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Cobra Kai - The Review

8/6/2018

Admittedly, I have never watched a YouTube Red anything, as no programmes of interest have ever appeared on my cinematic radar. And so with its sophomore resurrection in what I thought were the cheap seats, The Karate Kid franchise is back with 2 of its original and biggest characters. But with a celluloid history that has butchered TKK legacy with its ever-worsening sequels and nonsensical reboots, I could only predict, that this new venture was also going to be a load of rubbish...however.

The original Karate Kid story wasn’t complicated; a high-school student - Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) gets bullied by a gang of karate proficient meat-heads, lead by Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and manages to find an antidote in martial arts teacher Mr. Miyagi, played by Pat Morita. Mr. Miyagi helps Daniel conquer his inner demons as well as his physical foes and ta-daaa – that’s as complex as it got! But unbeknownst to us, the final events of Johnny and Daniel’s karate conflict, were destined to set their life trajectories for the next 30 years and this is where Cobra Kai lands us.

PRESENT DAY
It’s 2018 and Daniel Larusso has become a business success. He has formed a very lucrative car dealership that he runs with his loving wife, whom he has 2 kids with. In direct contrast to Daniel’s risen star, Johnny Lawrence is a fallen man. The once popular kid from high-school has now faded into obscurity and personal failure and ironically; Johnny gets by working as a handy man, that immediately had me drawing comparisons to Mr Miyagi. Johnny is also separated from his partner, estranged from his delinquent son and clearly has a drinking problem and to make matters worse, a spate of bad luck and a strange set of coincidences, keep bringing him back to the ever-growing spectre of Daniel. Eventually, circumstances bring the two nemesis of the past face-to-face in the present.

With the enemies reunion and other burgeoning situations happening around both Daniel and Johnny, Johnny is sparked and ignited into bringing back the Cobra Kai clan, partly for himself and partly in retaliation to all his doubters. Meanwhile, Daniel's perfect looking life, is not as wonderful as it seems. His children are on the edge of becoming stuck-up and spoilt, just like how Johnny and his friends were back in their school days and Daniel himself is also losing his way a little. It seems as if the re-emergence of Johnny is bringing back an imbalance to his life and his anger and malice are starting to chip away at his inner peace.

Parallel to Daniel and Johnny’s issues, there is a remixed, repeating of history occurring, as Daniel and Johnny’s past narrative begins to manifests amongst two high-school students, that each have a link to Daniel and Johnny. And once again, a young lady is not only caught in the middle of an escalating feud, but serves as the catalyst in what becomes A Midsummers Night’s Dreamesque plot, where misunderstandings and jealously drive the two new rivals to a conclusion via combat.

Cobra Kai is an interesting premise in so many ways; it seeks to show how our early wins, loses and mentors, in the dawn of our lives can determine who we will become as adults. But the most interesting element in Cobra Kai, is the character of Johnny. He still has many negative traits, but his character progression brings him into becoming a somewhat fascinating remix of his old teacher John Kreese, Mr. Miyagi and a half-measured, redeemed version of himself. Cobra Kai manages to be deliberately funny, modern, yet nostalgic and self-deprecating at the same time. It also shows the oddities of life repeating itself, lest we forget the old mantra, that if we forget the past or don’t teach our wisdom to the next generation, we are doomed to repeat it. The current saga happening with new players was also fascinating to me, it was like watching an alternate universe of past events coming around again, only this time, Johnny is the beacon of light to the nerds and outcasts. Yes! The very people Johnny Lawrence would have once pulverised into the ground back in his school days becomes their saviour. His method of alleviating them still comes from his old jock values and it’s funny watching his un PC attitude and language collide with the soft millennial's students way of thinking and being. This offers the show every opportunity for satire and surprisingly poignant moments. Even the old-skool karate was enjoyable to watch, as it didn't suffer from over editing or bad choreography, though they are a few scenes that needed a little tightening up. Cobra Kai is an enjoyable show, so much show that second season has already been green lit.

THE ROAD TO COBRA KAI

It’s important to remember, that the phenomena and success of the original Karate Kid, was partly down to riding the wave of the 70s boom of martial arts cinema that had flooded the west and the success of the first 3 Rocky movies. So it stands as no coincidence that director John G. Avildsen, who helmed Rocky (and subsequently Karate Kid II, Karate Kid III and Rocky V) was chosen as the original film’s director. However much kudos has to be given to this latter day production team, including that of Will Smith (as the film comes through his Overbrook Entertainment company that also produced the 2010 version) because the Cobra Kai team have really done a good job in understanding what this franchise needed to be for now, without trampling all over its nostalgic glow.

THE KARATE KID (1984)