Review of The Karate Kid Part III (1989) by Miz B W — 11 Oct 2010

Fresh from watching this, I think to myself, "What in the hell?" This third installment just sucks, compared to the first two. With an annoying performance by Ralph Macchio (who, this time, just can't take the time to shut up), a tone that takes itself too seriously, and that slimy feel that is given off (which is slimier than the three-way villain clusterf*ck), it's easy to see why.

There's also the factor that the plot is the same-old, same-old (well, you know what's gonna happen in the opening credits), and this romantic-interest-of-the-week, selected for Daniel-san, is not very interesting.

It tries to be darker, with tempting our hero to go on the Dark Side, but... that's no way in the spirit of the KK movies at all, and adds to even more pain than getting punched in the face, combined with the wooden first act, the painful second act, and the inevitable final act (is this like, the Spider-Man 3 of the 80's?).

Pat Morita goes above and beyond, even with this crappy material, but is unfortunately sparingly used. Well, the fights are more exciting as the stakes are higher, the music is still good, and the film covers more mature material as it is finally time (when so close to the end of the arc) for Daniel-san to grow some balls and become a man.

Well, there's enough interest for me to check out the fourth one, just cause I wonder what it'll be like for Mr. Miyagi to train... a girl.