I am not a fan of Josh Gad, but he appears to have just an insane amount of juice to get projects together.
I mean, he did form his own megachurch in Uganda...
I'm sorry, what?
Plot of “Book of Mormon”
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
Dude if this series doesn't end with Hillary Swank as a Navy General who has to get involved when the entire National Guard falls in the Karate Riots of the Valley I don't know what I'm going to do
Roving teenage karate gangs is so 80’s. I’ll take it.
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SteevLWhat can I do for you?Registered Userregular
Once this series starts referencing The Next Karate Kid I'll be a little more lost. Well, as lost as one can be in a series that does a good job of flashing back to relevant scenes from the appropriate movies. I already barely remember anything about The Karate Kid III because I think I only saw it once.
It'd be fun to see Michael Ironside from The Next Karate Kid show up.
Has The Next Karate Kid been established as canon in Cobra Kai? I know Karate Kid 3 is cause Daniel is a two time champion and admitted he joined Cobra Kai, which all happened in the third movie, but has there ever been any mention of Miyagi having another student?
Mild Confusion on
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
Has The Next Karate Kid been established as canon in Cobra Kai? I know Karate Kid 3 is cause Daniel is a two time champion and admitted he joined Cobra Kai, which all happened in the third movie, but has there ever been any mention of Miyagi having another student?
not in this show, but it's canon, because in TNKK he repeatedly references Daniel
Has The Next Karate Kid been established as canon in Cobra Kai? I know Karate Kid 3 is cause Daniel is a two time champion and admitted he joined Cobra Kai, which all happened in the third movie, but has there ever been any mention of Miyagi having another student?
Not that we know of. I mean, it would totally be conceivable if they wanted to bring in Hillary Swank's character. Daniel probably knows her via off-screen interactions through Miyagi.
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Which kind of makes you think, Miyagi just up and left a failing business to go train some rando's daughter who had an aunt which was cool with that...
Then again, I've said from well before Cobrai Kai that Miyagi is definitely a villain.
Has The Next Karate Kid been established as canon in Cobra Kai? I know Karate Kid 3 is cause Daniel is a two time champion and admitted he joined Cobra Kai, which all happened in the third movie, but has there ever been any mention of Miyagi having another student?
not in this show, but it's canon, because in TNKK he repeatedly references Daniel
That makes Karate Kid 1-3 canon to TNKK, but not necessarily TNKK canon in Cobra Kai.
Which kind of makes you think, Miyagi just up and left a failing business to go train some rando's daughter who had an aunt which was cool with that...
Then again, I've said from well before Cobrai Kai that Miyagi is definitely a villain.
Okay, I gotta hear this; how is Miyagi the villain? I have to know this.
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Once this series starts referencing The Next Karate Kid I'll be a little more lost. Well, as lost as one can be in a series that does a good job of flashing back to relevant scenes from the appropriate movies. I already barely remember anything about The Karate Kid III because I think I only saw it once.
It'd be fun to see Michael Ironside from The Next Karate Kid show up.
We just bought the amazon 4 disk dvd of Karate kid , 2,3, and the new remake with Jackie chan. We've finished one and two onto three next. I think I've only seen that one one time myself, while I basically wore out the copied vhs that had one and two on it.
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It's actually 3 disks but has all 4 movies and was less than $10 if anyone is curious. Why they went with the remake instead of the next karate kid I don't know, but it means we get a better movie. I'm not a huge fan of the remake but it was a decent enough movie.
I think it was called The Kung Fu Kid when it was in preproduction and they eventually changed it.
I liked it a bit until that horrific CG kick at the end, with absolutely no narrative setup that I can recall, about made my eyes roll out of my sockets.
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Johnny ChopsockyScootaloo! We have to cook!Grillin' HaysenburgersRegistered Userregular
Josh Gad strikes me as such a weird person to have a beef with
I thought I had a bed with Josh Gad, but then I realized my beef with actually with James Corden, because I got my 'animated movie wackity schmackity doo voice actors' mixed up.
