I have…mixed feelings on Cobra Kai, the continuation of the Karate Kid saga I grew up on, a franchise that directly influenced my decision to take up martial arts early on. On one hand, it's not just a remake, and follows on from the events of Karate Kid part III with all the characters and how they have changed, or not, in the forty years since, which is very cool. On the other, it's cheesy, cringey and I would always put back starting to watch the new series so I didn’t have to deal with it.
I grew up on Karate Kid. It is a franchise that influenced my love of martial arts, but also helped me to navigate the bullying I was experiencing. It was never quite to the level that Daniel LaRusso experienced, and it took me a longer time than it should to learn to stand up for myself like he did, but the broader lesson of learning martial arts so I didn’t have to use it is a guiding principle I still live by today. To quote the first film:
“So Karate’s fighting, you train to fight.”
“That what you think?”
“No.”
“Then why train?”
“So I won’t have to fight.”
For the most part, that worked. I took up Taekwondo after a few failed starts at Judo and Karate, and within a few months my bullying stopped. Now this might be coincidence or down to timing, and I wasn’t walking around school telling everyone I was a martial artist now as it would have been a fast way to get a target on my back, but it did happen.
This is a principle I didn’t really pick up on in the movies when I first watched them. Mr Miyagi taught Daniel defense first, while the main villains, the students of the Cobra Kai dojo, were taught to strike first, strike hard and show no mercy. Ultimately that philosophy didn’t pan out and Cobra Kai were finished after an epic showdown at the All Valley tournament and Daniel’s now legendary crane kick.
Fast forward nearly forty years, and the TV show Cobra Kai picks up with Johnny Lawrence - again played by William Zabka, the main bully from that very first movie more than a little bit down on his luck. He seemed to be a spoilt rich kid who had it all in the first movie, now he is living in a shitty apartment, a drunk, with no real job.
A chance encounter reignites his passion for Karate and he restarts Cobra Kai. Meanwhile, Daniel LaRusso - Ralph Macchio returns to his role too, is a successful business owner with his own Car dealership, a beautiful wife and two great kids. When Daniel realises Johnny is starting Cobra Kai again, he makes it his mission to shut it down, remembering all the damage the dojo caused back in the eighties.
This is the premise for what will become six seasons of the show as it follows the ups and downs of an ongoing battle for the hearts and minds of the high school students of the All valley. It starts off as a resumption of the conflict between Johnny and Daniel, then broadens to encompass their kids and the Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do dojo’s as a whole and in many respects is a well told, classic story that continues the legacy of the original three movies. We don’t talk about Next Karate Kid or that one with Jayden Smith where he learns kung fu but it's still called Karate Kid.
While the movies had some humour to them, mainly between Mr Miyagi and Daniel, they kept it fairly serious as the student continues to learn from the master. The thing about Cobra Kai is that they kept trying to infuse comedy into it, and it varies in quality from a decent one time joke to outright cringe, and it's this that gave me the most problems throughout the entire show.
It’s not even the acting that’s the problem, the cast is doing the best with what they have and it’s mainly based around William Zabka’s Johnny Lawrence. I figured it out late, but it's basically any time the show tries to show his fatherly side or deal with his new family dynamic, that it becomes unbearably cheezy.
Now, the thing about it is that Johnny seems to be stuck in the eighties. He barely uses the internet, has no idea what a smartphone is and his apartment looks fresh out of an old action movie where the heroes hole up while being pursued. I think we are, as the audience, supposed to do one of two things, either feel sorry for him or find it funny. But it’s neither, it's just the worst.
It always seemed to be at the start of the show/series too. For the first three or four episodes of a series, and the first ten minutes or so of each, I was curling up into a ball to get past this crash course in how not to be funny or endearing. Once I was past that, the show became good and I happily carried on watching. I get having to mix it up to make the show more interesting, but this is ham fisted at best and just down right terrible at worst.
I am probably in the minority with this, I freely admit, and it could just be my experience as I definitely like my comedy more slapstick than witty, which is why I never got into any version of The Office. Like I said, it wasn’t all terrible, there are some genuinely funny moments scattered across all six seasons but these are few and far between. One thing I will point out is the genius use of a hawk sound effect for one of the most memorable new characters in the whole show as when you hear it you just smile a silly, stupid grin.
Once you get past that, however, Cobra Kai can be a great show. I doubt it will go down in history like the original trilogy, but the character development can be really great, especially in the last couple of seasons for Johnny Lawrence. The teens at the heart of the story go through some real battles, both emotional and literal and the fight scenes are damn good. They might stretch the definition of karate a bit, but you cannot deny they get the heart pumping.
The fight in the school in season two is a massive highlight here, and sets the stage for some of the best character arcs in the whole show. There are literally broken backs, forever scars - both psychological and physical and destruction of logn time friendships. It showcases the brutality of what the Cobra Kai ethos is and how damaging it can be, disregarding the basic tenant that most real world martial artists know: It’s for self defense only.
The return of all the classic villains from the original trilogy, Kreese, Terry Silver, Chozon and even Mike Barnes is pure nostalgia food for people like me and they all have great story arcs, even if Kreese and Silver do become the most mustache twirly bad guys possible. It works though and the original Sensei of Cobra Kai, John Kreese, has a pretty good…I want to say redemption, but it literally took a kid dying for it to happen so I am not sure that’s the right word.
The main bad guy from Karate Kid Part II, Chozon becomes Daniel Larusso’s quirky best friend and is a delight to watch for the most part. His story does include some of that cringey ‘comedy’ that the show loves to try, but otherwise it's a great evolution of the character. The same goes for Mike Barnes, the ‘bad boy of Karate’ from Karate Kid part III. His role was relatively short, but it was very cool to see him back and a in natural follow up after the events of the third movie.
Absolutely the best, and most worthy of the term, redemption arc in the whole show is that of Johnny Lawrence himself. Going from down and out drunkard in the opening episode to having everything he could have dreamed of by the very last, it's the type of character development that is filled with hope no matter how much you may have hated him as the bully from that first movie.
Trust me, that was Johnny, there seems to be this movement recently that it was actually Daniel that was the bully and he was definitely not the titular Karate Kid. This is false, and mainly done, at least by my friends, to wind those who know the truth up. If you are one of those people, you are wrong, time to deal with it.
The new characters range from great to terrible, but if I am being honest, there is only one kinda rubbish character and he does become a fan favourite that ends up having a satisfying conclusion to his tiny portion of the story. The main ones, Miguel, Robbie, Sam and Tori are all great with arcs often mirror what the original movies were about while also sprinkling in new ideas for the modern age. If you told me in a few years the Cobra Kai would inspire a new generation of kids to take up martial arts then I would absolutely believe you.
Cobra Kai has it’s problems, most definitely, but get past those and you will find a well made martial arts comedy drama that provides pulse pounding fights, emotional highs, crushing lows and a worthy continuation of a franchise that inspired so many kids in the eighties. The sensi’s here are no Mr Miyagi, but his legacy overshadows everything and gets the original students to finally become the masters they deserve to be. A worthy edition to probably the best underdog franchise ever made.