The Karate Kid

There are movies out there that are just classics. I don't know if that actually means that the movie is good or its just a movie that everybody watched as a kid and they grew up with it. Sometimes, I think its a combination of both that make a movie just really damn good.

The Karate Kid is an example of that.

Now if you're normal, and above a certain age, you've probably seen this film. I'm still going to review it as if its the first time I've seen the movie... because it is. But I will tie in how this movie has been iconic because, it really is.

Now I'll be honest, until tonight, I had not seen The Karate Kid in its entirety. I think this is mainly because my parents didn't show it to me and therefore I did not grow up with this film. After watching it, I understand why they might want to hold off on showing me this flick. I'll talk about it when I get to the end of the review.

The Karate Kid centers around the story of a kid named Daniel (played by Ralph Macchio, god, what a phenomenal name!) as he and his mother are moving from New Jersey to California because his mom got a new job. Its apparent that Daniel LaRussodidn't want to move but he quickly finds some friends and even catches the eye of Elizabeth Shue (I actually only know her from Back to The Future).

Before I go on I should probably talk about Ralph Macchio. When this movie first started, I thought I was gonna hate this kid. I thought he was going to be this really annoying kid. And I'll be honest, there's a reason you don't really see Ralph Macchio in anything, he's not that great of an actor. But something about him is just perfect for this movie. He's this thin wimpy kid. He acts tough but he's going through a lot of shit. Its just one of the things that made this movie memorable. He's not the most ideal character, but I think that makes him more relatable. I don't think this movie set out to have Daniel be this incredibly complex character and have Ralph Macchio give a performance of a lifetime (even though he did). The movie set out to have Daniel be a kid being bullied. Not only that, but a kid going through a lot of transitions. He's moving from his home, he's getting bullied, he doesn't have any friends. This kid was relatable.

But things look really great until Elizabeth Shue's ex-boyfriend sees Daniel making moves on his girl and from that point on, it is this guy, John Lawrence (played by William Zabka) to make Daniel's life a living hell.

Now apart of me wanted to critique this movie on its incredibly over the top bad guys. Zabka's character, his friends, and ESPECIALLY his dojo master, all just the most over the top villains you could ever see. These kids aren't just your school bullies, these guys are absolute psychopaths. And they do not let up on Daniel at all. Its like they have nothing better to do but to watch this kid and make sure he doesn't go anywhere near Elizabeth Shue and if he does, they beat the living shit out of him. They're really kind of ridiculous.

And while its obnoxious how over the top they are, it really makes Daniel's struggle ever more satisfying in the end. On top of that, it really just exacerbates the time period this movie came out in. If you watch films now, even comic book films, the great villains that people connect with these days aren't your Johnny Lawrence or crazy dojo masters, they are your "anti-heroes" which I could write a whole other post on the loose use of anti-hero today, but you just don't see these characters anymore who are just evil for the sake of being evil and its done well. I feel like a couple movies I've watched lately, or in past reviews, I've knocked a movie for having villains who are just assholes for the sake of being assholes. They don't have much motivation, they're just the bad guy because the script called for it. But with this film, I just don't think the movie could have been as meaningful if Johnny Lawrence wasn't such an incredible asshole. I don't think the movie would have been the same if the dojo master wasn't such a hard ass psycho. Its not to say that I don't think villains need some kind of motivation because I feel like villains, especially villains in the movies of today, are good when you can see their side of the argument. You may disagree with their methods, but there's a connection there. With this movie though, Zabka's character is an asshole, plain and simple. And he's brilliant at it. The dojo master is so over the top, and it compliments the movie brilliantly. So while its obnoxious and over the top, these "villains" of the movie, play an intricate part of the story and really make the movie memorable.

So anyway, Daniel's getting the shit beaten out of him and he's sick of it. All he wants to do is leave. This is the point where he meets Mr. Miyagi (played by Pat Morita), the maintenance man at the apartment complex they live at. And if there was one thing I had to point to and say, that is the best part of the movie, I would definitely say the relationship between Daniel and Mr. Miyagi.

In a movie full of cheesy 80's dialogue and just over the topness, the relationship between Mr. Miyagi and Daniel is an incredibly honest and incredibly rich relationship. I don't know, I just love everything about it.

And I think with all the cultural references this movie has created since its release, I think I always imagined Miyagi as this Yoda, do-no-wrong mentor character, when in reality, he is just as flawed and realistic as Daniel is. He's had his own experiences his own struggles, and the two naturally come together.

So after Daniel figures out that Miyagi knows karate, the two go to talk with the bully and his dojo master. This is another great part about Miyagi. He says that fighting is not the answer and problems must be faced by talking. But because everyone at the Cobra Kai dojo is fucking insane, Miyagi instead strikes a deal. The bullies leave Daniel alone and Daniel competes in the karate tournament a couple months later. The bullies agree, and the rest of the movie is Miyagi training Daniel.

