The Karate Kid Part II.

Review #2203: The Karate Kid Part II.

Cast: 
Ralph Macchio (Daniel LaRusso), Pat Morita (Mr. Miyagi), Nobu McCarthy (Yukie), Tamlyn Tomita (Kumiko), Danny Kamekona (Sato), Yuji Okumoto (Chozen Toguchi), Charlie Tanimoto (Miyagi Chōjun), Joey Miyashima (Toshio), Marc Hayashi (Taro), with Martin Kove (John Kreese), and William Zabka (Johnny Lawrence) Directed by John G. Avildsen (#003 - Rocky, #895 - Rocky V, #1689 - W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, #1759 - The Karate Kid)

Review: 
Sure, The Karate Kid (1984) was quite the hit, so sure, let's make a sequel pretty quickly. Not only does the sequel see the return of Macchio and Morita as the lead stars, but it also features Robert Mark Kamen as the screenwriter again (Elizabeth Shue however did not return). As one probably would see coming, the events of the first film are briefly shown again that includes the ending and a subsequent scene that was planned for the original film's ending is utilized here with Zabka and Kove. When producers and writers had a conflict over what was to be the basis of the second film (Miyagi's homeland versus the revenge of Kreese), a compromise was made to have the third film feature the revenge aspect, which is how one got The Karate Kid Part III (released in 1989), complete with Kamen and Avildsen back as writer and director. Interestingly enough, the presence of military bases on Okinawa makes a certain type of landscape look as opposed to, say, Oahu in Hawaii.

Honestly, it is a decent movie, but it definitely is a case of a movie that threatens to unravel because of the last half. I do like the idea of our two leads branching out into a different landscape to build on the idea of trying to continue to find personal balance that, well, relates to karate without just leaning into violence, albeit now on Okinawa Island (complete with a storm that surely had a little bit of fun from The Rains Came [1939]). Those two dynamics that arise in Macchio & Tomita and Morita & McCarthy do provide some interest when it comes to showing the nature of what they are beyond karate (or what they could be, in the case of the young ones when compared to ones filled in what-could-have-been). Morita makes the movie work as Miyagi's story in slowly unraveling layers beyond just being someone that could do karate when it comes to the heart and the choices that come with looking on the homeland again. Really though, the most interesting sequence is a brief one with Macchio about finding the best thing one could do for their dad being, well, being there. This was actually the film debut of Kamekona, who had appeared in countless TV shows (most significantly Hawaii Five-O on-and-off from 1968 to its end in 1980). At least he seems to have fun in his endearing game with Morita (we are talking about middle-aged men and one really old grudge). Okumoto does fine with such a silly buildup to an inevitable fight for the reason of just needing a fight because at least he plays it with enthusiasm. The movie at least utilizes its location with charm that doesn't make one think it was there just for vacations or window dressing, particularly with its dance near the end (aside from of course, the fight that has to come from it, heh).

And then of course there is the karate, which is totally fine but inevitably amusing to see play for a setup that doesn't really try to hold a candle to the original because of how familiar it ends up being. A good chunk of the film is the build of, well, a guy not wanting to fight while his friend is somehow roped by some chump into plenty of dumb antics (like say, a big bet on breaking six blocks of ice) because of course he is. The final fight is amusing to the point of absurdity in trying to be both of closing the circle of how the film started (deciding to not kill their opponent in front of people) and ensure that the film did not in fact close on rain (don't get me started on the bit with the little drums that have swinging beads). As a whole, it is a sequel purely made for crowd-pleasing that tells a decent story when it comes to Miyagi while being pretty familiar stuff the rest of the way around for a solidly average film if one was already on board with what the original film had in mind with cheery karate.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

The Karate Kid (1984)

Review #1759: The Karate Kid.

Cast: 

Ralph Macchio (Daniel LaRusso), Pat Morita (Mr. Miyagi), Elisabeth Shue (Ali Mills), Martin Kove (John Kreese), Randee Heller (Lucille LaRusso), William Zabka (Johnny Lawrence), Chad McQueen (Dutch), Ron Thomas (Bobby Brown), Rob Garrison (Tommy), and Tony O'Dell (Jimmy) Directed by John G. Avildsen (#003 - Rocky, #895 - Rocky V, #1689 - W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings)

Review: 

