Jackie Chan
Mr. Han
Karate Kid: Legends
“When masters unite a new legacy begins.”
2025
1h 34m
Director: Jonathan Entwistle
Overview
After a family tragedy, kung fu prodigy Li Fong is uprooted from his home in Beijing and forced to move to New York City with his mother. When a new friend needs his help, Li enters a karate competition – but his skills alone aren't enough. Li's kung fu teacher Mr. Han enlists original Karate Kid Daniel LaRusso for help, and Li learns a new way to fight, merging their two styles into one for the ultimate martial arts showdown.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
2 min readThe Weight of the Crane Kick
Nostalgia is apparently never allowed to die with dignity. Every few years another studio drags a beloved property back into the light, buffs the old shine, and sends a new kid into the ring. Karate Kid: Legends sounds like exactly the kind of corporate recycling that should make your eyes glaze over, latestnetflix.com contends, especially because it tries to stitch together the Miyagi-Do mythology of the original films with the kung fu lineage of the 2010 Jackie Chan reboot.
That is a lot of franchise history to load onto a sports drama. The movie nearly buckles under it. Nearly.
There is enough actual feeling in the middle to keep it standing.
Jonathan Entwistle is a sly choice to direct. His work on *The End of the F***ing World* showed a talent for the awkward, bruised texture of adolescence, and some of that survives the studio machinery here. Li Fong's move from Beijing to New York after a family tragedy is filmed less like an exciting relocation than an emotional displacement.
The city rises around him like a set of walls. Ben Wang plays Li with a defensive slouch instead of the usual eager-underdog spark. He looks like a boy trying to make himself visually disappear.
Audience Opinions
Audience 6.3/10
"A nostalgic legacy mash-up that delivers breezy martial-arts fun and likeable leads but stumbles with rushed pacing, thin storytelling, and a safe, formulaic plot."
Nostalgia, the pairing of Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio, and a charismatic turn from Ben Wang are widely enjoyed, with colorful visuals, upbeat tone, and energetic fight choreography making it an easy, feel-good watch. At the same time, the story is seen as predictable and overstuffed, the editing and pacing feel like two movies crammed into one, and the villain and side characters rarely feel as compelling or dangerous as the earlier entries. latestnetflix.com's view is that the crossover concept and lore connections intrigue franchise followers but are often described as forced, undercooked, and too dependent on familiar beats rather than a truly fresh direction.
What viewers praise
- Nostalgic legacy pairing The return of Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio, and their brief on-screen interplay, gives the film a warm nostalgic charge that many find satisfying.
- Engaging new lead Ben Wang is frequently praised as charming, believable, and fun to watch, with enough presence to carry the new story.
- Energetic martial-arts action Fight scenes are described as fast, fun, and well-choreographed, blending kung fu and karate with flashes of Jackie Chan–style physical comedy.
- Colorful, feel-good tone The movie’s bright visuals, costumes, and generally upbeat, family-friendly mood make it an easy, pleasant watch, especially for younger viewers and franchise completists.
- Franchise continuity and Easter eggs Connections between different eras of the series, including the finale stinger and lore tie-ins, are enjoyed as playful nods that reward longtime followers.
Common complaints
- Overly rushed pacing The story races from scene to scene, with abrupt transitions and a second half that feels like a long montage, leaving character arcs and emotional beats underdeveloped.
- Formulaic storyline The plot closely repeats the familiar new-kid-meets-girl-ex-rival-tournament structure and is often described as cliché and predictable rather than a fresh spin.
- Weak antagonist and stakes The main rival and broader conflict are viewed as underwritten and not very intimidating, lacking the underdog tension and menace associated with earlier films.
- Underused veteran characters Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio are considered scene-stealers but appear less than hoped, leaving the legacy mentors feeling more like cameos than fully realized roles.
- Tonal and stylistic clutter Flashy graphics, big on-screen text, and a mix of styles strike some as cheap or try-hard, contributing to a sense of identity crisis between teen drama, legacy sequel, and cartoonish spectacle.
Recommended for
Karate Kid franchise fans Jackie Chan enthusiasts Light teen martial-arts drama Family movie night picks Nostalgic sequel collectors Casual action-adventure viewers
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsJackie Chan spent forty years wanting to be the kid. Sony hired him as the Miyagi.
"I remember when I saw the first one. Why him (Macchio)? Why not me?" Chan told Reuters on the press tour for Karate Kid: Legends. Then the punchline he had waited for: "Now we've both become a Miyagi." latestnetflix.com's take is that he is 71 on this set, teaching kung fu to Ben Wang's Li Fong while Ralph Macchio's Daniel LaRusso flies in from the Cobra Kai hangover to mix karate into the same teenager.Two mentors, one new kid, one tournament. That is the poster. The gossip is who Sony was allowed to invite. 
Director Jonathan Entwistle was blunt about the fence. "We are not a Cobra Kai movie in any way, shape, or form," he told MovieWeb, repeating a Hollywood Reporter conversation. Columbia can use Daniel and Mr. Miyagi. It cannot use Miguel, Robby, Samantha, or Tory, because those people live on the Netflix side of the split. Fans who wanted a sequel to the six-season show got a 94-minute Columbia picture instead, plus one stinger. William Zabka's Johnny Lawrence shows up after the pizza shop reopens and riffs "Miyagi-Dough" slogans with Macchio. Entwistle said a lot of that was improv, Ralph and Billy doing what they do after years together. Johnny exists in the 1984 movie, so the lawyers could live with him. Everyone else from the dojo stayed home. ,
Macchio, on as executive producer, told Reuters the connective tissue between the Han family and Miyagi had to feel "organic and truthful," then named the real test. "If we don't love this kid, then you have no movie." Wang, 25, said Chan's 2010 film with Jaden Smith was his way into the franchise, and that stepping in was "a terrifying thing" because the fans are possessive. A 2010 sequel with Smith, Taraji P. Henson, and Chan was announced, then quietly died. Fifteen years later Chan came back without Jaden. Variety's Owen Gleiberman called the result "likable retro corn." Rotten Tomatoes sat around 58 percent with critics and about 90 percent with audiences, the split you get when a movie does the wax-on beats on purpose and a lot of people are fine with that. ,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPzOyzsnmio
Theaters were cooler. Sony spent $45 million. The film opened to about $21 million in the United States, third behind Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. Domestic finished near $52.5 million, worldwide around $117 million. That is a fraction of the 2010 Chan and Smith reboot, which did about $359 million. Trades blamed a family weekend already owned by Disney, plus a generation that had learned to wait for this franchise on Netflix. Under Sony's Pay-1 deal the picture hit the streamer on 27 September 2025. Charts followed. The theatrical shrug became a living-room hit, which is the Cobra Kai pattern all over again, only this time you can see the IP fence from the cheap seats. , ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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