The Karate Kid (1984) September 9th, 2023

I have a large to-watch list but within that list are a small number of movies with one shared commonality: people can’t believe I haven’t seen them. Films like Psycho, Casablanca, and (up until last October) The Exorcist. Today I remove The Karate Kid from the gobsmacked-list and relieve myself of the burden of repeating “No, I haven’t seen it” in future conversations.

The Karate Kid is a classic fish-out-of-water story. Daniel LaRusso movies with his mother from New Jersey to California and despite having a pool at their apartment, Daniel’s struggling to fit in. He’s bullied and picked on at school and he suspects his new sweetheart (played by Elisabeth Schue) is ashamed by the difference in their social classes. The lonely and angry boy finds solace and mentorship in his aged Japanese neighbor Mr. Miyagi who teaches Daniel martial arts basics through household chores. Daniel intends to use this training to end his torment at the hands of the Cobra Kai dojo by beating their best fighters in a karate tournament. The evil dojo master instructs one of his students to break Daniel’s leg in the semi-final match, but a broken leg doesn’t stop Daniel from winning the tournament and earning his tormentor’s respect.

The Karate Kid earns its reputation as a fun 80s coming of age story. Despite its predictable plot progression it’s filled with surprisingly heavy topics. For example, Daniel hides his difficulty adapting to life in California from his mother because he doesn’t want her to feel guilty for moving them across the country. He endures violence and heartache to protect his mother’s feelings until he can no longer hide his bloodied noses and black eyes. Ralph Macchio’s tortured portrayal of Daniel LaRusso contributes to elevating the Disney Channel plot well beyond its station.

After a particularly difficult day Daniel finds himself in Miyagi’s home where the old man is celebrating his late wife’s birthday. The drunk Miyagi reveals to Daniel the circumstances of his wife’s death from complications in childbirth which also took the life of his unborn son. Tragic as that may be, Daniel discovers evidence that she died while in an American Japanese interment camp during WWII… add on to that Miyagi was an American soldier during the war living in a separate camp at the time and now we’re dealing with social and cultural themes well beyond the scope of a movie called The Karate Kid.

Likewise the cinematography exceeded my expectations. The Karate Kid is mostly a flat film shot on small locations without extraneous frills, but occasionally you’ll get a shot or two where the DP James Crabe really sings. Crabe (famous for his cinematography on Rocky, The China Syndrome, and The Entertainer) pulls off a number of great shots in The Karate Kid but none as god as a dolly shot at a lakeside sunset with a perfectly positioned lens flair.

These eye-candy shots paired with snappy and well paced editing show a passion for the craft that are all the more surprising considering the film’s absurd premise. Aside from a few bizarre notes (1: Why did Daniel go see Ali instead of his mother on his birthday after he told Miyagi she was waiting for him at home? 2: What’s with that kid in the beginning with the copulating cartoon pig t-shirt that read “Makin’ Bacon”?) The Karate Kid earns its reputation as a memorable and enjoyable kids movie. I won’t ever be able to go back and make it a part of my childhood but fortunately I don’t have to because even after 40 years, The Karate Kid holds up.

PS: Look at the poster, WTF is up with Daniel’s neck? Why does he look like a turtle extending out of his shell?