Sure, you could make the connection that a director best known for a film about fighting in John G. Avildsen might have wanted to make a hit that was reminiscent of Rocky (1976) for the 1980s (the one song associated with this film coincidentally was meant for Rocky III). Of course, the actual inspiration for this film came with its writer in Robert Mark Kamen. The New York native was actually a student of karate, having studied it after he was beaten up at the 1964 New York World's Fair (note that one of the characters is actually named after a famed martial artist, for which Kamen trained under a sensei that had learned from said martial artist). Kamen eventually became a screenwriter (with his first collaboration being with Taps in 1981), but the story for this film actually came from Kamen being asked if he could make a story around an article that had been optioned by a producer that involved a kid taking up karate to deal with neighborhood bullies. The funny thing is that the main two roles had widely divergent options before settling with Macchio and Morita; Nicolas Cage was one consideration, while the other role was really meant for a perceived serious actor...Toshiro Mifune was actually considered for the role, but he wasn't chosen because he did not actually speak English (I would like to point the irony that Kamen learned karate from a master that didn't speak English). Instead, it went to the actor that Avildsen fought for: Noriyuki "Pat" Morita, who was more known as a comic than a serious actor (I suppose folks really weren't convinced that comedic actors can do useful serious performances); the best scene in the whole film with him was one that nearly got cut because of requests by Columbia, but Avildsen managed to keep it in the film (of course, martial artist Fumio Demura has also been cited as source of inspiration for Morita, complete with stunt doubling for him in parts).

Look, we're talking about a movie where someone learns to basically be a black belt in two months. If one can take that carefully enough, I'm pretty sure you can handle two hours of material that could have teetered over the saccharine line and yet manages to be a riveting experience with a game cast that proves up to the task of capable entertainment. The karate passes enough to keep one interested (unless one is really, really into accuracy) without diverting all the attention from the routines the story has to stretch to get where it needs to go without becoming the "why doesn't the main character call the cops on these weirdo karate punks?" kind of movie. Macchio proves adept with cultivating a likable lead focus with enthusiasm and sense of timing that makes the journey worth taking without seeming like a hokey TV special (i.e in the overall message involving not just learning something just to enact violence on them). The support around him always will circle to Morita first when it comes to this film - for good reason. Leave it to Avildsen to pick an unlikely name for an intriguing role that worked out exactly to what is needed to essentially serve as the counterpart for Macchio without turning the role into a diet of clichés and tired lines. In short, he makes a worthy presence of soothing interest that serves the film well in patience (although the sequences involving him training the lead seem reminiscent of the training done in Rocky (1976), it has a different touch). It was his most notable role, one that would earn him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor: the scene that likely helped sell it involves him opening up about his past with who he loved and lost, for which the chemistry between Macchio and Morita helps a poignant bond seem only more fitting. Of course, the others in the cast keep up just fine: Shue makes a fair pairing with Macchio, while Kove absolutely makes for a worthy foil that is accompanied by Zabka and his wavering intimidation that makes a useful contrast to focus on from time to time. The film sells its moments with balance that never seeps into camp value, whether for overt seriousness or veering all the way into comedy, maneuvering its way through with pride to go along with a few quotable lines (for which I'm sure you've heard someone wax on or wax off before). Oh sure, there is quite an enduring legacy to the film, which believe it or not was actually a surprise hit to a good number of the cast and crew. Part II (1986) and Part III (1989) were both directed by Avildsen while featuring Macchio, Morita, and Kove (and Kamen as writer), while The Next Karate Kid (1994) featured only Morita. A remake of the original film was done in 2010. A web television series sequel followed with Cobra Kai (2018-present), featuring both Macchio and Zabka as star. If that is not enough, there are even plans for a musical on Broadway. At any rate, The Karate Kid (1984) has endured for so long because of how it managed to put all the right moves together at the right time with the right cast and right folks behind it to make a fun movie and a worthy piece of the capsule of good stuff from the 1980s without becoming gripped as a relic of the time. Sincere without sickening, it doesn't take long to become gripped by its charm, for which I would say is a useful accomplishment worth checking out.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Next Time: Turkey Week looms. With a week to Thanksgiving, it is almost time for Movie Night: Turkey Week Two, which will take place from November 21 to November 27 (i.e. the week of Thanksgiving, like last year) while focusing on films that are thought of as "turkeys", if you will; last year featured eight films from different decades that went from The Terror of Tiny Town to Freddy Got Fingered, and the approach will continue.

W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings.

Review #1689: W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings.

Cast: 

Burt Reynolds (W.W. Bright), Conny Van Dyke (Dixie), Jerry Reed (Wayne), Ned Beatty (Country Bull Jenkins), James Hampton (Junior), Don Williams (Leroy), Rick Hurst (Butterball), Mel Tillis (GOB), Furry Lewis (Uncle Furry), and Art Carney (Deacon John Wesley Gore) Directed by John G. Avildsen (#003 - Rocky and #895 - Rocky V)

Review: 

"...turned out wrong but it made a lot of money. It was supposed to be a special, warm and lovely little film. It was important that we not make fun of the people in Nashville as opposed to Nashville (1975). It wasn't that kind of movie. It was a bouquet to Nashville. But I got into a lot of fights with the director." - Burt Reynolds.

