‘Karate Kid: Legends’, released this week, stars Ben Wang as Beijing kung fu whizz Li Fong who moves with his mother to New York, where he befriends pizza restaurant owner and retired boxer Victor and his daughter Mia.
When that friendship irks a local karate champion, Li enters a karate tournament and begins training with his old kung fu teacher, Mr Han, played by Chan, and Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso, the protagonist of the original 1984 film ‘The Karate Kid’, who learned karate from mentor Mr Miyagi.
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“They presented the concept to me … connecting the Miyagi to the Han family and how that made sense … I was like ‘That’s kind of clever. Okay, so how do we maintain this connective tissue into Li Fong’s story that is organic and truthful’,” Macchio told Reuters in a joint interview with Chan and Wang.
“That was the challenge at first, and figuring that out. Working with Jackie was like, ‘Woohoo, sign me up – when, where?’ And then who’s the kid? If we don’t love this kid, then you have no movie. So all those, like it happens with ‘The Karate Kid’ universe, is magic dust that comes down, and somehow it continues to resonate. So I’m excited for the next generation version.”
The movie is Macchio’s fourth ‘Karate Kid’ film, playing LaRusso, a character he also portrayed in the ‘Cobra Kai’ television series.
Chan reprises the role of Mr Han, a character he first played in the 2010 film ‘The Karate Kid’ opposite Jaden Smith.
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“Now we’ve both become a Miyagi,” Chan said, referring to both his and Macchio’s characters becoming mentors.
“I remember when I saw the first one. Why him (Macchio)? Why not me?… I want to be ‘The Karate Kid’. (Now) We work together.”
Wang, 25, said Chan’s 2010 film introduced him to the franchise.
“Stepping into it, it’s a terrifying thing in a certain way because it’s a beloved franchise and … the fans love it so much so I want to do right by them,” he said. “But it’s also a great honour because a lot of people auditioned for this part, so I know how special and lucky it is that I get to do this with the two of them.”