Jakarta. The popular “Karate Kid” franchise is back with a sixth film -- about 15 years after the last one. 

Legendary martial arts film star Jackie Chan reprises his role as Mr. Han, the revered dojo master. Ralph Macchio, the original Karate Kid, is also returning with quite ample screen time. The new movie has Ben Wang as the karate kid. He plays Li Fong, a young Chinese boy and Mr. Han’s favorite pupil. He has to leave Beijing to start a new life in New York at his mother’s request.

Directed by Jonathan Entwistle, “Karate Kid: Legends” follows the same formula of a young boy struggling to adapt to his new life. Past protagonists have to learn martial arts from scratch as part of their character development, but not Li Fong. The boy is already a kung fu prodigy and even teaches a man who is significantly older than him how to fight. 

“Karate Kid: Legends” feels like it tries to cater to both teens and the young at heart. It has the Gen Alpha humor, young love, and likable protagonist. The movie brings back past legends Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio for the adults who first knew the franchise as kids. These legends are not only making a cameo, but have enough screen time for the adults to reminisce about the past. The masterfully choreographed fighting scenes can entertain both markets. It comes with a playlist of some blood-pumping hip-hop songs as the 94-minute-long movie doesn’t really allow for moments of silence. Even so, none of the songs beat Justin Bieber feat. Jayden Smith’s “Never Say Never” -- the theme song for the 2010 film “The Karate Kid”.

The plot is predictable, and you can already see the happy ending coming from a mile away. 

“Karate Kid: Legends” is now playing in Indonesian theaters.

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