"The thing that the film taught me was that I could do something that I had no passion for, that my mechanics were such that I could make it work. There's some satisfaction to that." - John G. Avildsen

There aren't that many films out there where you could describe it as a stepping stone for better films for both its main star and director. Dick Richards was initially thought of in mind for director in 1972, but this did not come to pass (Reynolds would work with him fourteen years later with Heat), but a new director soon came about. This was the ninth feature film for John G. Avildsen, who had specialized in making low-budget movies with plenty of preparation involved that worked with production companies that ranged from the Cannon Group to Troma Entertainment, and it is Joe (1970) that stood out among his early work. The film that rocketed him all the way, however, was the film that followed this movie the next year, which was also a low-budget affair (starring an actor who auditioned for this film) that miraculously became one of the most iconic sports movies ever made in Rocky (1976). As for Reynolds...well, I am stretching this a bit, because he already was a star with stuff such as Deliverance (1972), White Lightning (1973), and The Longest Yard (1974) after a sea of low-budget affairs in television and film. But if one saw this film and Smokey and the Bandit (1977) back-to-back, one might get the impression one was a stepping stone for the other (incidentally, the director for that film in Hal Needham was the stunt coordinator for this feature). Granted, the focus is a smooth-talking conman who likes to specialize in robbing a specific gas station brand (while giving some of the loot to the poor sucker who finds themselves looking at his weapon) but finds himself in need of a good alibi that finds one with a travelling country music band while driving a (modified) Oldsmobile Rocket 88...really the one thing that seems more noticeable between the lovable showoffs in each film is a more interesting presence for both the feminine lead and the authority foil (of course there is also more of Jerry Reed in one of them, so there's also that). As one would like to note, Avildsen and Reynolds (who helped pick the director because of a good word from Jack Lemmon, who won an Academy Award with Avildsen's previous film, Save the Tiger) did not get along with each other during production, as Reynolds described him later as a "picky, arrogant little man", while Avildsen called the movie "one of the most unhappy experiences of my movie career", bemoaning that he did not have the knack of getting what he wanted and satisfying Reynolds; Avildsen was concerned about getting work done in carefully rehearsed details but Reynolds liked to have fun with his entourage of good ol' boys while favoring a loose style of filmmaking (i.e. not a complicated storyboard of sketched out scenes, as argued by Reynolds in his autobiography). The result is a curious venture of comedy that might be thought of as a loose mixed bag, but at least both seemed to have found something to like the film.

Apparently the script by Thomas Rickman would be tinkered extensively for production. He displayed his disgust by asking to write the novelization for the film (one might joke, but I remember reading a novelization of Fantastic Four as a kid), and the only reason one might even know this is because Quentin Tarantino was inspired by what he saw in the novel as compared to the film (which "literally offended" him) to start writing his own screenplays. Welp, differences can always be apparent when it comes to taste, because I found this to be a pretty decent movie. It isn't a great one for either its star or director, but being a stepping stone for better pastures is not a terrible thing when one has enough fun seeing it all play out. It's a silly light movie, filled with bits of Nashville in the singing department with a decent execution of comedy that is buoyed mostly because of the presence of Reynolds (who had a share of hits and misses with films that relied mostly on him, as evidenced by films like the Bandit series). He has the easygoing charm one could see on the stuff that made him a household name (whether that was films or the talk show circuit), which helps a bit that starts with the casual robberies that take hold from time to time. Van Dyke is okay, but she seems more interesting within the music group than with any small attempts at chemistry with Reynolds. The film features the acting debut of Jerry Reed, an Atlanta native that reportedly aspired to be a star in Nashville as a child, and the end result was a lengthy career in country music and it only makes sense to see a country star dabble into the world of acting; Reed would appear in a handful of films with his friend Reynolds (who he directed the following year with Gator). Reynolds may have all the elusive charm, but Reed helps to compliment him the best in actual chemistry, even when they have a brief fight scene. Others who were involved in music included Van Dyke alongside Williams, Lewis and Tillis, although Hampton probably sticks out a bit among the music players in the peanut gallery. Beatty was in his sixth film role (he also starred in Nashville the same year as this film), and one gets to see him for about two to three scenes, but I appreciate his candor when it comes to playing the trick between a legendary singer and the image besides the singing, and it is easy to see why Beatty had such an interesting career in character acting. And then of course there is Carney, making small appearances as the devout authority foil...honestly, he either should have had more time with Reynolds or should have just been cut from the film, because his stone-faced attempts at...something are very okay at best (while I have been all about stepping stones in this review, this was actually the first film role for Carney after winning an Academy Award for Harry and Tonto).

As a whole, what we have is a film befuddled in someway by what it wants to tell in a tale of adventure and romance that likely needed a bit more spark when it comes to being more than a Southern road movie. If one has a liking for Reynolds or the other good ol' folks, however, you will find yourself just fine with what happens here, even if it isn't exactly remembered as one of the best for either Avildsen or Reynolds. It's an average affair with a few chuckles and a little bit of light action that works in some way for whomever happens to encounter it.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Rocky V.

