Retro Review: ‘The Next Karate Kid’ (1994): What Was it Really About?

12 hours ago 5

A Hidden Gem with an Important message and themes

Can you discern the real from the fake? I’m sure you’re wondering why I bring up this question about this movie? After watching the the original three Karate Kid movies, plus the Cobra Kai series, this movie takes on a whole different direction.

What direction is that? This movie addresses the issues of real karate with a foundation, to one karate which has none.

I’ve heard some YouTube channels speculate that Colonel Dugan (Michael Ironside) may have been in the same war as Kreese and Silver, but upon rewatching this film, we see Dugan has zero medals or even photographs of him actually being a defense force serviceman, let alone an actual colonel. This implies something shady about not only Dugan’s history but also his so-called martial arts skills, which come off as a little too sloppy for my liking.

When we move to Julie Pierce, we learn that she already had a foundation for her karate, as her father learned from Mr. Miyagi, and from father to daughter, back to Miyagi again. Then we see the zen monks, who apply the spiritual aspects in the story-remember this for later.

The Rise of Stolen Valor and Fake Martial Artists

“Stolen valor” is a term used to describe someone who claims to have served in a war, but never actually served or even joined any actual defense force. The same can be applied to fake martial artists-people who never actually studied or received supervised training, but like to boast about themselves. Throughout history, there are examples of both.

As martial arts had its big boom from cinema to TV, there also came the rise of people claiming to be veterans of wars they never served in, using the opportunity to take advantage of anyone who would listen to them.

What Is So Important About the Spiritual Aspect?

Just like religion, martial arts has its founders that lead to the foundations for any discipline. The same can be said for the defense force. Without a foundation of creed, ideology, or even discipline, the skills can fall apart and cease to exist altogether.

With Dugan having no foundation for his style of martial arts, plus his manipulation of a school principal to believe he served in the defense force, the lack of authenticity becomes clear.

Relevant Themes and Story

I understand that there are people who don’t exactly like The Next Karate Kid, and that’s completely understandable, but you can’t ignore the messages and themes of the story, as they are as important today as they were when the movie was released. Looking back at how Hilary Swank toned down her appearance makes a little more sense now upon rewatching this film, as her story dealt with a slightly different issue, which I believe was real karate schools vs. fake karate schools.

Looking at how Mr. Miyagi reacted to Dugan also makes sense within the movie, because at the end of the day, Dugan’s style was nothing but flair with no foundation, just blowing to and fro, just like how he treated his students.

I think the Cobra Kai creators could work on a series connected to The Next Karate Kid movie if they look at the things I’ve addressed in this article. It could easily be a three-season series set around Julie Pierce in the present day with her family, keeping to the same themes covered in the movie.