A Look Back: The Karate Kid III
The Karate Kid (1984) is one of my favourite movies – a true sporting underdog story replete with surprises, good villains, and an exciting conclusion. Given its success, a sequel was inevitable. Cue The Karate Kid Part II (1986), which does well to build on the characters we grew to love – Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and Mr Miyagi (Pat Morita) – as well as increase the stakes, with Daniel now fighting for his life. An interesting bit of trivia: in the four Karate Kid movies, it’s Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) – Daniel’s adversary in The Karate Kid II – who’s the only villain to land on a blow on Miyagi. Given…
Cobra Kai Never Dies
When it was first announced that there was going to be a television series continuation of The Karate Kid saga, the cynical side of me could only marvel at the new depths Hollywood was plunging. Then it was announced that it would be called Cobra Kai, and it would feature two warring dojos, one lead by the trilogy’s protagonist, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), and the other lead by the original movie’s antagonist, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Wow, this sounded desperate. I love The Karate Kid (1984) – it’s one of my favourite movies. Like Rocky – director John Avildsen was at the helm of both – it balances the underdog…