Age of The Nerd
When I first heard the news about another attempt at a Karate Kid reboot, I did not think much of it up until I read further and saw that Ralph Macchio and William Zabka would be reprising their roles as Daniel and Johnny from the original film from 1984. Although I was interested in the actors returning, I still had a bit of worries thinking that there’s a huge possibility that it would be cheesy. I was (and still am) a huge fan of the first film and not so much a fan of the other sequels and reboots. But YouTube Red’s Cobra Kai is the best sequel/reboot in the franchise and here’s why…
Spoilers Galore
Cobra Kai is set nearly 30 years after the first Karate Kid film took place. It follows Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, who are obviously now adults, living in the aftermath of Daniel beating Johnny in the championship. Daniel has a beautiful wife, kids, a home and is the owner of a car dealership while Johnny has an estranged wife and son, and is working as a handyman struggling to pay rent for his rundown apartment. Both are still in the area of Reseda, California.
After Johnny gets tired of his everyday handyman job, he reopens the Cobra Kai dojo. This is the main conflict of the series. Daniel gets word that Johnny plans to become sensei of the dojo and does not agree with those plans thinking that once a crooked cobra, always a crooked cobra. Now throw in the mix of Johnny’s first student (Miguel) having a crush on Daniel’s daughter (Samantha) and Daniel training Johnny’s son Robby (which Daniel does not know is Johnny’s son right off-the-bat), things get interesting.
This sequel series does a few things really well. First, they play off of the fan theory of Daniel really being the bully of The Karate Kid. Daniel and Johnny switch roles in Cobra Kai and you start feeling more for Johnny, which is another thing this series does well. They humanize the bully (Johnny) and you can see that he’s learned from his past, while he makes his old mottos mean something more positive for kids that are being bullied and don’t fit in.
One huge thing that makes this a successful attempt at rebooting The Karate Kid is that rather than be a carbon copy of its predecessor, it pays homage with throwbacks to the first film. Daniel and Johnny often refer to their past and sometimes with flashbacks which includes Ali, Sensei Kreese and Mr. Miyagi played by the late Pat Morita. Both Daniel and Johnny use and teach the lessons that they were taught from their senseis. Yes, that includes “wax on, wax off.”
Rather than make this series campy, which could have easily been done, they find ways to make fun of what would be campy today. For instance, there’s a moment in the last episode where Daniel almost attempts to do the Miyagi healing technique but just when you think he’s about to, he calls for a medic instead. There are times in the series that the almost reenact scenes from the film but the series does them in clever ways. Except there is one part at the end during the karate tournament where it’s totally like the first film but even then they flip the script.
Even though the series deals with the aftermath of the first film, the new characters hold their own and shine throughout the series, making it their story just as much as it is the returning characters’ stories. These characters show great development and it’s just shows that everyone involved knew exactly what they were doing. Just for your information, Macchio and Zebka, along with Will Smith, all produced the series.
After watching the first episode I was hooked. I right away jumped into episode 2 and then when it got to episode 3, that’s where YouTube catches you. You have to sign up for YouTube Red to watch the rest of the series. But that was no problem for me. You get a free month and can cancel anytime. I know that sounds like an ad but that’s just how great this series is. It made me sign up for YouTube Red and I don’t regret it one bit. Cobra Kai isn’t your typical teenaged Disney Channel series. It’s hilarious and brings all the nostalgia while making it an awesome modern take of a classic film. Cobra Kai is “the best around.”
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