Bow to your Sensei! Bow to your Sensei!

Ah yes, now I know what the big fuzz is all about. Up until a day ago, I’ve never seen Karate Kid in its entirety, only certain scenes when I’m flipping through my channels. Man, I was missing out on one of the greatest fighting movie of all time. I was bored, so I decided to browse Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” section, and up came Karate Kid.

The lovely Cobra Kai crew, Johnny is the best!

Karate Kid is a classic because the story is simple, but effective. The plot revolves around a high school kid named Daniel, better known as Daniel-san. He sees a girl that he likes (Elisabeth Shue), but the problem is that her ex-boyfriend is a jerk, and to make things worse, he’s also very good in karate. But, Daniel is a badass, even before he learned karate, he wasn’t afraid to stand up to the Cobra Kai crew. Of course, he gets his ass beat, and comes home with big dark circles around his eyes. This is where Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) comes in. He works as the maintenance guy in Daniel’s apartment, but he’s also a Karate master. Mr. Miyagi takes Daniel under his wings, and teaches him the right way to clean cars, and paint houses, “wax on, wax off!” To make things short, Daniel joins a karate tournament, gets the girl, and beats down the Cobra Kai crew.

This movie is very well made, mainly because it never tries to be serious. The soundtrack is awesome, and the score is epic. Daniel’s chemistry with his love interest is fun to watch, Daniel-san is a pimp. I was surprised at how the fight scenes were very well choreographed, especially for a 25-year old movie. The last scene where Daniel throws the crane kick is very well edited. There are no dramatic moments, no slow-mos, just simple editing with great music. After he drops the bad guy, Daniel makes an eye contact with Mr. Miyagi, and it fades to black, awesome!

Now, let’s just hope that the remake can live up to the original. Last I heard, Daniel-san wasn’t too happy because it might ruin the legacy.

Grade: A

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