And now after watching Little Monsters, I would gladly fist bump Josh Gad.
Josh Gad strikes me as such a weird person to have a beef with
I thought I had a bed with Josh Gad, but then I realized my beef with actually with James Corden, because I got my 'animated movie wackity schmackity doo voice actors' mixed up.
And now after watching Little Monsters, I would gladly fist bump Josh Gad.
That wasn't Josh Gad, that was Fred Savage.
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Johnny ChopsockyScootaloo! We have to cook!Grillin' HaysenburgersRegistered Userregular
Josh Gad strikes me as such a weird person to have a beef with
I thought I had a bed with Josh Gad, but then I realized my beef with actually with James Corden, because I got my 'animated movie wackity schmackity doo voice actors' mixed up.
And now after watching Little Monsters, I would gladly fist bump Josh Gad.
Josh Gad strikes me as such a weird person to have a beef with
I thought I had a bed with Josh Gad, but then I realized my beef with actually with James Corden, because I got my 'animated movie wackity schmackity doo voice actors' mixed up.
And now after watching Little Monsters, I would gladly fist bump Josh Gad.
Josh Gad is really good in Marshall, opposite the late Chadwick Boseman.
And we’re back. Season 3... so good! Any scene with Johnny, Amanda, Daniel, and Johnny’s plus one is a delight.
Also,
Ali pretty much sums up the central thesis and our general feeling about Cobra Kai in her episode. Sometimes, it’s good to live in the past for a little bit, and you remember just the good parts. But we live for the present and for the future.
Watched the whole thing over two days. Great stuff! I liked the flashback stuff for Kreese and the set-up for Silver in season 4. The Okinawa stuff was fun with the Karate Kid 2 characters being a lot of fun (love the touch of the girl Daniel saved being there to save him).
Overall, a solid season. Some story progression and a lot of character development. The story is still doing a good job of balancing action, drama, dumb teenagers, and social commentary without leaning too heavily into any of them. While not up to par with the first season (that would be asking a lot), it still stands alone pretty well.
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Watched the whole thing over two days. Great stuff! I liked the flashback stuff for Kreese and the set-up for Silver in season 4. The Okinawa stuff was fun with the Karate Kid 2 characters being a lot of fun (love the touch of the girl Daniel saved being there to save him).
Overall, a solid season. Some story progression and a lot of character development. The story is still doing a good job of balancing action, drama, dumb teenagers, and social commentary without leaning too heavily into any of them. While not up to par with the first season (that would be asking a lot), it still stands alone pretty well.
One thing that I noted about the show as I was watching it was that the pacing was very good. They intercut the stories at appropriate times, staying with the stories when they were interesting and cutting away to different stories when they were about to reach a lull. I appreciated how well everything was woven together. It was delightfully binge-able.
Also, I about cheered when Johnny met Ali for lunch and dropped the manly facade and said what was really happening in his life. That's some powerful growth right there.
Really feels like they meant to release this over Christmas and delayed it by a couple weeks for whatever reason. Lot of flashbacks, but as someone who hasn't watched Karate Kid 2 and 3, it was helpful.
Seriously though, how the Hell is Kreese or his gang not in jail?
Also, a revival of an 80s karate movie series shouldn't make me almost cry, that's not fair in the slightest.
Also, if this doesn't end with Kreese being bit by his own snake, I'll eat my hat
"Go down, kick ass, and set yourselves up as gods, that's our Prime Directive!"
We're most of the way through S3, midway through E8 I think.
Johnny / Amanda just left the Christmas party which was absolutely wonderful. Amanda's whole attitude about any of this is the best part of the show hands down. I'm really really going to be upset of Johnny messes things up with Maria - I get that Ali is something special, but I can see the impending train of self-sabotage running headlong into him.
All I'm thinking though with the kids is holy shit, Tori (especially, but also the rest of them) are going to get tried as adults for Home Invasion and Attempted Murder for this whole shit show. The school fight was bad enough, but actually breaking into someone's home for the expressed purpose of great bodily harm is no joke, nothing shrugged off, go straight to prison sort of shit. Sam would be absolutely justified in shooting / stabbing any or all of them for that, especially the girl who has already assaulted her with a weapon and is on probation for it.
