Reboots and Reimaginations - Karate Kid: Legends and Lilo and Stitch

We live in a time period where a lot of films are getting new leases of life as a result of studios becoming aware that nostalgia sells. Some say this is a good thing, some say this is a bad thing. I'm on the wavelength that it's very dependant on the piece of art in general because I can see the argument for it in some cases, and I can also see the argument against it in others. I am not really sure where this commitment to chasing nostalgia highs come from but a lot of people put it down to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it's fandoms generally positive responses to cameos. Others put down to audiences just wanting a glimpse back into their past and the more cynical of people think it's just bit of a cash grab by studios. Unfortunately whatever the reason is, it's at a point where it's hard to ignore. A lot of film, and also television (looking at you weird Doctor Who finale) is heavily leaning into what audiences are referring to as 'nostalgia bait'. I haven't quite decided if that's a phrase I like but for the sake of this opinion piece, it's what I am using to categorise the films in question.... Karate Kid: Legends and Lilo and Stitch.

The first of these films I saw was Karate Kid: Legends. This was a film that I actually was really looking forward too when they first announced it. For those that don't know, Karate Kid has been a bit of a rollercoaster of a franchise with 3 films in the 80s following Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) which were then followed by 2 reboot film attempts in 1994 and 2010 (starring a young Hilary Swank and then Jaden Smith). If that wasn't enough reboot fun for audiences, Cobra Kai launched in 2018 on Youtube Red (RIP) as a follow up to the original 3 films. With Karate Kid: Legends being billed as a cross over of the original stories (and the follow up TV series) with the reboots (well one of them). Simple right?

Although the original films were very popular when they first came out, and are still beloved to this day. It's easy to make the argument that the recent success of Cobra Kai is a key reason that Karate Kid: Legends was even made. It went from plucky remake on Youtube Red to being a centrepiece show for Netflix over the seven years it was on and it did this because audiences loved it. It had great fight scenes, the new younger characters had a lot of heart, and because it was really interesting to see Daniel LaRusso's journey from young mentee in the original films to mentor in the TV series. It was also fun for audiences to see his relationship with former rival Johnny Lawrence evolve over the six seasons. As a result, it would be easy to assume that the story of Cobra Kai (which wrapped up in 2025) would be a core part of the story of the latest movie in the franchise. Yet for some reason, it's not really acknowledged until the second half of the film, and even then it's fairly minimal.

The film instead follows Li Fong (played by the fantastic Ben Wang) as he moves to New York City with his Mum following the loss of his brother to a post karate win stabbing by his rival (yes you read that right). Whilst there, he struggles to fit in and yearns to continue his Kung Fu learnings from Mr. Han (played Jackie Chan and from the 2010 reboot) and in true Karate Kid fashion, he gets into trouble with bullies. There's a lot to like in the first half of the film. The character of Li Fong is really easy to root for and it's quite heartwarming seeing his relationships grow with new friends, Victor and Mia Lipani (Joshua Jackson and Sadie Stanley). As Li Fong settles into life in New York, Ben Wang genuinely does a really good job of showing Li come out of his shell and gain confidence.

Unfortunately, it's about half way through the movie where it becomes clear that it's actually not 100% sure what it truly wants to be (which is ironically about when Daniel LaRusso is introduced). I think this film could have easily been a very good karate film, or a very good Karate Kid film but in trying to be both independent from the original films and nostalgic for them at the same time, it almost ends up doing averagely at both. Overall, I still had a lot of fun with it because there are really strong acting performances in the film, it has a lot of unique style cinematically and it is fun to see Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio share the screen together but I left the cinema wishing it could have been something more. I think it just needed a little bit more meat on the bone. I'm not saying the whole film should have been a continuation of the Cobra Kai storylines but it seemed bizarre to have Daniel LaRusso and for him to not really acknowledge his family or any of his events of the Cobra Kai series, especially when audiences have just spent the last 7 years watching it on TV. For me, it's a 3 star film.

The second film I watched recently, which goes in a similar nostalgia focused category and is the latest of the Disney Animation remakes, is Lilo and Stitch. I could write a completely different blog post going into all the varied opinions about Disney doing all these remakes but for the purposes of this piece specifically, my view point is, sure I guess some people like them. I mean, artistically I don't really get it, but box office wise, they pretty much print money for the studios which means it must work for some people. I am not going to lie, I only saw the original for the first time earlier this year and I think that means I was going in with slightly less bias then some of the passionate fans of the original but overall, I thought it was a sweet film. I don't think it's as heartwarming as the original but I think it still works as a nice story for audiences, especially the younger generations that are obsessed with Stitch.

For those that don't know the premise, Lilo and Stitch follows the story of the aforementioned Lilo, an orphaned six year old native Hawaiian, who lives with her sister Nani. Over the course of the film, Lilo regularly gets herself into trouble thanks to her cheeky and mischievous ways before making her first real friend in Stitch, an alien from outer space on the run from the United Galactic Federation who have sent Jumba (Zach Galifianakis) and Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) to capture Stitch. This is an element of the film that has got a lot of flak online with the live action remake using the real life human form of Galifianakis and Magnussen to show the characters in disguise compared to the cross dressing from the original film. It's a shame because I think both are having a lot of fun with the roles and do a good job but I do see the criticisms by the fans of the original. I guess it loops back to that original question of what the filmmakers were trying to achieve in the first place when creating this film. I have seen a couple of quotes from Dean Fleischer Camp, the Director, who seems to imply that he tried to get more of a faithful recreation of various elements into the film but was overruled which is certainly interesting.

If you can push past the obvious comparisons between this film and the original, I think there's a lot to like about the film. The relationship between Lilo and Nani is incredibly well portrayed, Stitch looks good as CGI amongst a real life background and Maia Kealoha is an absolute delight as Lilo. If you can't push past the obvious comparisons then I think it would be harder to get into this movie as much as I did. There's a lot of talk on the internet on how various moments have been replaced or changed from the original which would have fully gone over my head if I hadn't seen them talking about it, so I do think there's a solid argument to this being a good family film to watch but only if you're not a diehard fan of the original. I'd almost go as far as saying this is the first live action remake of a Disney classic that's actually worked for me cinematically (apart from maybe Snow White) however for me, this film is also a 3 star.

As I said at the beginning, there are still a lot of reboots/remakes on the horizon with the live action How To Train a Dragon just around the corner. I just hope it's a phase that studios grow out of so we can get some original films again. After all, if they don't release new films, what are they going to recreate in 20 years? Surely not an animated version of the live action remake of Lilo and Stitch? You never know with Hollywood nowadays...

What do you think? Have you seen the films? Let me know your thoughts!

a very real screengrab from the films!! (image is not mine!)