Review #895: Rocky V.

Cast:
Sylvester Stallone (Rocky Balboa), Talia Shire (Adrian Balboa), Burt Young (Paulie Pennino), Sage Stallone (Robert "Rocky" Balboa, Jr), Richard Gant (George Washington Duke), Tommy Morrison (Tommy "The Machine" Gunn), Burgess Meredith (Mickey Goldmill), Tony Burton (Tony Evers), and Paul J. Micale (Father Carmine) Directed by John G. Avildsen (#003 - Rocky)

Review:
Ah yes, this one. It has been a while since I talked about the Rocky franchise (#003, #277 - Rocky II, #340 - Rocky III, #597 - Rocky IV, #760 - Creed), so it only makes sense that I review the one that attempted to return Rocky to his roots...and does so with minimal results. It's not the fact that it inverts the formula as it the fact that it's just not that entertaining. Neither Rocky IV or V are good, for varying reasons, with one being ludicrous and the other feeling hollow. The way that the film resets Rocky's status seems cheap, with the brain damage part somehow not clicking, in part because Rocky seems the same anyway, and the climax is a fight in the streets (which goes down the way you expect, sans any idea of Rocky getting more damage). Probably the easiest problem with the movie is the fact that it tries too hard to return to the grit of the first film (while doing an inverse of the rags-to-riches story), without much of the heart of what made that movie entertaining. Obviously this is a movie that tries to end the series with some sort of dignity that the fourth film didn't have, but it all comes off as a throwback with some mold on it. The two stories (Rocky training Tommy and his family drama) don't mesh well, in part because they just feel unfocused.

It only makes sense that Stallone cast his son to play (are you ready for this): his son, ignoring the age difference from previous films. Obviously the two have father-son chemistry, but I didn't really find the son's narrative to be particularly interesting enough to care about. Of course the solution to his problems is fighting (literally every problem in these movies can be solved by fighting), but it just feels superficial. Heck, he even befriends the dude he beats up, because I guess that's how things work in Philadelphia in the 90's. As for the main Stallone, he does a fine job as always, continuing to make Rocky a likable character, though he does have some moments where he experiences some sort of depth, like when he is talking to Adrian about having meaning in his life again by training Tommy. Relating to that, Morrison (an actual boxer) doesn't have much screen presence, never really seeming like someone to care about, with Gant taking most of the villainous role...while playing it as over-the-top as one could do it. I didn't find him to be that great a villain (in part because half the time his pleas for Rocky to fight are rejected by Adrian), and his scenes with Morrison aren't anything special. He definitely doesn't help when the movie is trying to return to its roots. Young is fine as usual, with a bit more importance this time around (for better or worse). It is somewhat nice to see Meredith (playing Mickey again in a flashback) again, even if his scene is there mainly to speed the plot up.

There is a climax, culminating in a street fight...and some messy editing, where it flashes back at times to Rocky's other fights (which occurred numerous times already), which just makes me want to watch any of the other films instead. There really isn't a way to end the movie without the status quo (Rocky still being broke) still being the same unless you kill off Rocky, which apparently was the original plan, before it was changed...and it's easy to see why. Seeing Rocky die would be the ultimate downer in a series all about perseverance and heart. Sure, he wins the fight. So what? The movie's ending can be questioned with that phrase, and there really is no answer. The previous films had some sort of meaning with the way the fights go (even the fourth one, with Rocky's speech at the end), but this one just doesn't feel right. The last scene with the two Stallones (and a credit sequence that takes images from the previous films) is somewhat good, but by then it's too late to make any real kind of impact. At the end of the day, Rocky V just doesn't click right. There's no real punch to it, and it certainly doesn't feel like a proper finale to the series.

Countdown to #900: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5...

Overall, I give it 5 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Rocky.

Review #003: Rocky.

Cast
Sylvester Stallone (Rocky Balboa), Talia Shire (Adrian Pennino), Burt Young (Paulie Pennino), Carl Weathers (Apollo Creed), Burgess Meredith (Mickey Goldmill), Thayer David (Miles Jergens), Joe Spinell (Tony Gazzo), Tony Burton (Tony "Duke" Evers) and Pedro Lovell (Spider Rico) Directed by John G. Avildsen.

Review
Well this is a pretty alright film. It is a little slow for the first 30 minutes as the plot and the romance takes a while, but after that, it gets much better with Rocky being a comeback in training, and Shire acts like a shy but lovely girl (who would change in the sequels). Young does a fine job as a tough guy with issues (particularly with Rocky III). Carl Weathers plays a boxer who apparently takes the fight with ease, but he gets what he didn't ask for. Anyway, this film has a nice feel of heart that makes it great.

Overall, I give it 9 out 10 stars.