The Karate Kid (1984)

So I'm going to start binging Cobra Kai soon because the premise there sounds interesting. I decided to catch up on the old Karate Kid films in the meantime. I'll discuss how they fit into that premise in a bit but I have to say I don't see the appeal of the franchise at all.

And it didn't appeal to me in the 1980's either. The movie isn't funny, exciting, well-acted, or well-written. The best I can say for it is it's low-brow and easy to follow. And to create a franchise in the 1980's that's all you apparently needed. It's kind of depressing to think about. I expect I will like Cobra Kai. I did not like the first movie.

I think the most memorable thing about the movie when I saw it decades ago was the notion that Mr. Miyagi was teaching Daniel Karate muscle memory with the specific draining chores he was drilling into him. I'm not sure those movements would actually track for real life Karate moves, but it's an interesting concept.

A lot of this movie made me uncomfortable. Miyagi is pretty offensive in hindsight. But the thing that bothered most me was his drunken PTSD meltdown in front of Daniel. It was TOO raw for this specific movie. That's not something a kid should ever have to witness. Similarly, I found the sensei on Cobra Kai borderline criminal. The fact that there was no comeuppance for him at the end of the movie doesn't sit right.

The reason I wanted to see Cobra Kai is because it reimagines in hindsight that Johnny Lawrence felt he was the aggrieved party here, and that Daniel Larusso was the bully, and I thought that would be a wonderful deconstruction years later. Does that actually track? Not even a little bit. Here's the interesting thing though, that tells me Cobra Kai IS onto something. The reasons Johnny hates Daniel seem circumstantial rather than deliberate. Daniel was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I found the tacked on "You're all right, Larusso!" at the end a bit disingenuous, but the truth is Lawrence's worst impulses and behaviors weren't his own ideas. The Cobra Kai sensei was poisoning him the entire time, and it amazes me that Johnny is considered the villain of the film. Cobra Kai the series suggesting Daniel was the bully is wrong. But Johnny was as big a victim of adult bullying as anyone in the Cobra Kai Dojo. His toxic violent mindset isn't his own, and it was ingrained upon him by a sinister and irresponsible adult. I also noticed there were several points during his violent outbursts at Daniel where he could have actually smacked around Alli because she was in his way. And he noticeably did not. Not even once. That says something to me.

For a supposedly iconic movie, it amazes me how mundane and boring the opening scene and credits were. They sure didn't even try to jump-start the audience back them with an immediate hook the way modern movies and TV shows do. It's weird how clunky that first scene is.

I think the thing I did like about the movie is the fact that I find Daniel's relationship with his mother refreshingly healthy. There is drama there, but it's NORMAL teenage drama, and they get along with each other and love each other, which is kind of nice, and rare, even in the 1980's. Even back then dysfunctional families tended to be a part of the hero's trials. But I like that Mrs. Larusso is doing the best she can.

I didn't like it, but I found Johnny's actual motivations gray enough to tell me I'll probably like Cobra Kai. **.