But of course, its not your traditional training, he's having him wash cars, do yard work, paint fences, etc. And this is the great depth and complexity of the character. He's not just teaching Daniel how to fight, fighting is the last thing Daniel actually learns. Instead Miyagi is teaching Daniel about balance, not just in karate, but in life. Its hard to explain, but this contrary to popular belief, and something I actually believed, Miyagi is not teaching Daniel to fight, he's teaching him to be a better person.

Throughout all of this there's this relationship between Daniel and Elizabeth Shue's character. Its alright.

Nobody looks back at The Karate Kid and points to Macchio and Shue's relationship. I'm not saying its bad, I would even say a lot of teenage relationships use this relationship as a base. What I would say though is that sometimes it kind of takes away from the great parts, which is Daniel and Mr. Miyagi. There's a little bit about how Daniel is poor and she's rich, there's a little bit of drama instigated by John Lawrence, but it all kind of goes away in the end. Its not a huge distractor but the movie could have done without all the hiccups in their relationship.

Oh and the relationship between him and his mom... yeah that kind of starts somewhere in the beginning but once he starts hanging out with Mr. Miyagi, his mom shows up at the end to cheer him on and that's it. She's really not that big of a part in the film... at all. Like I get it, if you don't have Shue and his mom, you don't have any female characters, but if you're going to put them in there, at least write them well.

The tournament portion of the movie is some of the best cinematic gold you can ask for. Its intense, its nail biting, and its this great build up to the final fight that you all saw coming from the beginning, Daniel versus his bully, Johnny Lawrence.

If you've seen the movie, you know this scene. Its so over the top, the stakes couldn't be higher, and its just a classic fight of good versus evil. There's no way around it. 

The ending is just an absolute perfect piece to this incredibly well put together movie and at the end, in the middle of my room, I was on the edge of my seat cheering for Daniel-san. Its that culminating suspense that sports movies often do and its done to perfect in The Karate Kid. 

But... its this ending scene that does make me realize why I was not shown this movie as a kid. 

As much as I love it, as much as I love the themes and messages in this movie about balance, and facing your problems head on, the end of this movie does kind of have a slight leaning towards saying, If you have a bully problem, just fight him, you'll earn his respect... and that's basically what happens. 

Its sad, because there's so much more to this movie. The interactions between Miyagi and Daniel are great, the messages Miyagi is passing onto Daniel is great. But in the end, it really is, fix your problems with violence. And I can understand how my parents would maybe see that message and say, we don't need to show Connor that, especially at an age where perhaps the messages are lost in the awesome karate and Joe Esposito singing "You're the Best Around". 

The solution to this problem was not, let's fight and I'll earn your respect and you'll stop bullying me, instead it should have been, you're a fucking psychopath, I'm going to get a restraining order and send your ass to jail because on Halloween, if a small Japanese man hadn't saved my life, you probably would have murdered me.

So what are the downsides of this movie? I mean there are things I could say but I think the things that this movie didn't have or "didn't do well" make it an iconic 80's film. Like I said before, the Cobra Kai dojo is over the top and ridiculously evil just for the sake of being fucking psychopaths. But it works for the film, it works perfectly. There's a distinct lack of female characters, but honestly, its not about Daniel's mom or Elizabeth Shue, its about Daniel. The dialogue is pretty hokey and cheesy, but I think that just makes the movie all the more iconic. And after the final fight, the bully is just cool with Daniel suddenly? Yeah... its pretty bad, but by the same token, the movie has a lot of heart to it. The relationship between Daniel and Mr. Miyagi is classic. The message of balance and patience is great. I would have liked to see a little bit more development of Mr. Miyagi, but as much as he is just as flawed as Daniel, I almost like how Yoda-like he is. Maybe that's done in the later films, but honestly, I don't know if I'll be able to watch all three on Netflix before they get pulled on April 1st... it is my spring break now though... We'll see.

So those are my thoughts on The Karate Kid. Rereading it, I may have overblown the impact this movie had, but honestly, I just finished it an hour ago and I'm still jacked. I'd like to know how influential on film history The Karate Kid was, if it was. Comment and Discuss below! Also, shoot me a tweet @cmhaugen24 and Follow me on Twitter to get updates on movie news and reviews.

I'll be on Spring Break this upcoming week so hopefully I'll get this blog updated a little more. There are a couple movies being pulled from Netflix by the end of the month so its pushing me a little bit more to watch some movies I've had on my list but haven't watched yet.

I'll leave you with this. I mentioned a little bit that Ralph Macchio never really did anything quite as large as this movie. Here's a funny little Funny or Die bit on Macchio, I thought it was kind of funny. Enjoy!