LOS ANGELES, May 28 (UPI) -- Karate Kid: Legends, in theaters Friday, promises the merging of two Karate Kid worlds. Unfortunately, original star Ralph Macchio doesn't show up for 55 minutes and the film rushes through all the moments fans were waiting for, along with everything else.
Jackie Chan returns as Shifu Han from the 2010 Karate Kid remake. Han has a student in his Beijing dojo named Li Fong (Ben Wang), whose mother, Dr. Fong, (Ming-Na Wen) takes a job in New York and forbids Li to fight, or even practice, martial arts.
In New York, Li meets Mia (Sadie Stanley) working at her father, Victor's (Joshua Jackson) pizza restaurant. Mia's ex, Conor Day (Aramis Knight), trains at a mixed martial arts gym where Victor owes the owner money. Conor bullies Li just for being friends with Mia.
Karate Kid: Legends is much more about Li's relationship with Victor than with Daniel LaRusso (Macchio). Li uses Kung Fu he learned from Han to defend Victor against thugs from the gym's loan shark.
Victor is impressed and asks Li to teach him moves for the upcoming boxing match he entered in hope of paying off his debt and keeping the restaurant open. Making the new Karate Kid a teacher is an interesting twist, especially when he has to hide it from his mother.
