Movie · 2025 · Action, Adventure, Drama · 1h 34m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 1.3/10 (238.4K ratings)
When masters unite a new legacy begins.
Overview
After a family tragedy, kung fu prodigy Li Fong is uprooted from his home in Beijing and forced to move to New York City with his mother. When a new friend needs his help, Li enters a karate competition – but his skills alone aren't enough. Li's kung fu teacher Mr. Han enlists original Karate Kid Daniel LaRusso for help, and Li learns a new way to fight, merging their two styles into one for the ultimate martial arts showdown.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.3/10
IMDb: 6.3/10
Letterboxd: 2.78/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 57%
Metacritic: 51
TMDB: 7.0/10
Director
Jonathan Entwistle
Production
Columbia Pictures, Sunswept Entertainment, TSG Entertainment
Cast
Jackie Chan, Ben Wang, Joshua Jackson, Sadie Stanley, Ming-Na Wen, Wyatt Oleff, Aramis Knight, Ralph Macchio, Olivia Yang Avis, Aaron Wang, Nicholas Carella, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Tim Rozon, Mig Buenacruz, Li Li, Henri Forget, Noé Poblete, Oscar Ge, Marco Zhang, Yusuf A. Ahmed
Where to watch
Netflix
Curator Review
Verdict
A crowd-pleasing martial-arts legacy sequel with some genuine charm, but it’s also uneven, overstuffed, and more interested in brand management than a fully satisfying story. The action and underdog energy should work for fans of the franchise, while the tonal whiplash, generic soundtrack, and identity-crisis plotting may frustrate everyone else.
Best for
fans of the Karate Kid/Cobra Kai universe
viewers who like earnest underdog sports movies
families looking for a light action-drama
audiences who enjoy Jackie Chan-style physical choreography
Skip if
you want a tightly written standalone film
you’re tired of legacy-sequel fan service
you dislike polished studio pop soundtracks
you prefer martial-arts films with a stronger tonal identity
Overview
Karate Kid: Legends is the kind of sequel that wants to be both a fresh start and a greatest-hits package, and those goals don’t always sit comfortably together. The setup is familiar in the best and worst ways: a gifted kid, a new city, a mentor figure, and a competition that promises personal healing as much as victory. When the movie leans into training, movement, and the awkward physical comedy of learning to fight, it has a spark of life.
Worth noting
The problem is that the film keeps reaching for franchise reassurance instead of committing to its own personality. It piles on legacy connections, tries to fuse different martial-arts traditions, and wraps everything in a glossy, algorithm-friendly sheen that can make it feel less like a movie than a product assembled to please multiple audience segments at once. The emotional beats are serviceable, but the script rarely lets them breathe.
Bottom line
Still, there’s enough competence and enough sincere underdog energy to keep it from collapsing entirely. If you’re already invested in the franchise, or you just want a broad, family-friendly fight movie with a few crowd-pleasing moments, it can go down easy. If you’re hoping for a sharper reinvention, the title promises legends and delivers something more modest.
Top Letterboxd reviews
timtamtitus (2★) · 4233 likes
can we talk about the karate and kung fu state of the world right now
nicole (2.5★) · 3168 likes
when johnny showed up my grandma asked “is that his boyfriend?” and i said something like that yeah
Preet (2.5★) · 2982 likes
karate kid: into the karate-verse
Joe A (2.5★) · 1860 likes
There is one scene that was very inspired by classic Chan choreography, Ben Wang stumbling all over the place while beating people up, and I thought maybe there’s hope for this movie after all.
It never happened again.
Suffers from a major identity crisis. Also, an awful soundtrack.
frejaoneill (3★) · 1646 likes
this is the best disney channel film i’ve ever seen
2008 · Drama, Action, History · 1h 46m · R · Curator 7.3/10 (365.6K ratings) · Where to watch: Hulu, fuboTV, Peacock Premium, FlixFling, Hi-YAH, Peacock Premium Plus
A disciplined martial-arts drama with stronger emotional clarity and a more focused sense of style.