacies collide in a battle for respect, identity, and purpose

About the Author
Mish’al Samman is a writer, performer, and lifelong fanboy who began his career covering comics, film, and fandom culture for Fanboy Planet in the early 2000s. With a voice rooted in sincerity, humor, and cultural observation, his work blends personal storytelling with pop-culture insight. Whether he’s reflecting on the soul of Star Wars or exploring identity through genre, Mish’al brings a grounded, human perspective to every galaxy he writes about.