recommended

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

That Mr Miyagi guy is really something. He is my fav character and this one is about him and his awesomeness. And just for that this is a worthy follow up to the first one. You get to know about Miyagi's Past and you also get a nice continuation of the story.

After overcoming the odds to become a champion, Daniel decides to accompany Miyagi to Okinawa who is off to pay his respects to his ailing father. When his father passes away, Miyagi is given a short time to mourn, before fighting his old rival, Sato. Meanwhile, Daniel falls in love and rubs Sato's nephew the wrong way to the point where they may have to fight to death. Karate Kid was far from original, but it's a classic for a reason. It's the ultimate underdog story of a regular Joe overcoming the odds to achieve greatness. In many ways, I think it's the teenage equivalent to Rocky. Everything about it rang true. As entertaining as this sequel is, it feels pretty contrived. The freshness is no longer there and I didn't get the same allure or that "special" feeling. That being said, this is pretty good for a sequel. I've seen it about 5 times, so obviously I liked it. It certainly knows how to tug on your heart-strings. The culture in Okinawa made for an intense experience. Their beliefs are entirely different from others. I didn't necessarily agree with it, but they truly believed in it. They believe there is honor in fighting to the death, while I think that is too extreme. Watching Daniel adapt to the lifestyle in Japan is engaging to watch. Miyagi and Sato's issues rivet me. It's genuinely emotional and always manages to move me. The performances are top-notch. Macchio is excellent once more as Daniel. Watching him evolve is fun to watch. You can see his confidence growing as well. Pat Morita is his match as Miyagi. His immaculate chemistry with Macchio is the key to this sequel. There is a lot of good stuff in this sequel, but they always make things livelier. Danny Kamekona's intensity knows no bounds. His performance as Sato is a memorable one. Yuji Okumoto plays one of the most despicable characters to ever grace the screen as Chozen. The final fight scene with him and Daniel will get your adrenaline going. Tamlyn Tomita is cute as Kumiko, but I wasn't all that into her romance with Daniel. To be honest, I was incensed at how quickly they dropped the romance, with Daniel and Ali. Am I really supposed to believe that a woman of strong character like Ali would suddenly fall in love with a UCLA football player and just dump him like that? Ali was nowhere near that shallow. It's lazy writing at its finest and screams of "We weren't able to get her back for the sequel"I really enjoy this sequel for the most part. It's not as genuine and I do have some issues with it, but it's really well done. As long as you don't expect the original, you should be entertained. 7.5/10

Following the theory that success is not to be tampered with, director John G Avildsen has paired up karate student Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) with mentor Mr Miyagi (Pat Morita) and poured them in to story little change from the original. Daniel gets beat up a few times, Mr Miyagi comes to his rescue, after a few life lessons Daniel wins the day, oh and he meets a girl and falls in love again too. That's slightly harsh as it's now set in Mr Miyagi's home lad of Okinawa, with a different reason behind the main bad guys actions. Plot In A Paragraph: Mr Miyagi must return to Okinawa as his father is dying. Daniel asks to go with him, as Mr Miyagi is always there when he needs him. Mr Miyagi reluctantly agrees and upon landing it's clear why he was keen to leave Daniel at home, as an old love rival of Mr Miyagi, Sato, wants to settle an old score. Sato is Okinawa's top karate instructor, he and his best student Chozen set about making Miyagi and Daniels life hell. Ali (Elizabeth Shue) is quickly written out, with Daniel saying she fell in love with a soccer player from UCLA. Enabling our hero to fall in love in Okinawa with Kumiko (a stunning Tamlyn Tomita) and Shue is not missed. Sadly the villains of the piece are not a patch on the brilliant William Zabka and Martin Kove Johnny and Kreece) from the first movie. I'm not sure if the character of Sato (Danny Kamekona) is meant to be a gruff voiced clone of Kreece, with his nephew Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) replacing Zabka as his best student. But that is how it comes off, and it does not help with the sense of "we've seen all this before". Despite the final confrontation being a fight to the death, it lacks the intensity of the first movie, and the victory doesn't feel as joyous. That said there are some good scenes in this movie, the ice breaking competition is a standout scene, as is Miyagi's confrontation with a bitter Kreece who is attacking his students at the beginning of the movie. We also get a dramatic rescue during a thunderstorm and a beautiful scene between Daniel and Miyagi on a beach after Miyagi's father dies. It's a great scene with Macchio tugging on the heart strings whilst Morita speaks volumes without uttering a word. Great work by both in this scene. Like in the first movie we have a great song. This time is an Oscar nominated song "Glory Of Love" by Perer Cetera. Overall I've rated it a generous 8/10 a significant drop from the 10/10 first movie. Losing points for weak villains and being almost a clone of the original. It's plus points being some good scenes (as mentioned above) the song and the acting of both Macchio and Morita who have great chemistry together.

The conflict in this movie ALL originates from Miyagi, Daniel is treated as a side character, which completely inverts the original relationship... This is fine if you want to tell a different story, but at least change the title to reflect the new direction! It's not part two of the same story, it's a completely separate beast, and as such, a poor sequel for a supposed continuation.It also has the added negative effect of diluting the conflict from the first movie, so that when it's returned to again in the third, it seems anticlimactic, given that the writers needed to show how time had passed... If you're humiliated in a parking lot, who is still fixated upon it, a year later?! Apparently, we're asked to believe that Kreese is, which completely changes the dynamic and just makes him a sad man, rather than the ruthless villain of the original. It's a lesson in how to screw up a franchise by straying too far from your roots, too soon.