Review of The Next Karate Kid (1994) by Barry N — 13 Feb 2011

Definately not as good as the first two, but it's certainly better than the third.

You may or may not have known that this sequel even existed, but I did and I got a hold of it at my public library. After reading many reveiws I was expecting a terrible film, but I was pleasantly surprised.

This film is actually heartwarming in some scenes, including some scenes at the monastary that I found particularly touching and some scenes involving Julie and Angel a hawk with a broken wing.

Things I weren't so crazy about included an overlong film. I mean the film was great, but I honestly felt that some scenes were in there for filler to make the film longer, like the scene where Miyagi goes shopping for a dress for Julie.

I also found it hard to like Julie at first, because she is so shallow and so harsh, but she does change by the end, so the payoff outweighed any negatives the film had at first, so it earns points back there.

On a smaller side note, I was kind of disappointed that Daniel, from the first 3 films, only gets 1 mention in the entire film. I would've liked to have known at least where he was or why he wasn't there or something. Instead we just get one stray comment that happens to mention him. It really felt like a cheat and I was disapponted.

Fortunately for this film, the positives outweigh any negatives this film has to offer. I had fun watching it, and I found the fight scene at the end entertaining and didn't really feel out of place like the one at the end of number 3 did. I enjoyed this film a lot.