The Karate Kid is Directed by John G Avildsen who previously directed the first Rocky movie. This film has become synonymous with movie culture and is at least in the top 30 most recognizable films released in the 80’s. This sleeper hit film would later see many sequels a spin off and even a remake in 2010 with Jackie Chan, but I believe most of us will never forget what made the original 1984 film such a charmer even despite its flaws.
Daniel (Ralph Macchio) is forced to move with his mother from New Jersey to California because of his mom’s new job. Daniel has a hard time fitting in and to make matters worse, he finds himself cornered all the time by bullies who are lead by Johnny (William Zakba)who knows martial arts. Seeing that Daniel needs help, a mysterious apartment handyman named Mr Miyagi (Pat Morita) agrees to teach Daniel Karate to defend himself so he can beat Johnny at his own game at a karate tournament in a few months. At first, Daniel finds Miyagi’s methods unconventional, but he soon finds out that his methods are helping him to turn into a karate master. Soon Daniel finds himself trying to learn the ways of karate as well as living his new life in California as he bonds over a romance with Ali (Elisabeth Shue) who was Johnny’s Ex boyfriend. With time running out, Daniel will have to get his act to toghter if he wants to defend his honor.
The story sounds pretty standard, but it’s the way it’s executed that makes it more than the sum of its parts. At first the story starts of with a simple boy moving into a new neighborhood an has a hard time fitting in to it being about the same boy trying to defend his honor from bullies with the help of an unusual teacher. From there, romance and strong bonds are formed especially from Daniel and Miyagi which is very well handled. Who could ever forget the iconic scenes such as the wax on and wax off which comes back later on it was suppose to help Daniel to form muscle memory even if he didn’t know that at first. From doing some research, I found out that the story is semi based on some true events of a screenwriter named Robert Mark Kamen who at age 17 studied martial arts to defend himself but did not like that he was trained to use karate under violence and revenge. This info honestly explains why everything in the story feels so personal and the filmmakers managed to get that raw feeling on the screen in a very delightful and charming way. It may be cliched sometimes, but the Karate kid proves that it can take a simple been done before story and turn it into something fresh and memorable
The characters are a lot of fun and each of them do respectively well in there roles. Daniel played by Ralph Macchio is an easy to like protagonist as he is a good natured person but also has a bit of a temper as sometimes he’ll end up starting fights on the antaginosts instead of the other way around which makes more than just an innocent person as he can be at fault for some of the actions he decides to act upon. Mr Miyagi played by the late Pat Morita is honestly very excellent as his methods for teaching Daniel Karate are seemingly odd yet very effective in the end, he also knows how to be humorous from time to time which balances well with an interesting backstory and his strict but calming demeanor. Johnny played by William Zakba seems like your typical bully antagonist on paper but in execution he becomes believable as a genuine threat that makes his flat character arc all the more intriguing. The only character I felt like could have been better was Daniels Girlfriend Ali played by Elisabeth Shue. She is a decent supporting character, but she sort of goes through the motions of liking Daniel and not liking Daniel and having a third act break up which thank heavens is short but feels unneeded. It’s a shame because I know Elisabeth Shue can be a convincing actress as she was in other well known 80’s hits like Back to The Future Part II and Adventures in Babysitting. Aside from her, all the characters are good and even memorable in this story.
The Cinematography is pretty good as it starts off pretty standard but then later goes into some impressive stunt work from the karate portrayed on screen and some beautiful scenery. The funny thing is that for a movie called the Karate Kid the majority of Karate in this movie does not take place until the thrid act, but its actually okay because when the third act happens the Karate on screen proves to be well worth the wait because it is edited in such a cool way. The rest of the visuals are pretty from the lush sunsets over the beach to the mysterious look of Mr Miyagi’s house. These visuals won’t win any awards for groundbreaking cinematography but the karate will no doubt leave an impression to audiences of any age.
The Music was done by Bill Conti who would later go on to do the score for the Rocky Movies. His mostly cheery and chipper take the forefront. Since the movie takes place in the 80’s, there will be of course a lot of 80’s rock songs in the background but they are suprinly not distracting to the overall story. My personal favorite “Your the Best” sung by Joe Esposito. It’s catchy and gives the audience a rush of excitement to see Daniel in his effort to defend his honor.
The Karate Kid is a well put together and undeniably charming movie that may not be timeless, but is still a real charmer with it’s mostly lovable cast, great karate action and a sweet story that hits just the right balance. There are some other problems i would like to point out such as the unrealistically evil karate teacher to Johnny and the broken romance between Daniel and Ali, but they aren’t enough to distract what a well told story this movie has delivered in its own way. This is a classic worth watching for any moviegoer and it staying power will most likely be on audiences minds for generations to come.
(Final Grade: B)