The Karate Kid’s expected 2024 remake is repeating the same mistakes the franchise had caved to in The Next Karate Kid and The Karate Kid (2010).
The Karate Kid franchise confirmed another film will join its beloved catalog, however it may be repeating a critical movie mistake. Slated for June 2024, Sony’s Columbia Pictures has announced what would be the fifth movie to be made for the martial arts phenomenon, although no other information was revealed. While a new Karate Kid movie seems like a clever plan following the impact of Netflix’s television series Cobra Kai, a direct addition to Karate Kid canon, introducing a new movie into the fold may not be the best idea.
The franchise had a tremendous start with 1984’s original The Karate Kid, as it was a commercial success and began a legacy that spurred sequels, a reboot, and the triumphant Cobra Kai. Cobra Kai is considered particularly successful because it built on what made earlier installments successful and made existing Karate Kid canon newly relevant – especially when taking into account the failures of the franchise’s later movies, The Next Karate Kid and The Karate Kid (2010). A new Karate Kid reboot is attempting to build on the success of Cobra Kai, and thus the caliber of the original Karate Kid, but its rumored approach suggests that this may be difficult
Karate Kid Made The Same Mistake In 1994 And 2010
Cobra Kai overtook The Next Karate Kid and The Karate Kid (2010) as a superior contribution to the Karate Kid catalog because it did not succumb to the canon’s movie formula, instead expanding on it. In The Next Karate Kid and The Karate Kid (2010), the franchise rebooted the narrative of a downtrodden kid reinvigorated by the love and competition of martial arts with the expectation of finding the same success as the original film did upon release. Instead, the franchise efforts were constricted by rehashing old plot developments, offering little to old audiences and failing to execute them as proficiently as the original.
In spite of the fact that Jaden Smith and Hilary Swank made for reasonable protagonists in their respective films, the Karate Kid movies were simply lackluster in comparison to the first The Karate Kid, repeating what made the first movie great without adding anything new. Recycling the narrative that was once popular with audiences before was a major mistake for the franchise, and both previous attempts produced predictably similar results. The Next Karate Kid and The Karate Kid (2010) received nominal ratings and failed to hit the high mark of the young Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and his mentor, Mr. Miyagi’s (Pat Morita) story.
Karate Kid’s New Movie Is Repeating The Same Problem
Details pertaining to the new 2024 Karate Kid movie are scarce, but various sources have reported Sony has dubbed the film a “return of the original Karate Kid franchise.” The news could be exciting for fans who have been reinvigorated by the success of Cobra Kai. However, this clear appeal to the past and nostalgia could indicate that the Karate Kid franchise is repeating the same mistakes it made in The Next Karate Kid and The Karate Kid (2010).
With no information for audiences to go on, it’s easy to assume Sony will produce another recycled The Karate Kid narrative with slight adjustments in detail and the promise of new actors and settings. If this is the case, The Karate Kid remake could be another potential canon frustration. And, consequently, The Karate Kid remake would represent a major franchise misjudgment, piggybacking off of the success of Cobra Kai only to make a new movie out of old material.
Karate Kid’s New Movie Misunderstands Cobra Kai’s Success
Cobra Kai works so well as an addition to the franchise and as a streaming mega moneymaker because it both follows and subverts successful elements of the franchise’s formula. Although the films may often recycle the same Karate Kid story, Cobra Kai gives audiences insight into the franchise’s nearest and dearest characters, develops their narratives further, and does so full of the same nostalgia and action-packed martial arts viewers admired in the original movie. The Karate Kid franchise misunderstands the streaming series’ accomplishments by reverting to tried and true methods of success, instead of branching out to far more successful, uncharted territories reached by Cobra Kai.
