Karate Kid: Legends struggles on RT – And highlights Cobra Kai’s legacy

Karate Kid: Legends is the sixth entry in the franchise that has been going on for decades. The film was helmed by Jonathan Entwistle while Rob Lieber wrote the screenplay. It was released on May 30, 2025, by Sony Pictures Releasing. Here's the official synopsis:

"After kung fu prodigy Li Fong relocates to New York City, he attracts unwanted attention from a local karate champion and embarks on a journey to enter the ultimate karate competition with the help of Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso."

Upon its release, the film met with a mostly mixed critical response and is seen to be struggling on Rotten Tomatoes.

Karate Kid: Legends struggling on RT

Karate Kid: Legends has received more or less a mixed response, and it's reflecting on its Rotten Tomatoes score. It currently holds a 59% rating with more than 120 reviews. The initial score was 51%, which slowly saw an increase. Despite an increase in the score, the film is a reminder of how good Kobra Kai, the series, was.

While it's a low score, Legends surprisingly has the third-best rating in the entire franchise after the first one and the 2010 Jackie Chan-starrer reboot. (They have 81% and 67% ratings, respectively.)

Amid all this, Cobra Kai's rating is head and shoulders above the rest of the franchise. Each season of this Netflix series has an average rating of 90%. The series defies the norms that the films follow and subverts the viewer's expectations. It also builds tension through actions and situations that are missing from the films.

The series also manages to craft the character arcs well, and the payoffs are not forced. These reasons might have clicked with the viewers who have lauded the series.

Karate Kid: Legends is directed by Jonathan Entwistle, while Rob Lieber wrote the script. It's produced by Karen Rosenfelt. The storyline continues from the 2010 film as well as Cobra Kai. The cast members of the film include,

Jackie Chan as Mr. Han
Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso
Ben Wang as Li Fong
Marco Zhang as a young Li Fong
Joshua Jackson as Victor Lipani
Sadie Stanley as Mia Lipani
Ming-Na Wen as Dr. Fong
Aramis Knight as Conor Day
Wyatt Oleff as Alan
Shaunette Renée Wilson as Ms. Morgan
Tim Rozon as O'Shea

In a ScreenRant interview, the film's director revealed that Mr. Han's character is from the same canon as the 2010 film. He said,

"It's all canon to the Karate Kid franchise. [Mr. Han] is the same character as the 2010 movie. The original movie is always canon. That's kind of where everything stems from, and I think something that was really important for me was that in the way that Cobra Kai was a new chapter of the original movies, this is a new chapter, especially now that Cobra Kai has come to an end. This is the next chapter in the overall story."

He added,

"I think the number one thing is to be able to take a piece of IP like this and make it something that the general audience can enjoy physically in the seats in the theater. Then I think you can really start to enjoy the little threads, the threads from the original movies, and then some of the little threads that we were allowed to play with from Cobra Kai. I feel that for a traditional Karate Kid audience, a 90 minute movie is perfect for a television audience. I'm very excited that we're elevating what had lived on television into something theatrical."

What do you think of the film's RT rating?