The Karate Kid, Part II

1986 sequel

Rating: 13/20

Plot: Following the events of the first movie, Daniel and Mr. Miyagi travel to Okinawa to see the latter's dying father. While there, the old guy reunites with an old flame and a guy who wants to kill him. Then, some guy wants to kill Daniel!

I read a novelization of this before I saw the movie and thought, "Oh, man! Daniel LaRusso in a fight to the death? Miyagi schooling the Cobra Kai guy, the 'Drum Technique'! This is going to be rad!" Because that's how I talked when I was twelve. I said things like "rad," short for "radical" which is short for "Hey, girls! You should probably just avoid me." Then, I saw the movie and was pretty disappointed by the whole thing. My favorite part probably was at the beginning where Miyagi is dodging punches and making a fool out of the guy. This was the first time I've seen this since then, and it's really not a terrible sequel, definitely one that could have been a lot worse. I'm glad they tried something completely new. Putting the characters in Okinawa gives them new context, and I really did like how both Daniel and Miyagi were developed by the experiences. I like how Miyagi is given a little more context. The stuff from the first movie where Daniel snoops around while drunk Miyagi snoozes was a start, but this gives the character a lot more background, kind of like the Star Wars prequels did for Yoda. Or like the opposite of that. I liked Daniel's new love interest who a twelve-year-old Shane would have chosen over Elizabeth Shue if either of them would have been the type of gal who would be attracted to a scrawny doofus who went around calling things radical. Most disappointing for me was that the Drum Technique ended up so stupid. I mean, looking back realistically, I guess the Wax On/Wax Off thing is also kind of lame, but it at least seems like something that might work. The Drum Technique looks like it would be predictable and therefore easy to defeat. I bet even Will Smith's daughter would have no trouble beating up a forty-three-year-old Ralph Macchio--his age when this movie was made, I believe--when going up against the Drum Technique. Surely that ripped guy--Yuji Okumoto--could take him out. Okumoto's character sure was a nasty guy, but what a body! There's a scene where he took off his shirt, and I very nearly forgot all about Elizabeth Shue and became a member of the Boy Scouts of America right then and there. Danny Kamekona played Sato who is supposed to be just as nasty but who is hard not to laugh at because he sounds like a freakin' Muppet. How did the other actors keep a straight face whenever that guy talked? I didn't watch any outtakes or a blooper reel or anything, but I imagine there was a lot of this:

Kamekona, as Sato: Miyagi, I wait long time for this. No tricks tonight, or tomorrow, everything gone. Their homes. Their church. Everything! Gone!
Morita and several extras: [bursts of laughter]
Kamekona, breaking character: Come on, guys. We've been trying to shoot this scene for over four hours.

I also thought the tsunami or whatever kind of storm happened in the movie was a little too random, the sort of thing that could only happen in a movie. Later, I learned that Okinawa has a tsunami every other day on average. Also disturbing: No reprise of the Joe Esposito song, "You're the Best Around," a song that almost always motivates me to feel like being motivated to do something. Overall, this isn't an embarrassing sequel at all even though it doesn't quite feel as good or have even close to the drama of the original, ironic since the titular kid could actually die instead of just lose a trophy. And I don't come close to tears or pump either of my fists even once!

Eventually: The Karate Kid, Part III, a movie I have never seen.