Hawk did his turn and would probably get some leniency for it, but they are committing a lot of felonies for a gang that just caused a school-wide brawl that paralyzed another kid.
I still can't understand why charges weren't pressed for Dimitri's arm, I get that some suspension of disbelief is necessary but that's a bit much.
Also two seasons ago the All Valley council made Johnny attest that Kreese wasn't involved in Cobra Kai in any way and clearly knew who he was / what he was and that he had assaulted a student, so that doesn't mesh up with the whole 'thank you for your service...' bullshit. I know I'm overthinking it, but sometimes the play-it-straight drama doesn't mesh well with the whole (necessary) over the top that is necessary for Karate Kid universe to work.
A minor peeve is how Kreese's service is being presented. Yes there were war crimes on both sides, but the NVA didn't make American POWs fight to the death for their entertainment. War is horrible enough without leaning into the 'lost causer' Vietnam MIA / POW propaganda.
Still, looking forward to finishing it up tonight and hopefully some of my expectations or issues turn out to be wonderful subversions.
We're most of the way through S3, midway through E8 I think.
Johnny / Amanda just left the Christmas party which was absolutely wonderful. Amanda's whole attitude about any of this is the best part of the show hands down. I'm really really going to be upset of Johnny messes things up with Maria - I get that Ali is something special, but I can see the impending train of self-sabotage running headlong into him.
All I'm thinking though with the kids is holy shit, Tori (especially, but also the rest of them) are going to get tried as adults for Home Invasion and Attempted Murder for this whole shit show. The school fight was bad enough, but actually breaking into someone's home for the expressed purpose of great bodily harm is no joke, nothing shrugged off, go straight to prison sort of shit. Sam would be absolutely justified in shooting / stabbing any or all of them for that, especially the girl who has already assaulted her with a weapon and is on probation for it.
Hawk did his turn and would probably get some leniency for it, but they are committing a lot of felonies for a gang that just caused a school-wide brawl that paralyzed another kid.
I still can't understand why charges weren't pressed for Dimitri's arm, I get that some suspension of disbelief is necessary but that's a bit much.
Also two seasons ago the All Valley council made Johnny attest that Kreese wasn't involved in Cobra Kai in any way and clearly knew who he was / what he was and that he had assaulted a student, so that doesn't mesh up with the whole 'thank you for your service...' bullshit. I know I'm overthinking it, but sometimes the play-it-straight drama doesn't mesh well with the whole (necessary) over the top that is necessary for Karate Kid universe to work.
A minor peeve is how Kreese's service is being presented. Yes there were war crimes on both sides, but the NVA didn't make American POWs fight to the death for their entertainment. War is horrible enough without leaning into the 'lost causer' Vietnam MIA / POW propaganda.
Still, looking forward to finishing it up tonight and hopefully some of my expectations or issues turn out to be wonderful subversions.
If I understood, the first season was the All Valley tournament "board", this was the city council, so they may not know who Kreese is, especially 30 years later. That being said, All Valley letting in a Cobra Kai with Kreese in it seems... surprising.
Hawk's heel-face turn while narratively good to see, felt... unearned? Basically, they made it as though it entirely hung on Johnny's speech at the school, because you are talking about a guy who is watching his former best friend get the shit kicked out of him and getting pissed off, after just a few episodes back BREAKING HIS GODDAMN ARM IN COLD BLOOD... And Demetri just happily accepts him back. Clearly there was some kind of time break (not hard to believe, since we KIND of got one for Miguel), so hard feelings may have faded, but...
What really galls me is Robby. There was a ton of potential character growth after his fight with the bully in Juvie... and it just ended and he just went over to Kreese. I dunno, I'm not super keen on the writing for him here. My concern is that they are pushing him to Kreese to give a foil for Miguel.
