Karate Kid, The (1984)

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Daniel (Ralph Macchio), bullied by students at the local Cobra Kai karate dojo, is taken under the wing of his neighbour Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita).

I thought I better revisit this before watching Cobra Kai (though in practice it contains so many detailed flashbacks that this was not at all necessary), and what struck me most was that Daniel is an entitled dick. Besides its immortal and influential sequences -- wax on, wax off etc. -- there's not a great deal to recommend it. Miyagi is a landmark character in Asian-american cinema, but also painfully orientalist; the whole thing is pretty embarrassing by contemporary standards.

- Sam - 2021-09-26 13:22:08