The Karate Kid Part III (1989)

Daniel-san, who as a young adult is starting to look and sound like Joe Pesci, comes up with his own domestic chore-inspired karate move in this third The Karate Kid movie ("It's easy," he tells a girlfriend, and in a second flat invents a pottery wheel sweep of the arms) but the undermining of this franchise's formula doesn't stop there: Daniel-san doesn't even come to need this karate move or any special karate move; Mr Miyage doesn't help - his training barely fills a three second beach montage; and the movie doesn't even try to make interesting the grand finale at the All Valley Karate tournament showdown where Daniel-san faces off with more weirdos from the Cobra Kai dojo.

 

★★☆☆☆

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The Next Karate Kid (1994)

With Hilary Swank's angry orphan Julie-san replacing Ralph Macchio's Daniel-san and with the Kobra Kai replaced by a ridiculous American high school martial arts police force of rapey male teens, you'd think things had changed in this fourth Karate Kid movie but the story arc is exactly the same, as is Mr Miyagi's English language competence despite his ten years' experience breaking down rebellious American teenagers and building them up again with Confucian couplets.

★☆☆☆☆

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The Karate Kid Part II (1986)

The stakes are ridiculously high now, escalating from a karate tournament title in the original Karate Kid movie to teenage death and honour in this melodramatic sequel, with a lanky teenaged Daniel-san (who really doesn't give the impression of being able to walk straight let alone coordinate a brutal drum rhythm-inspired karate takedown) and his senpai Mr Miyagi coming to the attention of Okinawan bullies.

★★☆☆☆

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