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The Karate Kid, Part II

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Centerfield Jun 16 2006 12:41 PM

Ok, so we all loved the Karate Kid. What do we think about Karate Kid Part II? As I posted in the other thread, Bill Simmons hated it. I thought it sucked ass too...but for other reasons. I’m okay with sequels not being as good as the first movie. I’m even okay when sequels suck...you gave it a shot, it didn’t work, life goes on. I have a problem when the sequel is so bad, and creates new loopholes, that it actually takes away or ruins the original movie. The latest example of this is Terminator 3, which not only blew ass, but rendered T2 completely meaningless. Karate Kid Part II sucked ass, and brought the original down with it. The movie starts well enough. It picks up in the parking lot after the tournament. Kreese is giving Johnny the business about finishing second. Miyagi steps in, Kreese challenges him, ends up fucking himself up, then gets humiliated when Miyagi pinches his nose and makes a clown noise. It’s funny, it provides closure, and it shows that the Cobra Kai weren’t bad kids at heart, just misguided. I like the scene. I heard that it was a proposed ending to the first movie, and if it had been today, I guess it would have been an alternate ending on the DVD. I like the way the first movie ends, but I’m glad I got to see this scene too. Then everything goes completely to shit. In the next scene we find out that Ali has left Daniel for a football player from UCLA. One of the best stories about the first movie was that a girl like Ali could go for Daniel despite the fact he has no friends, is a wuss, and his mom drives him on dates. So, he learns karate, wins a tournament, gets a car, and naturally she dumps him. Considering his whole rift with Cobra Kai began because of Ali, now it hardly seems worth it. I’m thinking Daniel should round up some Cobra Kai and kick Ali’s new boyfriend’s ass. Next we see Daniel and Mr. Miyagi traveling to Okinawa to care for Miyagi’s ailing father. The conflict here, is that when Miyagi last left Okinawa, he pissed off his friend pretty badly over a girl and now, all these years later, his buddy Sato is still mad and wants to challenge Miyagi to the death. (Sato is an interesting guy...he’s clearly not over their feud, and seems very anxious to fight Miyagi as soon as possible. One has to wonder, though, why Sato didn’t take any action for the last 30 years. You’d have to think Miyagi would be pretty easy to track down in the States. Was he meaning to get around to it? Did he forget about it until he saw Miyagi running around the island again? They really don’t explain this aspect of the plot well enough.) We learn a few things when we arrive in Okinawa. First, Miyagi’s old girlfriend never married, and conveniently enough, has a niece that lives with her who is just about Daniel’s age. Secondly, the language spoken in Okinawa is not Japanese, but rather, broken English. For example, when Sato confronts Miyagi, he speaks in English. Miyagi’s old girlfriend speaks to him in English. You start wondering why, if they speak it so often, they don’t speak it better. And finally, the last thing Okinawa has to offer is Chozen, Sato’s nephew who, of course, hates Daniel. Simmons calls him “Japanese Zabkaâ€

Johnny Dickshot Jun 16 2006 01:01 PM

Simmons-worthy review. KK II was like Rocky III in that they just swapped out new actors and names for the same old villian. It is as bad a KK-1 was good.

ScarletKnight41 Jun 16 2006 01:39 PM

Sequels almost always suck. This one sure did. Great review CF!

Elster88 Jun 16 2006 01:40 PM

The only thing I liked was that he caught the crane kick. To us youngsters, that was sick.

Elster88 Jun 16 2006 01:41 PM

The latest example of this is Terminator 3, which not only blew ass, but rendered T2 completely meaningless CF - Elster sim scores (previously at 2.3 out of 100 from the soccer thread) rising. I hate this phenomenom. The entire T2 storyline ended perfectly. And they f'ed it up.

Elster88 Jun 16 2006 01:43 PM

(Sato is an interesting guy...he’s clearly not over their feud, and seems very anxious to fight Miyagi as soon as possible. One has to wonder, though, why Sato didn’t take any action for the last 30 years. You’d have to think Miyagi would be pretty easy to track down in the States. Was he meaning to get around to it? Did he forget about it until he saw Miyagi running around the island again? They really don’t explain this aspect of the plot well enough.) 'Course, this kind of thing might actually make for a good story, which KKII wasn't going for.

Elster88 Jun 16 2006 01:46 PM

I disagree that the final fight scene wasn't believable. What I really liked about it was that you could see each blow do damage. There's a part in the middle of the fight when both of them are standing there, huffing and clutching their sides. Refreshing change from movies where the hero takes five shots straight to the jaw and continues fighting. Getting punched in the mouth hurts! And one clean shot can easily break a jaw (and the hand that delivered it), but apparently the fellas in movies have chins and knuckles made of steel.

