Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

The Next Karate Kid Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 9, 2019

Director Christopher Cain's (The Principal) The Next Karate Kid is a flat, uninspired effort at softly rebooting a fan favorite franchise that peaked with the classic first which was followed by a pair of decent but decidedly disposable sequels. For Next, Cain and Writer Mark Lee return the fan-favorite Mr. Miyagi as the central figure in the film but replace the perpetually emotional (and somewhat obnoxious) Daniel with Hillary Swank's Julie, another character who is dealing with personal crises that cause her to lash out at life for much of the movie. There's not much difference between Daniel and Julie, which is perhaps why Miyagi, in the movie, takes her under his wing, recognizing not just her untapped potential but also realizing that she has been previously trained in the art of karate, a secret she keeps to herself for the movie's first act.

When Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) attends a ceremony honoring Japanese-Americans who fought in World War II, he meets the widow of the man under whom he served. While the two are catching up, he meets Julie (Hillary Swank), a teenage girl who lives her life in a perpetual state of undisciplined anger, a response to her parents' death some years ago. It is decided that she will return to California with Miyagi in hopes that his wisdom and permanent calm and collected demeanor might rub off on her. Julie quickly gets off on the wrong foot, making enemies at school, and the worst ones at that: she runs afoul of the "security" detail known as the Alpha Elites, headed by the hard-edged "Colonel" Paul Dugan (Michael Ironside). She also meets a boy, Eric McGowen (Chris Conrad), who slowly breaks her out of her shell. Miyagi learns that Julie has been taught karate by her late father and attempts to harness her power and raw energy to mold her into a better person.

Like The Karate Kid: Part III seemed hellbent on recreating the original film, so too does The Next Karate Kid seem to believe that retreating back to the same essential story lines rather than craft an entirely new dynamic is its best bet. The film travels to new places and exposes the audience to new characters but it's largely the same formula underneath, with Miyagi sharing nuggets of wisdom that, at first, only frustrate a perpetually angry-at-the-world Julie who only gradually comes to realize the benefits of Miyagi's teachings, much as it took Daniel a good portion of the first movie to come to terms with the value of his sensei's wisdom.

Also in an effort to rebuild the franchise by way of familiar components, The Next Karate Kid introduces a curious, weird, and unbelievable "paramilitary" style self-defense class/security organization taught/led by Michael Ironside. It's an obvious, and far less believable, antagonistic group meant to duplicate the ferocity of Cobra Kai but it ultimately lacks both the effortlessly sinister vibe (though Ironside, playing a character in his wheelhouse, is appropriately intense and mean) and the natural rivalry that Kai lended to the first and third films that pitted karate student against karate student rather than karate student against whatever it is the Alpha Elite are supposed to be (maybe a precursor to Rasczak's Roughnecks).

The film is well acted if nothing else, with Morita recapturing the Miyagi magic that has arguably made the character the most popular movie sage of all time who isn't green. Ironside, as noted, devours the part, even if the part isn't exactly the most well written, logical, or narratively complimentary on the planet. Then-futrue Oscar winner Hillary Swank shines in the lead, capturing the combination of teen angst, rebellion, sadness, and a generally undisciplined mind and spirit that are more of a challenge to Miyagi than teaching her the X's and O's, so to speak, of karate, as he did with Daniel. Her Julie is already a "karate kid," previously trained by her late father, which makes Miyagi's task perhaps more of a challenge, to hone only her mind and spirit, not her punches and kicks.

The Next Karate Kid Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

With few exceptions, this 1080p Blu-ray release of The Next Karate Kid looks terrific. The picture is healthy, impressively filmic, and very texturally stable. Details inside the school are amazingly clear and intricately refined, each one sharp and stable. Facial features are exquisitely revealed, with fine definition of pores, hair, freckles, and other character-revealing traits. Clothes and environments are likewise pristine, whether worn details around school, the refined lines around the house where Julie and Miyagi live, or the rural sights around a monastery. Clarity extends throughout the frame and throughout the film. Colors are very well saturated, boasting good depth and very impressive stability and accuracy across the palette, which includes flesh tones, black Alpha Elite T-shirts, blue school lockers, green vegetation, and colorful children's toys. The colors are robust and regularly so. Black levels appear stable and deep. Edge enhancement is visible on various rooftop scenes, which beyond a few extremely light compression artifacts represent really the only blemishes in the entire transfer.

The Next Karate Kid Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The film begins with rousing patriotic music engaging every speaker available to it via the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack, the only track available on this release. The music ceases and immediately gives way to very natural, wide, and immersive reverberation when a man addresses a gathering of military veterans and widows via microphone and loudspeaker. Energetic pop music beats spill out of the speakers in chapter three when Julie arrives to school in Los Angeles, and several times her music, which is a bother to Mr. Miyagi, engages with an energetic, spacious, and nicely detailed presentation. There is good detailing and stage saturation -- with nearly a faux overhead sensation -- to a blaring alarm in chapter seven, and several additional fight and crash effects present with good placement, depth, and detail. Light environmental ambience filters in from time to time to better sonically establish and define a scene. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized from its natural front-center position.

The Next Karate Kid Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Karate Kid: Part III contains no extras beyond trailers (1080p) for The Karate Kid (2:18), The Karate Kid: Part II (1:28), and The Karate Kid III (1:28). These are the same trailers included on the "Choice Collection" release for The Karate Kid: Part III. No "Top Menu" is included. The trailers must be accessed in-film via the "Pop Up" menu screen. No DVD or digital copies are included. Note that the supplements for this release earn a "0" because there's nothing directly related to this film; Part III earned a 0.5 because that film's trailer was included on that disc.

The Next Karate Kid Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Next Karate Kid was ultimately not the next evolution in the franchise. It was a one-off that went nowhere, that didn't spawn a couple of sequels like the original. The franchise would remain dormant until the first film was reimagined in 2010 and was recently revitalized on YouTube with a new series returning a couple of old favorites. The Next Karate Kid will ultimately be remembered for jumpstarting Swank's career and as Morita's final appearance in his career-defining role. Sony's "Choice Collection" Blu-ray release of The Next Karate Kid delivers first-rate video and audio. No extras beyond a few trailers for the other films in the series are included. Worth a look.