Cobra Kai

You Tube Red, in what feels like their first really major original series announcement, is making a direct sequel to the original Karate Kid film trilogy.

Why? Well the articles describe it as a comedy, so presumably hilarity will ensue and no one will talk about the Jaden Smith remake.

http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/the-karate-kid/266806/karate-kid-tv-sequel-cobra-kai-releases-first-trailer

Oh god.

I love 2018. First Krypton, the show about the doomed planet, and then Metropolis, the show about the city before Superman came along, and then Powerless, the show about a comic book city except focusing on all of the little people who aren't big superheroes.

And now Cobra Kai, the show continuing from the Karate Kid trilogy but focused on the opposing dojo. Now I wonder if Kyle Kreese or his brother will make appearances.

EDIT: Oh. Daniel-san is returning. Bolly.

I don't know if I should look at this as the entertainment industry running out of ideas, or if I should be happy that they can take old properties and put new spins on them (Creed, Still-Star Crossed, Ocean's Eleven remake, etc).

edited 16th Feb '18 12:12:27 PM by Soble

There's never a shortage of new ideas, insofar as any idea is new. The shortage is of people willing to take the chance on them instead of rehashing The Good Old Days.

edited 16th Feb '18 12:21:44 PM by Eagal

Eh, media's been ripping off other media since before the radio was a thing. Nothing is really new; everything's just reshuffled from whatever inspired the writer when he or she was growing up.

The difference now is that if a guy decides he wants to make a Jurassic Park movie, he doesn't instead make a movie about Dino World, a dino-based theme park that's not on an island and therefore is totally different, you guys, really. He just makes Jurassic Park 4.

edited 16th Feb '18 2:43:03 PM by TobiasDrake

Oddly, I'd actually enjoy a series about building Jurassic Park.

The Jaden Smith remake was actually really good but of course since it came out in 2010 and not the 80s it will never receive any sort of second look.

I'll second that the Jaden Smith reboot was amazing. I really liked it. Smith did a great job with the role he was given. I also felt like Jackie Chan actually knew what the f*ck he was talking about a lot more than Mr. Miyagi did, but in fairness, that's because it's Jackie Motherf*cking Chan talking about martial arts.

The sad fact is if it was named THE KUNG FU KID then people would have judged it on its own merits while also getting its a remake.

The Nostalgia Critic did an Old vs. New on the two.

Another new trailer. Looks like Daniel-san is a car salesman.

There seems to be an air of silliness in all this despite everyone playing it with a straight face. I guess Cobra Kai just looks silly in an era of Mixed Martial Arts. And that an actual Cobra Kai exists, but it’s a BJJ school in Las Vegas.

The entire thing was always silly and ran with it.

Speaking of running with things...

All those Youtube theories that Johnny was OK but Daniel was just a conceited douchebag? This appears to be running with them.

"A method of fighting your pansy-ass generation desperately needs." I guess no one told Johnny about the UFC, but this trailer honestly seems fun enough for me not to care.

edited 21st Mar '18 2:16:16 PM by Beatman1

I feel like somebody felt the Hilarious in Hindsight entry of How I Met Your Mother was lacking, and decided to make a Karate Kid series based off of a Barney Stinson joke.

That said, the series looks interesting, and I love that the new Cobra Kai is an equal opportunity dojo.

A lot of new character trailers have dropped the past few weeks, but this one with Johnny is probably my favorite.

Asthma does not exist in this dojo!

This is how you write a sequel with nostalgia and innovation in mind. Make fun of yourself, make fun of your old ways.

Probably helps that this is such a ridiculous franchise to continue off of.

The trailer certainly shows its silly moments, but it's not outright farce. This seems to be a genuine continuation of the original Karate Kid story, only with a Perspective Flip. The core story of the original movie was that Daniel was in a bad place (dad died, moved across the country, no friends, bad neighborhood) and he needed something to rebuild his confidence and take control of his life, stated as "finding balance." Even the Alternate Character Interpretation of "Daniel is the bully antagonizing Johnny into retaliating" works under that premise, as you see Daniel calm down and see things in a better perspective while Johnny acquires some mutual respect.

Kobra Kai seems to take that same principle and reverse it. Johnny is in a bad place now and sees restarting Kobra Kai as the same thing that Daniel needed, rebuilding his confidence and sense of self-respect. Obviously making a new generation of thugs like Kreese did is not going to be the answer, but that will probably be part of his character arc. More than likely Daniel's involvement will include developing mutual respect.

Get'em while they're hot.

Annnnd surprising no one... Johnny is still a dick.

Really liking how Johnny's revamping Cobra Kai as a place for the outcasts at school to learn to defend themselves against an abusive, rich popular crowd. I'm hoping Miguel puts a fist into Kyler's face sooner rather than later.

Johnny is a hero for a grown up 80’s kid, politically incorrect, cynical as hell, but when push comes to shove, he’s at least trying to do the right thing.

So far so good one episode in.

Only watched the first episode so far. Johnny's clearly living in the past but they show Daniel too is still milking his glory days for all they're worth with the bonsai tree giveaways and karate references in his ads.

Overall, the writing is really good. Solid plotting. In so many ways it reflects the zeitgeist of today as much as the original movie did. The scene where he's watching Iron Eagle features a quote that underscores what Johnny's journey in this is about:

"God doesn't give people talents that he doesn't want people to use. And he gave you The Touch. It's a power inside of you, down there where you keep your guts boy. It's all you need to blast your way in and get back what they took from you."

That's perfect.

I'd argue Daniel's not milking his "glory days" given that he's wealthy and successful now. He uses it, certainly, but it's not all that defines him given that he's found success beyond it. If anything, it's just his foundation. Plus episode 2 I feel does a good job of showing that while he is using it as a gimmick, the actual takeaway from it hasn't left him.

As much as I keep hearing people say this show is "grayer" and Daniel more villainous, he seems overall right about most of this. At worst he's haunted by his past as a victim, which is understandable, but his assessment regarding Johnny bringing back Cobra Kai being dangerous is correct. The lessons he wants to teach are ones that are better left in the past and won't (and don't) do any good. And hell, he initially was fine leaving the past in the past and only became concerned when the Cobra Kai stuff started coming up and he's worried that history is repeating.

To note, this isn't to say those who Johnny is helping don't need it and all. Just I'm finding Daniel's made out to seem worst than he actually is from all I've seen and know. Johnny is legitimately a danger to these kids. They need help, certainly, but Johnny isn't qualified to help.

(And watched episode 5, which the stuff with the strip mall and the rent is a legit case of going too far. I stand by the above with Johnny, but yeah.)

edited 5th May '18 1:58:59 AM by Prime_of_Perfection

I dunno, I find Daniel complaining about a guy teaching kids to defend themselves and believe themselves with karate to be a weeeeeee bit hypocritical.

No, Johnny is nowhere near as wise as Mr. Miyagi but he's closer to him than his mentor.

Johnny IS the Miyagi of this at the start. He's a handyman who beat up a group of kids who were bullying another kid and then is going to teach karate.

edited 5th May '18 9:53:14 AM by CitizenH