Cobra Kai reignites the Karate Kid spirit with a twist
by Ethan Platt, staff writer
The television series Cobra Kai (2018) is the continuation of the original Karate Kid trilogy, starring the previous antagonist Johnny Lawrence 34 years after the events of the first movie. We see Johnny, whose role is reprised by original actor William Zabka, revive the infamous karate dojo, Cobra Kai, to help high school kids earn confidence and learn to stand up for themselves, but maybe not all of his lessons help them positively.
The show was originally a Youtube Originals show that later was picked up by Netflix. What is very cool about that is that even though the studios changed, the show never loses the same style and feeling that it has had the whole time.
This show is a must watch. It does a great job bringing back characters that we have already seen in previous movies and keeping them accurate while still showing some growth. Daniel Larusso, played by Ralph Macchio, is still the hot head who thinks when he knows one thing, he knows everything, and he is still the same kid trying to do the right thing. Johnny Lawrence is still the stuck-up jerk, but this time around, we see why. As Mister Miyagi put it, “No such thing as bad student, only bad teacher.”
It does a great job bringing back characters that we have already seen in previous movies and keeping them accurate while still showing some growth.
Johnny has a combination of motivations for the show. He needs to make a living, he wants to get on Larusso's nerves, and he wants to help these kids, namely one of his students Miguel. At the end of season one and throughout season two, although the kids are learning to defend themselves, they also are starting to act like the bullies that they despised. It seems as though the show runners and directors are trying to say that absolute power can corrupt absolutely.
The fights in this series are astounding. Although there is still a bit of the old 80’s camp to it, the dramatic tension around the fights really help to get the audience invested. The choreographers do a great job of the close quarter combat scenes.
Season two did a solid job of expanding the Cobra Kai world even more with new characters and sets. The way the show tackles both the teenager and adult romance is very good. The fights are bigger and better, and the story is full of twists and turns, keeping viewers on their feet. One of the biggest fight scenes included multiple different fights and was taken almost completely in one shot with the camera following all the characters. I would give this season a solid five out of five stars.
Season three will be picking up where season two left off, and it seems that anyone planning to watch it will be in for a fun ride. This show is now on Netflix and is worth watching now because on Jan. 8, 2021, season three of Cobra Kai will be released. Although some people may say it is not necessary to watch the Karate Kid movies first, it will 100 percent improve the experience of the show because you will get to see the full history between the two characters Daniel and Johnny as well as seeing parallels between them and the new kids that star in the show.