Miguel, his family, and Johnny just WORK as a group. The acting/chemistry is fantastic, and really anchored by the Miguel/Johnny relationship that has really been just A+ since early Season 1. I think you had a similarly good relationship with Daniel and Robby, but... yah.
Finally, what I'm not huge on is Tori. She plays a great villain, but we spent SO MUCH TIME in season 1 (and many times since) talking about how it's not good guys and bad guys, but just people. Even Kreese, has good motivations. Tori on the other hand, is basically just arch. She had some good background STARTING to develop early on, then just turned into "well, I guess it only matters who wins in the end". I really think there was some quality to have been mined out of her and Kreese interacting, as much time as they spent justifying Kreese (and he really was.. not justified, but understandable).
We're most of the way through S3, midway through E8 I think.
Johnny / Amanda just left the Christmas party which was absolutely wonderful. Amanda's whole attitude about any of this is the best part of the show hands down. I'm really really going to be upset of Johnny messes things up with Maria - I get that Ali is something special, but I can see the impending train of self-sabotage running headlong into him.
All I'm thinking though with the kids is holy shit, Tori (especially, but also the rest of them) are going to get tried as adults for Home Invasion and Attempted Murder for this whole shit show. The school fight was bad enough, but actually breaking into someone's home for the expressed purpose of great bodily harm is no joke, nothing shrugged off, go straight to prison sort of shit. Sam would be absolutely justified in shooting / stabbing any or all of them for that, especially the girl who has already assaulted her with a weapon and is on probation for it.
Hawk did his turn and would probably get some leniency for it, but they are committing a lot of felonies for a gang that just caused a school-wide brawl that paralyzed another kid.
I still can't understand why charges weren't pressed for Dimitri's arm, I get that some suspension of disbelief is necessary but that's a bit much.
Also two seasons ago the All Valley council made Johnny attest that Kreese wasn't involved in Cobra Kai in any way and clearly knew who he was / what he was and that he had assaulted a student, so that doesn't mesh up with the whole 'thank you for your service...' bullshit. I know I'm overthinking it, but sometimes the play-it-straight drama doesn't mesh well with the whole (necessary) over the top that is necessary for Karate Kid universe to work.
A minor peeve is how Kreese's service is being presented. Yes there were war crimes on both sides, but the NVA didn't make American POWs fight to the death for their entertainment. War is horrible enough without leaning into the 'lost causer' Vietnam MIA / POW propaganda.
Still, looking forward to finishing it up tonight and hopefully some of my expectations or issues turn out to be wonderful subversions.
If I understood, the first season was the All Valley tournament "board", this was the city council, so they may not know who Kreese is, especially 30 years later. That being said, All Valley letting in a Cobra Kai with Kreese in it seems... surprising.
Hawk's heel-face turn while narratively good to see, felt... unearned? Basically, they made it as though it entirely hung on Johnny's speech at the school, because you are talking about a guy who is watching his former best friend get the shit kicked out of him and getting pissed off, after just a few episodes back BREAKING HIS GODDAMN ARM IN COLD BLOOD... And Demetri just happily accepts him back. Clearly there was some kind of time break (not hard to believe, since we KIND of got one for Miguel), so hard feelings may have faded, but...
What really galls me is Robby. There was a ton of potential character growth after his fight with the bully in Juvie... and it just ended and he just went over to Kreese. I dunno, I'm not super keen on the writing for him here. My concern is that they are pushing him to Kreese to give a foil for Miguel.
Miguel, his family, and Johnny just WORK as a group. The acting/chemistry is fantastic, and really anchored by the Miguel/Johnny relationship that has really been just A+ since early Season 1. I think you had a similarly good relationship with Daniel and Robby, but... yah.
Finally, what I'm not huge on is Tori. She plays a great villain, but we spent SO MUCH TIME in season 1 (and many times since) talking about how it's not good guys and bad guys, but just people. Even Kreese, has good motivations. Tori on the other hand, is basically just arch. She had some good background STARTING to develop early on, then just turned into "well, I guess it only matters who wins in the end". I really think there was some quality to have been mined out of her and Kreese interacting, as much time as they spent justifying Kreese (and he really was.. not justified, but understandable).