Edgy DC Jun 16 2006 02:15 PM

I thought KKII had its graces. I was on a double date in high school while the other guy's date tried to convince my date to get me to take her. I looked up at the other guy, "You saw that? Doesn't that just scream, 'I'm awful! Don't see me!' "? "t's just..." he answered, "there's something to seeing Daniel get beat up. A lot." The World Where Everyone Conveniently Speaks Broken English is stupid. But it's not the first stupid movie set in this stupid place. My take on the Failure of the Crane Technique is that (1) Daniel wasn't so perfect at it after all, it's just that Cobra Kai never saw it coming, and (2) It was a technique developed by the same master (Miyagi's father) that Chozen is descended from, so Chozen is a rare opponent who would recognize it and know how to block it. Miyagi knows this and made a "No!" face when Danny Boy struck the stance. I guess we're supposed to believe some code of honor demands they let Daniel and Chozen to fight. I also believe honor is why Sato hasn't fought Miyagi to this point. Miyagi ran away like a coward and left the chick to Sato. Sato's honor is intact. But then the kicker is that the girlfriend doesn't want to marry Sato. He can't beat her up, so even though Miyagi sacrificed his honor to preserve his friend's, his friend retains his bitterness, and lacks somebody to hit over it. Daniel seems an inch or two taller, and smugger in his post-tournament glory --- laughing at Chozen when he catches him in fraud, talking loud and big while watching the ice-breaking game. --- and you kind of want to see him hurt a little. You want him to win, sure, but to get hurt along the way. Wisking Ally out of the picture is a cheap device too many sequels have. You need a girl to fight over this movie. "Let's get the girl who was so important last movie out of the way. Couldn't sign her for the sequel anyhow." Who is he? James Bond? "Glory of Love" is no "Cruel Summer."

Elster88 Jun 16 2006 02:49 PM

Miyagi knows this and made a "No!" face when Danny Boy struck the stance. He made a "yes" face. Wisking Ally out of the picture is a cheap device too many sequels have Wow. You are officially no longer allowed to post about The Karate Kid. (j/k)

Edgy DC Jun 16 2006 09:32 PM

He made a "yes" face. Lost in translation or lost in memory, but I remember a no-ish face.

Elster88 Jun 17 2006 07:46 AM

I think I'm remembering a nod similar to the one from KKI. I could be wrong. The egregious error is in the second line I quoted.

Edgy DC Jun 17 2006 10:46 AM

Of course, Ali with an i.

Elster88 Jun 18 2006 03:18 PM Re: The Karate Kid, Part II

Centerfield wrote: And finally, the last thing Okinawa has to offer is Chozen, Sato’s nephew who, of course, hates Daniel. He also had a two-line part in The Game in which he spoke an accentless American.

MFS62 Jun 19 2006 04:36 AM

I thought the tea ceremony was kinda' cute. But the movie never quite answers the question everyone was asking. Did Daniel finally get laid? Later

dgwphotography Jun 19 2006 08:41 AM

Elster88 wrote: I think I'm remembering a nod similar to the one from KKI. I could be wrong. The egregious error is in the second line I quoted. I remember an intense nod, too....

Elster88 Jun 24 2006 10:34 PM Re: The Karate Kid, Part II

Centerfield wrote: The first half of the fight goes about as expected with Chozen kicking the shit out of Daniel....Eventually, Daniel breaks out the Crane Technique...and if you’ve seen the first movie, you know Chozen is done. You can’t defend the Crane Technique. Just ask Johnny. And then, without explanation, Chozen blocks it and counters. Can someone explain to me what happened here? Did Chozen just defend the indefensible move? How can this be? And if you can defend it, with the arms giving it away, doesn’t the Crane Technique suddenly become the worst move ever? Essentially, they just completely undermined the entire premise of the first movie. And it gets glossed over like nothing happened. I think it was at this point I decided that this movie never happened. Just rewatched the fight. Your memory is not serving you. The match was never really one-sided. Daniel-San gave pretty good. Regarding the Crane Technique, which happened pretty early in the fight, it's easy on rewatch to see what happened. Chozen saw Daniel-San get into the stance, and gave a head-fake. Daniel-San bit on the head fake and kicked, and Chozen was able to grab Daniel-San's foot because he knew the move was coming and wasn't moving toward Daniel-San. (Oh, and Mr. Miyagi didn't really give a strong nod. He did move his chin from up to down slowly, but it wasn't really a nod.) ------------------- Regardless, the world would be better off if they had stopped after KK. KK2 and 3 should not have happened, I agree.