This ‘Karate Kid’ Sequel Is the Saga at Its Most Intense

Anyone born in the 1980s is certainly familiar with the Karate Kid series, but one installment in particular is noteworthy for raising the bar for martial arts films in general. The Karate Kid movies are a breed apart from the more family-friendly action offerings of their time (honorable mention goes to No Retreat, No Surrender) because they were willing to raise the excitement in ways that others weren’t. While the series has its highs and lows between the different installments, the Karate Kid epic reached its dramatic apex in 1986’s The Karate Kid Part II.

The story of the Karate Kid follows Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), a recent New Jersey transplant to Southern California who runs into a snag in the form of Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Winning both the All Valley Karate Tournament, and the heart of Ali (Elizabeth Shue), it’s implied that Daniel earns the respect of his teenage tormentors at the end of the first film. Yet, we see a very different mood throughout The Karate Kid Part II, as though the film itself has grown up, and the consequences for the characters have matured as well. Even though the first and second film have the same basic plot structure, swapping Ali for Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita), there is one key tonal difference: both Daniel and Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) are not engaged in childish roughhousing, but mortal vendettas.

‘The Karate Kid Part II’ Diverges From the Martial Arts Genre

Unlike other staples of the martial arts genre that treat blood feuds as a type of banality, what separates The Karate Kid Part II is that neither Daniel nor Mr. Miyagi are gallant action stereotypes. Neither character is poised to leap into a donnybrook with stalwart abandon. Instead, both protagonists are vulnerable in a way that the audience can identify with. Mr. Miyagi, we’re told, even fled Okinawa to escape the wrath of his former best friend and romantic rival, Sato (Danny Kamekona), who has made his fortune opening karate dojos across the island. This tension is also set up very early in the movie when Sato, along with his nephew, Chozen (Yuji Okumoto), kidnaps Daniel and Mr. Miyagi at the airport as soon as they arrive.

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We also see that neither character is spared from the dispute, which is what generates the tension in The Karate Kid Part II. Daniel, as we see in a particularly unnerving sequence involving a hook, quickly realizes that he’s getting increased pressure from both his friends and enemies. Not only is Mr. Miyagi’s training more intense, but Daniel’s quarrel with Chozen also escalates in lethality after he’s forced to break ice blocks in a bar (which is also encouraged by Mr. Miyagi). It’s at this point that the entire series begins playing for keeps.

The End of ‘The Karate Kid Part II’ Is Daniel’s Finest Moment

It’s also in this chapter that we see someone finally get Mr. Miyagi’s goad, breaking his unfaltering stillness that the audience has grown accustomed to. Despite several attempts by Sato to fight to the death, Mr. Miyagi only reluctantly agrees when he threatens the entire village. This is a pivotal character moment because Mr. Miyagi is set to break his family’s rule that karate is for defense only, which the audience has been anticipating since the first film. Still, since the Sato/Miyagi feud is resolved because of a large (and rather convenient) storm that nearly kills Sato, the tone manages to remain severe.

The climax of The Karate Kid Part II is really the climax of the whole series, because it shows the greatest growth for Daniel and Mr. Miyagi. The showdown between Daniel and Chozen is the pinnacle of the franchise, because there’s really nowhere for the story of a martial arts journey to go after literal mortal combat with a homicidal opponent. We see Daniel again try to use the “crane,” but Chozen, being a higher-level adversary than Johnny Lawrence, easily defeats it. In fact, the final battle at the end of the film exemplifies Daniel’s evolution because he’s unable to win using a one-legged trick shot, and instead must use his more dangerous training to defeat a more dangerous opponent. Not only does this cement Daniel’s transformation, it validates Mr. Miyagi’s methods, and further demonstrates the bond between the characters.

‘The Karate Kid Part II’s Level of Intensity Has Not Been Matched Since

At the end of The Karate Kid Part II, we are at the zenith of karate excitement, and we know from the formula that the third film has to escalate the story, but how? In the 1980s, the third film in a series was generally considered its swan song, and The Karate Kid Part III filled that role until Cobra Kai (although it features Mr. Miyagi, The Next Karate Kid is a separate story). Curiously, however, TheKarate Kid Part III reaches no such crescendo, aiming instead to match the tone of the first film. Both sequels start directly after the first film with little dramatic time having elapsed, and the third film happens independently of the second. More importantly, why would Daniel be afraid of point-fighting Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) when he had just won a deadly struggle? Also, since Kreese, Barnes, and the indeterminately wealthy Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) offered little more than a stiff breeze to Mr. Miyagi, why would Daniel have anything to fear from them? It’s almost as if the third film was originally meant to be the second, since it’s a step down on the dramatic scale.

Neither TheNext Karate Kid, which includes teenagers blowing up a car under the tutelage of Colonel Dugan (Michael Ironside), nor Cobra Kai ever really match the tone of the second film. Even Season 2 of Cobra Kai has Miguel (Xolo Mariduena) fall from a second story balcony, but the event is not seen as intentional, more like the fog of an adolescent karate war. The closest that the series comes to equaling the intensity of the second film is either when a young Kreese is seen kicking a man into a pit of snakes, or the fight between Chozen and Silver at the end of Season 5. Even so, both scenes lack the sense of danger that Daniel’s fight with Chozen elicits since the real struggle was over both Daniel and Kumiko’s fates. Still, fans of the series should not abandon hope, because Season 6 of Cobra Kai is set to premiere on July 18, 2024. The new season, which is confirmed as its final chapter, might just be a match for TheKarate Kid Part II.

The Karate Kid Part II is currently available to stream on Starz in the U.S.

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