Villains...
So ignoring that everyone actually got off exceptionally lightly in the whole school fight, Tori did make a pretty good point when she ran into Robbie at the probation office. Yes, she may have started it and Robbie may have crippled Miguel, but out of everyone that participated in the fight the two of them (the poor kids, which I'm not sure was explicitly stated) only the two of them suffered any real consequences. Everyone else is back with their lives carrying on normally.
Sam is back at school liked and having fund raisers, beyond a little bit of manipulation of the school administrators by Hawk. Miguel is basically the school hero and everything seemingly forgiven because of his injury. We know he was merciful to Robbie and Robbie's kick was portrayed as super dirty, but really it was a big brawl where any one of the kids could have caused - or received - just as serious of an injury.
Tori is already seen as pretty unstable and Kreese isn't doing her any favors, so Sam being the girl who accused her of stealing / got her kicked out of the country club, attacked her at the roller rink (retaliation but...), then started cheating with her boyfriend is sort of believable if you suspend the over the top disbelief there.
I do think Danny did Robbie dirty the way he turned him in. The right thing to do would have been to talk to him and convince him to come in peacefully during a negotiated surrender the way the justice system actually works for rich people.
And for that matter, Danny and Amanda are rich. How the hell don't they have a lawyer standing in front of a judge protesting Kreese's restraining order and navigating them through the process? That's one of the main perks of being rich - the system works for you not against you. Danny should / would have had a private meeting with the city councilwoman in her office long before he had to talk in front of an open hearing to convince her why LaRusso motors was so good for their community and sponsoring all these things ALONG WITH the All Valley tournament and she would hate for that sponsorship to go elsewhere. It's not right the system works this way, but it's how things work and if it's that important to you use your advantages.
Hawk's heel-face-turn was telegraphed but definitely felt cheap. I feel like it would have been better if Kreese had shit on him a little more by bringing in the new kids and ditching the losers, and showing more of the various cliques within Cobra Kai. Still, you can only do so much.
But ultimately, is there anything better than Amanda / other women's whole 'Jesus Christ, you're middle aged men, it's only karate' attitudes? And the absolute enjoyment Amanda shows when Danny is twisting in the wind during those stories?
Really great growth from Johnny there at the end in a lot of ways, you can tell he’s really owning up to his past in a lot of ways he wouldn’t have in season 1 or 2, but its a gradual enough thing that it’s not forced at all.
I noticeably missed Aisha, hopefully they bring her back in a meaningful way. I can see why they wanted her character out of the way to focus on the feud between Sam and Tori since she was the only thing really keeping them from killing each other in season 2, but still.
I like that they give Kreese and Tori sympathetic backstories. Tori and Robbie really do have a point about being scapegoated, and their beefs make sense from their point of view... Its nice to have a bit more depth to the bad guys than just “these guys are bastards, the end.”
I wouldn’t be surprised if there ends up being legal ramifications for the house brawl, especially since Kreese put them up to it and we don’t actually see what happened after. But I also won’t be surprised if they didn’t go to the police, since Daniel likely feels a lot of regret over Robbie. Plus the show just kind of works better without police putting a stop to it.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there ends up being legal ramifications for the house brawl, especially since Kreese put them up to it and we don’t actually see what happened after. But I also won’t be surprised if they didn’t go to the police, since Daniel likely feels a lot of regret over Robbie. Plus the show just kind of works better without police putting a stop to it.
Agreed. That kind of thing would be a lot different in the eyes of the law from a 3rd location brawl (which even then its silly that only Tori and Robby saw consequences but that can be explained by richkids). Actually invading someone’s home with the express intent of causing bodily harm though, in front of a dozen witnesses? Sam literally could have pulled a pistol and shot every single one of them dead and been within the law.
They then went to Kreese's gym and attacked him instead of involving the police, and Johnny kicked a door down. It's not supremely intelligent writing, but it's going to be avoided because it is mutually assured destruction.
