Movie

Karate Kid: Legends, 2025

Poster for KK:Legends I couldn’t see this over the opening weekend, but took advantage of retirement to see a morning show on a Monday morning, which meant an almost-empty theatre. No matter.

I have been a fan of the Karate Kid movies since the first, down to the fact that they need DC Comics’ permission to use the title. (Shoutout to Val Armorr!) As an adult, I trained in Okinawan Goju-ryu karate, which means that the story of a sensei named Miyagi means a little more. After the recent Cobra Kai series finish, I was curious how this movie would tie the gung fu of Mr. Han and the karate of Daniel-san together.

My biggest complaint is that it barely does. Sure it’s a logical and consistent way to create a Miyagiverse, but Ralph Macchio is barely in this movie, and while he fakes moves fairly well at this point, he suffers being in the same shot as Jackie Chan. The movie itself never rises above the predictable level of plots the KK movies have always had, and like the others it follows the same arcs of characters, love interests, and bad guys. It’s not a complete retread, though, so at least there’s that!

One of the things the movie has going for it is that the fight choreography is probably the best the KK franchise has ever seen. Ben Wang is likeable and a good martial arts practitioner. Jackie Chan is still doing his own stunts!

I have no idea if they are going to try to mine this well for any more stories. I am still mad that Cobra Kai didn’t find a way to include Julie Pierce, and nothing was said about Dre Parker in this movie, either.

For all that was formulaic about this movie, I still liked it because at its core it emphasized that martial arts really aren’t about fighting, but the strength to keep going.

Thunderbolts* (2025)

Thunderbolts* poster I have to admit to “MCU Fatigue”. I’m predisposed to be more excited about DC properties, but there’s no question that Marvel Studios has done an amazing job of putting forward an interlinked story, for the most part.

My wife and I try to watch most superhero movies opening weekend to avoid being spoiled by errant headlines on media sites. We saw Thunderbolts* the Saturday morning of opening weekend.

This movie is different from, say, Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s not shifting to a bunch of new characters, instead tying together ‘loose ends’ from five or six story arcs in the MCU.

My major complaint with this movie was that there were large portions of it that were shot too darkly. Not tone, actual lighting! It’s actually a major complaint I have with a lot of media from the last 8 years or so.

I was surprised at one character arc that didn’t get much screen time. However, my biggest surprise was that the movie didn’t shy away from depicting mental illness. While I try not to give spoilers, and I don’t think that’s a large one, it really did set the movie apart (and raise it a notch) for me.

“Back in Action” (Netflix 2025)

Watched this as we were looking for something uncomplicated. Lots of action and decent fight choreography. The list of stuntmen was huge. Glenn Close really channeled Julie Andrews in this one. The two leads are cute together but there wasn’t a lot of chemistry between them.

If it does well enough in viewers I bet we’ll see ‘Still in Action’ in ’26.