The Karate Kid, part II (1986)

Although only 2 years passed between the original and the sequel, the beginning of this film is a 5-minute recap of the original, using the original footage of the first film. A little odd. Then, it picks up right where the original film ended. Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) are leaving the tournament, as are the members of Cobra Kai and their teacher, Kreese (Martin Kove). He starts beating up all of his students, and eventually Mr. Miyagi has to step in to make him look like a fool.

What's strange about this scene is that Ali (Elizabeth Shue) and Daniel's mom are nowhere to be seen. Could they not even be bothered to put in a cameo appearance? Of course, this entire sequence could have easily been cut, because THEN we jump ahead six months. Anyway, my real impression here is that the writers didn't know where to start this film. To me, it's simple. Start it with Daniel and Mr. Miyagi getting off the plane in Okinawa. It would have been easier to explain along the way why they were there... none of the first 15-20 minutes of the film is necessary.

So why are they in Okinawa? Mr. Miyagi receives a letter -- do people never telephone? -- that his father is in bad shape. And even that's not the real story. The real story is that Mr. Miyagi had a best friend, and they ended up being lifetime enemies because she was promised to him (arranged marriage) but loved Mr. Miyagi. She never goes through with the marriage, and Sato (Danny Kamekona) never forgives Mr. Miyagi for being the man that stopped the marriage, even though he left the country rather than stand in the way...

All this, remember, on top of the fact that in the first movie, we learned that Mr. Miyagi had a wife and child, but I guess that happened after he moved to America and left his past love behind... he never once talked to her in the intervening 40+ years. Never knew that she never married.

The bulk of the movie, then, is Mr. Miyagi telling Sato that he will not fight him, and Sato calling him a coward, doing whatever he can to make Mr. Miyagi fight.

Funny enough, events play out so that Sato and Mr. Miyagi bury the hatchet. The woman that caused all the drama is still in the village, still loves Mr. Miyagi. But what becomes of this relationship, we never find out. What ends up happening is that Sato renounces his nephew for being a coward, and then his nephew picks a fight with Daniel. This fight ends the film.

In the original film, the last image freezes on Mr. Miyagi smiling at Daniel in approval. What are the odds that the last image of this film would be the same exact smiling Mr. Miyagi? This time, however, no freeze, just a fade to credits and Peter Cetera.

I think the film had some sort of a story, but it feels rough, maybe rushed into production, and not seriously edited. The theme song, even -- Peter Cetera's "For the Glory of Love" -- was originally intended for Rocky IV but ended up being castoff and used by this sequel instead.

I watched The Karate Kid (2010) before watching this one. In my review for that film, I suggested that it was at least innovative that that film changed the setting to China. I probably need to revise my review, now that I know that this film already played the "change of setting to Asia" card.

I'm really curious to see what they ended up doing with Karate Kid III. Will they summarize all of Karate Kid II? Forget that both Mr. Miyagi and Daniel have Okinawa sweethearts? Bring back Kreese as a villain? Continue to find a way to explain Daniel's mom's absence?

Rating: 2/5 stars

"Digging for the Truth" Experiment #4 -- The Federalist Radio Hour

I first heard of Sean Davis last week. He created an online magazine called The Federalist in 2011, and he currently has about 500,000 followers on X. It was about last week that he posted something amazing. He suggested if the Supreme Court doesn't rule the way they should, not only should Trump just ignore the ruling, if they keep obstructing the administration, he should just dissolve the Court altogether. And I thought, wow. This guy is saying outrageous stuff like that, and there's an audience for it. So, I decided I'd listen to an episode of The Federalist podcast: April 17, 2025 -- Deportation, Due Process, and Deference to the American People (40 minutes) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deportation-due-process-and-deference-to-the/id983782306?i=1000703904873 In the 40-minute conversation, the host and guest discussed why due process wasn't required for illegal immigrants. The case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was mentioned for a brief second, but...

In Utero

In 1994, I wore my In Utero shirt to college. I’d walk down the hall, and people would look at the shirt. I still remember a professor looking at it, not apparently hip to the scene. She asked, “Bret, is there something you’re trying to tell us?” I had no idea what I was trying to say. Kurt Cobain had just shot his head off with a shotgun. Before that life-changing event, I hadn’t been the biggest fan of Nirvana, but I did recognize the immediate impact “Smells Like Teen Spirit” had on music, or at least on MTV. Nirvana had seemingly killed and buried Hair Metal, and they had done it single-handedly. What exactly was this “Alternative” sound? It was weird, because soon it felt like everything was “alternative,” and that didn’t make any sense. Once everything is the same, how can it be anything but standard, normal? Nirvana was okay, but at least at the time I was wearing the merch, I was much more into Offspring and Green Day and Tool. And that’s about as far as I went into...

I Must Betray You -- Ruta Sepetys

I appreciate the pacing. The author's epilogue includes her mission statement -- historical fiction as a way to keep history alive. Romanis is an obscure place, but she hopes people reading the book will take an interest in its history. She also makes the point that there are no clean endings. So, the evil dictator and his wife were killed, but the problems they created didn't magically go away, the country still had to find its way and move forward, and it was a process.

The Writer's Poke

Search This Blog