Season 3 I think did a good job of touching on the over-reverence of military. They tried to do the right thing, go to the police, complain to the board, but they chose to believe Kreese instead because he's a retired military captain, which automatically made him more worth trusting than any non-military.
I hope that continues to get addressed, because the current reverence of military folks is borderline dangerous. Not that they don't deserve gratitude for their service, but being in the military doesn't automatically make you more worthy than not.
Man, the karate fighting needs to stay in the dojo and at tournaments in this show. The only good fight scene was the season 1 lunch room, everything in season 2 and 3 is a boring gymnastics showcase with people getting "hit" in ways that would put them in the fucking hospital and just shrugging it off.
The interesting part of this show is the character interactions, let's have more great dialogue, more introspection and by all means training, but please no more "battles", it's just dull, fucks with my suspension of disbelief when no one is hurt and there are no stakes whatsoever.
Oh, one more nitpick, karate training is a good workout and most classes will spend part of their time just doing actual exercises before any instruction, so how are many of these students still overweight?
I actually was really looking forward to seeing Aisha and some of the other "losers" become more confident in themselves as their classmates react to their transformations from last year but I guess the show doesn't want to actually bother having any of the actors actually work out.
Man, the karate fighting needs to stay in the dojo and at tournaments in this show. The only good fight scene was the season 1 lunch room, everything in season 2 and 3 is a boring gymnastics showcase with people getting "hit" in ways that would put them in the fucking hospital and just shrugging it off.
The interesting part of this show is the character interactions, let's have more great dialogue, more introspection and by all means training, but please no more "battles", it's just dull, fucks with my suspension of disbelief when no one is hurt and there are no stakes whatsoever.
Oh, one more nitpick, karate training is a good workout and most classes will spend part of their time just doing actual exercises before any instruction, so how are many of these students still overweight?
I actually was really looking forward to seeing Aisha and some of the other "losers" become more confident in themselves as their classmates react to their transformations from last year but I guess the show doesn't want to actually bother having any of the actors actually work out.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the timeframe from the beginning of S1 to now is only about a calendar year?
S1 was the build-up to the last All Valley tournament, S2 was the remainder of the school year / summer / first day of the second school year, and S3 has been the fall / winter of year and still a few months to go until the next All Valley.
They are teenagers so weight goes on and off relatively easily with exercise, but we haven't seen any focus on nutrition and someone 50 lbs overweight who is only working out at karate practice and still eating garbage isn't going to drop that fat and get cut in the six to eight months they have been training.
And while they are doing some sparring, barring a few punishment things in S2 it doesn't seem like they have been doing anything that would really condition or train the students.
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I mean, he did form his own megachurch in Uganda...
I'm sorry, what?
Plot of “Book of Mormon”
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It'd be fun to see Michael Ironside from The Next Karate Kid show up.
My Backloggery
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not in this show, but it's canon, because in TNKK he repeatedly references Daniel
Not that we know of. I mean, it would totally be conceivable if they wanted to bring in Hillary Swank's character. Daniel probably knows her via off-screen interactions through Miyagi.
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Then again, I've said from well before Cobrai Kai that Miyagi is definitely a villain.
That makes Karate Kid 1-3 canon to TNKK, but not necessarily TNKK canon in Cobra Kai.
Okay, I gotta hear this; how is Miyagi the villain? I have to know this.
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Christmas came early! Cobra Kai moved up from January 8th to the 1st! One week away!
The Hype Train is at full speed!
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Oh, never saw it. I'm pleased to find out he didn't establish some kind of gay conversion Christ m church in Uganda or something.
I don't have a beef with him, just not a fan of his whole schtick.
What I meant above was it was refreshing that the mention of a church in Africa was a joke about the Book of Mormon rather than something horrifying.
Which is usually how "learning something new about a celebrity" goes.
Particularly in 2020.
We just bought the amazon 4 disk dvd of Karate kid , 2,3, and the new remake with Jackie chan. We've finished one and two onto three next. I think I've only seen that one one time myself, while I basically wore out the copied vhs that had one and two on it.
