COBRA KAI – SEASON 1 & 2 / CERT: 15 / STARRING: WILLIAM ZABKA, RALPH MACCHIO, XOLO MARIDUENA, COURTNEY HENGGELER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
34 years on from the events of The Karate Kid, Cobra Kai is an inspired continuation of the main characters’ stories that manages to be both entertaining and engrossing while maintaining the underdog magic that made the original film so special.
When the series hit YouTube Red in 2018, it was quickly lauded as the service’s first big-hitter. The show creatively reverses the roles of first movie’s formula, instead focusing on the plight of original antagonist Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) as he struggles to re-establish his childhood karate dojo, Cobra Kai, against the wishes of original protagonist, Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio). Both actors revisit their characters faithfully and give great performances, but Zabka’s run-down twist on Johnny Lawrence and his subsequent redemption is really the heart of the show. Johnny’s interactions with his Gen-Z students as they clash with his pseudo-badass attitude and old-school outlook are comic gold.
Unfortunately, when the camera drifts away to focus more on these kids and their own lives and problems, the show begins to fall into extremely predictable high-school stereotypes, complete with comically-exaggerated bullies and laughable will-they won’t-they romance subplots. Thankfully, this lends the show to great cringe-comedy, even if occasionally unintentional. One of these new kids, Miguel (Xolo Maridueña), is our new charismatic underdog who bounces off Zabka’s Johnny brilliantly in their scenes together, mirroring Larusso and Miyagi’s mentor-mentee dynamic from the original.
Fight sequences, initially not as frequent as you might expect, boast some impressive and creative choreography and callbacks to the films, with Larusso’s adoption of Mr Miyagi’s training technique being a highlight. The training sequences will particularly amuse returning fans in terms of either how similar or wildly different they are relative to Miyagi’s teachings. Larusso opts to stick close to the techniques taught to him by his deceased sensei, while Johnny opts to teach karate more as a method of exorcising the dweeb-ish qualities from his School of Rock-esque class.
This DVD set is a great way to catch up with both seasons of the acclaimed fan-favourite series before the approaching third run. The additional content is nothing spectacular or unique, but provides the standard gag-reel, bonus scenes, and character bios.
Even if you’re unfamiliar with its classic 80s predecessors, Cobra Kai is great television with strong humour and writing consistently on show. While we’d hesitate to call it nuanced, the writing returns us to the two core characters in new and unexpected ways that pay off considerably.
