Almost finished rewatching the movies. Next is The Next Karate kid, which I don't think I ever watched fully. I've seen parts I-III so many times as they used to be always on TV. Never did think I would rewatch them again. It's been a nice nostalgia ride. For the time they were made it they hold up pretty well. I can still see the appeal, why they were popular but I would never have imagined that they''d continue the story all these years later.
I kind of hope they bring back Silver for the next season. He was marginally interesting and a lot more conniving than Kreese, who really lacked any nuance. As for any possibility on the return of Swank's character, I'm ambivalent.
Well Kreese called someone at the end of the season and given the flashbacks we saw of Silver saying he’d always be there for Kreese, I’m betting he will show up.
Given that they're scraping everything Karate Kid related together ( as evidenced by the really bad Kumiko/Chozen subplot, one of the very few things i really disliked in the season) i'm sure they'll try. The only question is if Swank is interested in reprising the role. I think Silver is a given for next season and could add some subterfuge to the battle of Cobra Kai vs Daniel/Johnny.
Watched 'The Next Karate Kid'. It's not bad. I don't really like the 90s vibe or the adversaries that are a group of men chasing a girl alone through a school at night. Didn't like the ending where Mr. Miyagi let Julie fight. In the previous 3 movies Daniel had no choice to fight, he fought in the first tournament to stop the bullies, the second movie because it was a life or death situation and the third movie because he was forced into fighting by Cobra Kai. In 'The Next Karate Kid' they had a choice to leave, call the police. I get that Miyagi let Julie fight for self respect and he reminded her after that she shouldn't fight, so it's not bad. Pat Morita is excellent as Miyagi in all movies. His character is the strongest point of each movie. I didn't know he was nominated for an Oscar for the first movie or that Toshiro Mifune had auditioned for the role. Wow! As for 'Cobra Kai', I love this series. I finished the first season and i'm half way though the second season and it is so much fun to watch. It makes me smile every time.
Sorry for the double post but I finished season 2 and all of season 3 and this show is glorious. They so nailed it with these characters and respected the film characters in ways that I would love some well know franchises to do with their own legacy characters. My only question is, do guns not exist in this universe?
So I'm in episode 3 right now. I'm shocked that somebody started with this idea and actually writed good.
I'm like six episodes in now. I'm still really liking the generational satire here. It might be the definitive commentary on some of the big generational conflicts of our time. Criticizing the culture of "If somebody is hurting your feelings, get an authority figure to stop them" while at the same time criticizing the older generation for its machismo's lack of empathy and understanding.
Just finished season 1. Great finish but not sure how I feel about bringing back John Creese. Kinda like bringing back Palpatine. It's like if you cross Boomers with the Sith.
Search your feelings, you know it to be true...today’s kids are a bunch of woke p******...they do not know the power of the Boomer side...
On that point, in Part III, Daniel was repeatedly harassed and assaulted by Mike Barnes, so in reality, such a person would just call the police, and Daniel would have had all of the evidence on his side (Barnes stealing the trees, vandalizing the shop...beatings, etc). He did not need to bend to threats / prodding from Kreese/Silver/Barnes at all.
And Cobra Kai showed us the police in this universe is totally useless. Really, at this point the legal framework in this show is more like Mad Max/Fist of the North Star's ones than anything existing in the U.S. In my opinion, the only movie where he was "forced" to fight is the second one. But I concede that it depends on what one means by "forced".
then I guess Daniel would have been beaten every day--as promised by Silver--if Miyagi refused to train Daniel / moved away, etc,. because without Miyagi, Daniel could not rely on the police, either. Now that's a dark avenue the films never explored, but should have! Agreed. In Part 1, he was a teenager, and should have run to the Reseda Police Department and spilled his guts (before Johnny and his friends had the chance). Yes, you say the police in this Karate Kid universe are useless, but that would have been his logical first step, instead of entering a karate tournament against well-trained enemies. Regarding Part 3, yes, he was not forced into that. Fear motivated his actions, and that was a terrible way to approach solving a problem, as the final fight with Barnes actually laid out in a realistic manner, considering Daniel's fear / inability to defend himself....until the Kata of Confusion won the match for him.
And I was thinking, when we say that people are "forced" to do something, in reality we say that choices are presented but one of the options is considered unacceptable. But what is unacceptable varies from person to person. Ad absurdum, in the second film, a Gandhian follower of non-violence would have preferred death rather than being forced to fight (I admit it's an extreme example but it gives the idea). For this I would be careful to use the phrase "forced to do something".
The cops weren't the only useless authority figures in KK & CK, but also the teachers, particularly in the series. They're either absent entirely when bad things go down or show up in the middle of a fight, take one look at the dumpster fire unfolding before them and scream "To hell with this!" as they run in the opposite direction.