Edit
It's actually 3 disks but has all 4 movies and was less than $10 if anyone is curious. Why they went with the remake instead of the next karate kid I don't know, but it means we get a better movie. I'm not a huge fan of the remake but it was a decent enough movie.
I liked it a bit until that horrific CG kick at the end, with absolutely no narrative setup that I can recall, about made my eyes roll out of my sockets.
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I thought I had a bed with Josh Gad, but then I realized my beef with actually with James Corden, because I got my 'animated movie wackity schmackity doo voice actors' mixed up.
And now after watching Little Monsters, I would gladly fist bump Josh Gad.
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That wasn't Josh Gad, that was Fred Savage.
Different Little Monsters, oddly enough
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Josh Gad is really good in Marshall, opposite the late Chadwick Boseman.
Also,
Overall, a solid season. Some story progression and a lot of character development. The story is still doing a good job of balancing action, drama, dumb teenagers, and social commentary without leaning too heavily into any of them. While not up to par with the first season (that would be asking a lot), it still stands alone pretty well.
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Also, I about cheered when Johnny met Ali for lunch and dropped the manly facade and said what was really happening in his life. That's some powerful growth right there.
Really feels like they meant to release this over Christmas and delayed it by a couple weeks for whatever reason. Lot of flashbacks, but as someone who hasn't watched Karate Kid 2 and 3, it was helpful.
Seriously though, how the Hell is Kreese or his gang not in jail?
Also, a revival of an 80s karate movie series shouldn't make me almost cry, that's not fair in the slightest.
All I'm thinking though with the kids is holy shit, Tori (especially, but also the rest of them) are going to get tried as adults for Home Invasion and Attempted Murder for this whole shit show. The school fight was bad enough, but actually breaking into someone's home for the expressed purpose of great bodily harm is no joke, nothing shrugged off, go straight to prison sort of shit. Sam would be absolutely justified in shooting / stabbing any or all of them for that, especially the girl who has already assaulted her with a weapon and is on probation for it.
Hawk did his turn and would probably get some leniency for it, but they are committing a lot of felonies for a gang that just caused a school-wide brawl that paralyzed another kid.
I still can't understand why charges weren't pressed for Dimitri's arm, I get that some suspension of disbelief is necessary but that's a bit much.
Also two seasons ago the All Valley council made Johnny attest that Kreese wasn't involved in Cobra Kai in any way and clearly knew who he was / what he was and that he had assaulted a student, so that doesn't mesh up with the whole 'thank you for your service...' bullshit. I know I'm overthinking it, but sometimes the play-it-straight drama doesn't mesh well with the whole (necessary) over the top that is necessary for Karate Kid universe to work.
A minor peeve is how Kreese's service is being presented. Yes there were war crimes on both sides, but the NVA didn't make American POWs fight to the death for their entertainment. War is horrible enough without leaning into the 'lost causer' Vietnam MIA / POW propaganda.
Still, looking forward to finishing it up tonight and hopefully some of my expectations or issues turn out to be wonderful subversions.
Hawk's heel-face turn while narratively good to see, felt... unearned? Basically, they made it as though it entirely hung on Johnny's speech at the school, because you are talking about a guy who is watching his former best friend get the shit kicked out of him and getting pissed off, after just a few episodes back BREAKING HIS GODDAMN ARM IN COLD BLOOD... And Demetri just happily accepts him back. Clearly there was some kind of time break (not hard to believe, since we KIND of got one for Miguel), so hard feelings may have faded, but...
What really galls me is Robby. There was a ton of potential character growth after his fight with the bully in Juvie... and it just ended and he just went over to Kreese. I dunno, I'm not super keen on the writing for him here. My concern is that they are pushing him to Kreese to give a foil for Miguel.
Miguel, his family, and Johnny just WORK as a group. The acting/chemistry is fantastic, and really anchored by the Miguel/Johnny relationship that has really been just A+ since early Season 1. I think you had a similarly good relationship with Daniel and Robby, but... yah.
