Legends’ Is Like a Jackie Chan Action Movie

Karate Kid: Legends releases in theaters on May 30, and fans of the martial arts franchise will be able to see the first new Karate Kid movie to hit the big screen in 15 years. Director Jonathan Entwistle and writer Rob Lieber found a way to connect both the original franchise and the 2010 reboot by having Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) in the same timeline. Everyone’s already prepared for the drama that will surely ensue, but Jackie Chan’s fans will actually get a surprise. According to Entwistle, he made sure that the action sequences in Karate Kid: Legends have that particular spice that Jackie Chan’s martial arts action movies used to have.

Speaking with Empire magazine, Entwistle spoke about the upcoming sequel that’s set to take place three years after the events in Cobra Kai. The film will follow Daniel LaRusso as he teams up with Mr. Han in New York City in order to train Li Fong (Ben Wang), a kung fu prodigy. Entwistle says that for the fight sequences, he incorporated some of the trademark pioneered by Chan in his early career:

“Ben was fully training every day with the Chinese stunt team. He knew that I wanted the martial arts in the movie to feel like an early Jackie Chan film, and that’s something we tried really hard to do. We used a lot of classic Hong Kong wire-work.”

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Chan’s work in the martial arts field is legendary. It’s not only about the various injuries he’s endured in the past but about what he has built with his immeasurable talent and skill-set. The Hong Kong actor has been extremely prolific since he began his career in martial arts movies (in the mid-1970s, he made a crazy number of movies). Before the 1995 movie Rumble in the Bronx introduced his peculiar style of fights to American audiences, the star had already built a legacy in Asian cinema. Nevertheless, films like Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon meant that the martial artist had found a home in Hollywood. In 2016, Chan received an honorary Academy Award for his achievement in the action comedy genre and contributions to the film industry.

Entwistle also used the opportunity to tease the style he used to shoot the movie. He also slams the “Marvel style of fighting,” and we can safely assume that he’s referring to using actual stunts and no CGI:

“There’s a humor to the way the choreography unfolds. Something that Jackie — and the team — taught us was, ‘What’s the narrative for the fight? Does he pick up a thing off the floor and use that?’ We’re so used to seeing fights done in a certain way, VFX-heavy fight augmentation, the Marvel style of fighting. It was important for me to bring back an in-camera martial arts approach.”

The ‘Karate Kid’ Franchise Continues Post-‘Cobra Kai’

Months have passed since fans witnessed the end of Cobra Kai, the beloved Netflix spin-off that managed to reunite almost all the important characters of the franchise that began in 1984 with John G. Avildsen’s sports drama. Everyone misses the show, but the abstinence will be cured when Karate Kid: Legends lands in theaters, and fans revisit the franchise once again.

Cobra Kai and Karate Kid: Legends are connected through the presence of Daniel LaRusso. It’s the most obvious link, but that doesn’t mean that the Cobra Kai universe can’t continue on its own. Spin-offs are coming, and while they will follow the nostalgic tone of the series, there’s a chance that the Cobra Kai side of the franchise can become its own thing without having to keep its sight on Miyagi’s teachings and LaRusso’s vision.

Source: Empire