The Karate Kid Part III

I have to say, every time I watch Karate Kid III, I laugh many, many times. Trouble is...it's not intentionally a comedy! That's okay with me though, I still watch it every time I catch it on cable. It's definitely a "so bad, it's good" movie. Ralph Macchio isn't a great actor, but Robin Lively was terrible in her role as the supposed love-interest...which only made it better in my eyes. The dialogue was corny, over-the-top, and oh-so unnatural. Brilliant! I sincerely liked the first KK, was bored by the second one, but KK III is definitely my favorite. It's poorly-made, poorly-acted, and poorly-written. And I loved every minute of it.

SPOILER WARNING You know when the formula is getting old when you see Daniel Larusso get the third girlfriend and bring her over to meet Mr. Miyagi saying how he's a great friend and always has an answer to a problem. What I'm starting to hear at this point is, "I have no life and this old guy from Okinowa is the only guy who be my friend!" Another dragging formula is Miyagi's discouragement to Daniel of fighting and he has to kick the crap out of all the bad guys beating on Daniel before he decides to train him for the tournament. Then I felt this whole movie crush under it's own weight when Daniel takes a beating over and over before finally winning with just a single punch. Am I supposed to be impressed with this? I guess by tournament terms he won, but by fighting terms he had his butt handed to him. There was just no feeling of victory here. Just plain LOUSY!

While this film went back to the more casual appeal of the first film, it proved to be a bit of a rehashing of the first. The only difference, we see Daniel take on the `dark side' (a.k.a. not Mr. Myagi's way) of fighting. Sure, this had to be a little different, but Daniel trying to be a tough guy seemed a little off in a way. Sure, this film was entertaining, but it proved the series was running on empty. However, Mr. Myagi proved he could still kick plenty of butt, making the ending all worth it.

Having enjoyed the first two films, I wanted to see this film too. While not particularly brilliant, I do think it is better than people make it out to be. The script is weak, the plot predictable and the villains unbelievable with somewhat unrealistic motives. However, it did move fairly briskly, had some neat direction, it looked good, the karate sequences were efficient and well choreographed, the ending was decent and there is some nice messaging. I have liked the character of Miyagi as well, he strikes me as wise and caring, the sort of character I like. The acting also was not too bad, Ralph Macchio once again is appealing while Pat Morita, who is always watchable, gives another solid performance. Overall, it was decent, while nothing exceptional. 6/10 Bethany Cox