Finally, what I'm not huge on is Tori. She plays a great villain, but we spent SO MUCH TIME in season 1 (and many times since) talking about how it's not good guys and bad guys, but just people. Even Kreese, has good motivations. Tori on the other hand, is basically just arch. She had some good background STARTING to develop early on, then just turned into "well, I guess it only matters who wins in the end". I really think there was some quality to have been mined out of her and Kreese interacting, as much time as they spent justifying Kreese (and he really was.. not justified, but understandable).
Villains...
Sam is back at school liked and having fund raisers, beyond a little bit of manipulation of the school administrators by Hawk. Miguel is basically the school hero and everything seemingly forgiven because of his injury. We know he was merciful to Robbie and Robbie's kick was portrayed as super dirty, but really it was a big brawl where any one of the kids could have caused - or received - just as serious of an injury.
Tori is already seen as pretty unstable and Kreese isn't doing her any favors, so Sam being the girl who accused her of stealing / got her kicked out of the country club, attacked her at the roller rink (retaliation but...), then started cheating with her boyfriend is sort of believable if you suspend the over the top disbelief there.
I do think Danny did Robbie dirty the way he turned him in. The right thing to do would have been to talk to him and convince him to come in peacefully during a negotiated surrender the way the justice system actually works for rich people.
And for that matter, Danny and Amanda are rich. How the hell don't they have a lawyer standing in front of a judge protesting Kreese's restraining order and navigating them through the process? That's one of the main perks of being rich - the system works for you not against you. Danny should / would have had a private meeting with the city councilwoman in her office long before he had to talk in front of an open hearing to convince her why LaRusso motors was so good for their community and sponsoring all these things ALONG WITH the All Valley tournament and she would hate for that sponsorship to go elsewhere. It's not right the system works this way, but it's how things work and if it's that important to you use your advantages.
Hawk's heel-face-turn was telegraphed but definitely felt cheap. I feel like it would have been better if Kreese had shit on him a little more by bringing in the new kids and ditching the losers, and showing more of the various cliques within Cobra Kai. Still, you can only do so much.
But ultimately, is there anything better than Amanda / other women's whole 'Jesus Christ, you're middle aged men, it's only karate' attitudes? And the absolute enjoyment Amanda shows when Danny is twisting in the wind during those stories?
I noticeably missed Aisha, hopefully they bring her back in a meaningful way. I can see why they wanted her character out of the way to focus on the feud between Sam and Tori since she was the only thing really keeping them from killing each other in season 2, but still.
I like that they give Kreese and Tori sympathetic backstories. Tori and Robbie really do have a point about being scapegoated, and their beefs make sense from their point of view... Its nice to have a bit more depth to the bad guys than just “these guys are bastards, the end.”
It's still a really cool show but Season 3 was very much "more of the same".
I hope that continues to get addressed, because the current reverence of military folks is borderline dangerous. Not that they don't deserve gratitude for their service, but being in the military doesn't automatically make you more worthy than not.
The interesting part of this show is the character interactions, let's have more great dialogue, more introspection and by all means training, but please no more "battles", it's just dull, fucks with my suspension of disbelief when no one is hurt and there are no stakes whatsoever.
Oh, one more nitpick, karate training is a good workout and most classes will spend part of their time just doing actual exercises before any instruction, so how are many of these students still overweight?
I actually was really looking forward to seeing Aisha and some of the other "losers" become more confident in themselves as their classmates react to their transformations from last year but I guess the show doesn't want to actually bother having any of the actors actually work out.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the timeframe from the beginning of S1 to now is only about a calendar year?
S1 was the build-up to the last All Valley tournament, S2 was the remainder of the school year / summer / first day of the second school year, and S3 has been the fall / winter of year and still a few months to go until the next All Valley.
They are teenagers so weight goes on and off relatively easily with exercise, but we haven't seen any focus on nutrition and someone 50 lbs overweight who is only working out at karate practice and still eating garbage isn't going to drop that fat and get cut in the six to eight months they have been training.
And while they are doing some sparring, barring a few punishment things in S2 it doesn't seem like they have been doing anything that would really condition or train the students.