15 years later, a big mistake from 2010’sThe Karate Kidis being fixed by the story ofKarate Kid: Legends. The most recentCinemaCon trailer forKarate Kid: Legendsfurther hyped up the latest movie in the franchise. WithKarate Kid: Legends' castuniting the original trilogy and 2010’s remake, however, it can be argued that more hype did not even need to be generated for the upcoming story.
Nonetheless, theplot ofKarate Kid: Legendswas teased in the most recent trailer. Ben Wang’s Li Fong was confirmed as a trained fighter, knowledgeable in the ways of kung fu, from the movie’s onset. Only after involving himself in a tournament againstKarate Kid: Legends' Johnny Lawrence replacementdoes Li seek out the training of Daniel LaRusso. Via this storyline, a big mistake of 2010’sThe Karate Kidhas subtly been addressed, making all facets of theKarate Kiduniverse now work together better than ever before.
Karate Kid: Legends’ Protagonist Will Learn Kung Fu AND Karate
Rather Than Just One Of The Disciplines
Firstly, it is worth exploring the mistake that 2010’sThe Karate Kidmade. Given that the film was initially planned as a remake of the 1984 original, it was titledThe Karate Kid.However, the story’s differences meant that Dre Parker learned kung fu, clashing with the film’s title. Although the film addresses this briefly, many still wondered why the 2010 story was not titledThe Kung Fu Kid.
InKarate Kid: Legends, this problem will not be prevalent. The recent trailer for the film confirms that Li Fong will learn both kung fu and karate. Li has already seemingly been trained in kung fu by Mr. Han from a young age, yetDaniel LaRusso’sCobra Kaiconnectionenables the titular character ofKarate Kid: Legendsto learn, well, karate. This will likely allow Li to overcome his enemies, namely the film’s antagonist, Connor, during a New York-based martial arts tournament.
The Film’s Location Change Was The Primary Reason
Despite the 2010 film’s title being a mistake,The Karate Kidhad good reasoning for Dre Parker’s kung fu journey. As a way of differentiating the 2010 movie from its 1984 predecessor, the film saw an American family move to Asia, specifically Beijing, China. There, Jaden Smith’s Dre Parker came across various children experienced in kung fu and got on their bad side, leading Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han to train Dre in the ways of martial arts.
Why 2010’s The Karate Kid Never Got A Sequel (Until Now)
The lack of another Jackie Chan Karate Kid movie until now is very surprising, but it’s just great that he’s coming back as Mr. Han at all.
With the film based in China, this makes a lot of sense. After all, kung fu originated in China, as opposed to karate which originated in Okinawa, Japan. The originalKarate Kidfocused on the latter form of martial arts thanks to Mr. Miyagi’s involvement, a native of Okinawa. The title of the film aside, 2010’sThe Karate Kiddid not focus on karate at all, with the Chinese location explaining why this was the case.
As already alluded to, though,Karate Kid: Legendswill bring these two worlds together. Karate was inspired by Chinese martial arts, including kung fu, meaningKarate Kid: Legends' inclusion of both fighting styles makes a lot of sense. With Mr. Han presenting the kung fu side and Daniel LaRusso acting as the embodiment of karate,Karate Kid: Legends’Li Fong will learn what it means to be a more complete version of the film’s titular figure, fixing the mistake of 2010’s movie 15 years later.
Karate Kid: Legends’ Mr. Han Retcon Is Working Better Than I Thought It Would
Li Being Part Of Both Worlds Makes The Retcon Work
Above all else,Karate Kid: Legendsfixing the mistake of 2010’sThe Karate Kidproves how well the Mr. Han retcon works. Initially, 2010’sThe Karate Kidwas intended as a complete reboot of the original movie. While it included fun references and Easter eggs to 1984’s original film, the lore, characters, and storyline were intended to be completely separate as part of their own universe. SinceCobra Kaivastly expanded the world of theKarate Kidfranchise, however, this was changed, as evidenced byKarate Kid: Legends’ trailers.
As opposed to being a standalone remake ofThe Karate Kid, 2010’s movie was retconned as part of the now so-called “Miyagi-verse.” This decision being made over a decade after the 2010 movie could easily have been a mistake, with the film potentially containing several elements that clashed with the 1984 original. That said,Karate Kid: Legendsproves how well the retcon has worked, also thanks to the drastic location change of the 2010 production.
By exploring theconnection between Mr. Han and Mr. Miyagi, the retcon makes perfect sense. The tying together of kung fu and karate is perfectly in line with real-world martial arts, given that the latter was inspired by the former. Having Mr. Han represent one style and Daniel represent another is also perfect, especially with the promise of a connection between the Han and Miyagi families. All of it fits seamlessly into place, somewhat surprisingly, makingKarate Kid: Legendsa perfect example of a retcon done right that even fixes the mistakes of a 15-year-old movie.
