Michael's Movie Grade: C+
A fun but instantly forgettable movie.
Though this film treads no ground that the previous Karate Kid movies hadn't, there is quite a bit to enjoy here. The clichés that fill this movie have become clichés for a reason and even if the movie follows a formula, it follows a formula that works. The new main character here is a very likable kid and we root for him from the first scene. As well as being likable, he is set up as being the perfect underdog making us cheer his victories and also feel his losses. Ben Wong is a very good young actor and exudes likability and charm. The returning character (played by Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio) are a lot of fun, and the two actors have great chemistry with each other. The young romance even works quite well coming off as very charming. What is surprisingly great about this film is the humor, which is often quite funny.
Unfortunately, as well as the story feeling overly familiar, it also feels quite rushed at times. This familiar and rushed storyline make this a movie where you will enjoy watching it but forget about it not long afterwards.
The movie also suffers from some surprisingly bad visual filmmaking at times. The use of special effects is often too obvious and takes you out of the movie, and the brief bits of animation distract rather than add to the story. This is nothing however compared to the few montages that appear during this film. These montages don't only take you out of this movie but can look shockingly inept (especially with an over reliance on stock shots) for a theatrically released film.
This is far from a great movie, but it does have its charms.
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