Review of The Karate Kid Part II (1986) by Zoran S — 24 May 2010

It was no surprise that the ultra success of the original Karate Kid would warrant a couple of sequels. In the opening of part 2 which is all material filmed for the original Karate Kid but was cut from the film, the story takes place immediately following the climax of the original, returning Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita encounter the villainous cobra teacher Martin Kove in an intense scene, but then things start to go drastically downhill.

Shamefully, Elisabeth Shue and Randee Heller (Macchio's mother) are written out of the movie and the focus lies solely on our film's duo as they travel to the small village of Okinawa where Morita must face his own demons, particularly the passing of his elderly father, the women (Nobu McCarthy) he loved and left behind, and the best friend (Danny Kamekona) he betrayed and that wants him dead.

Along the way, Macchio finds new love in Tamlyn Tomita and a new foe in Yuji Okumoto. While Morita and Macchio try to rebuild and re-immerse themselves in this once quaint town's culture, they must also face it's most dangerous keepers.

The Karate Kid Part II takes some getting used to, but once you finally accept the story, you learn to love it. While I thought there were much better ways to create a much-anticipated sequel, I can kinda understand why returning director John G.

Avildsen and returning writer Robert Kamen wouldn't want to tread familiar ground again, but I think (as the opening implies) a further story involving Martin Kove would have been fantastic. If anything, that opening should have stayed on the first film, which would have given the ending more depth and not make it seem rushed and abrupt.

Be that as it may, the story that DOES take place in part 2 is engaging and still fun, though a lot of the 80's aesthetics are virtually unseen given the film's new setting where time is ageless and fads aren't as popular.

Still, this is miles better than the eventual part 3 (which DOES do my suggested storyline, unfortunately too little too late), the putrid part 4, and the upcoming remake abortion. DON'T SUPPORT THE REMAKE!