Karate Kid II

Synopsis

Upon hearing the news of his dying father, Mr. Miyagi and Daniel travel to Japan to pay their last respects.  We learn that Miyagi had left Japan long ago after having dishonored Sato, one of his childhood friends.  He escaped Sato's demand for a fight to the death over a woman they both loved.  After 40 years, Miyagi finds that his friend still seeks the same method of reconciliation and must try to avoid it at great emotional costs.  Daniel also becomes involved in the feud as he bumps heads with Sato's nephew, Chozen, and is soon also required to enter a death-match.

Entertainment Value - C

Maybe I didn't enjoy this because I liked the first one so much.  One of the scenes showing how Daniel is better than the other guys is the ice breaking scene, and I think that was kind of dumb.  Maybe I can't break that much ice, but who really cares?  Maybe ice-breaking was bigger than I remembered in the 80's.

Could Sato really turn good so quickly after 40 years of built up resentment?  Would his nephew really want to fight to the death over a few embarrassing encounters?  Maybe so, teenagers often don't think things through and let emotion get the best of them.  This was a fun movie overall, but the first one is better.

Moral Value - Failure to Communicate? - 3

Their were some moral lessons presented here, but nothing like those taught in the first one.  One thing that was attempted was the importance of putting principle before passion.  The conflict between Miyagi and Sato and between Daniel and Chozen were initiated by anger at something the other person did.  At the end we learn that resentment can last a very long time and keep us from happiness.  Our state of happiness/unhappiness should not be contingent on the actions of others; we are in complete control of how we react to a given situation.  If we harbor resentment we can sometimes not only deprive our own lives of happiness, but also affect the overall happiness of others.

Karate Kid I

Synopsis

Having to move to a new town due to his mother's new job, Daniel finds it very difficult to make friends at school.  The one girl who is interested in him also happens to be the ex-girlfriend of a high-ranked karate nut.  Daniel soon finds refuge with the apartment complex janitor who sees Daniel's need to learn discipline.  He consents to hand down his ancestral knowledge of Karate, accentuating that its use is only meant for defense.  As Daniel continues to struggle for a place in life, he must face his enemies in a Karate tournament.

Entertainment Value - A

Out of the first two movies, this is by far better than the second; I have yet to see the third again - but am not as excited after watching the second one.  It is almost a coming of age story as Daniel learns to cope with his emotions and harness his anger.  It's a convincing story of high school relationship dramas and the "in-crowd."  I've heard this compared to Rocky, and I think that's a good comparison.

Moral Value - Failure to Communicate? - 4

This was a very inspiring film that accurately displayed the consequences of decisions we make.  It also teaches us about trust.  As Daniel didn't understand what it was that Miyagi was teaching him, we don't always understand why we're asked to do something by our leaders/teachers, but by trusting them we grow stronger and more capable.

The bullies philosophy required no self-discipline and they fought to feed their ego.  In the end, they learned that real respect comes from fighting honorably.  I don't know that Daniel was necessarily a better fighter physically than any of the other bullies, but Miyagi's wisdom in teaching him the martial arts as a means primarily for defense helped Daniel have the right attitude to win the tournament.

I really liked Miyagi's approach to challenging the bullies: in a tournament.  This was a very appropriate way to resolve differences; had Miyagi decided to match Daniel brauns against brauns, everyone would have been worse off - Daniel seriously hurt, and the karate punks would still be clueless to their uncontrolled ego.