This past week i literally watched all the seasons of Cobrai Kai. To my surprise 2 days ago the 5th season came out and it was really amazing. To tell you the truth a friend of mine suggested this show when i think the first season aired but i was very reluctant.
I remember watching the trailer and the fight scenes seemed so fake, especially while i have seen tons of martial arts movies as i like the genre and also have some experience doing martial arts myself. Actually though, even if the fight scenes aren't magnificent or amazing the show has something that makes you watch it like crazy.
Plot
Briefly, i wanna give you the whole idea behind the show in case you have not heard anything at all about it. The series is based on Karate Kid which was a show back in 1984. Karate Kid as the name suggests revolves around Karate and basically, it's a story about a kid getting bullied and how Karate helped him to overcome his fear and obtain strength.
At the same time it shows that Karate is a form of martial arts like any other that depending on the person it can be used as self defense method or a method to cause harm to others. In general, it has many hidden messages which is quite cool, especially for its era.
During Karate Kid there was basically the kid who was getting bullied called Daniel LaRusso and his teacher Miyagi Sensei that helped him by teaching not only Karate but the philosophy behind it. Now there was also Cobra Kai, a dojo led by Kreese and Silver who basically taught their students to show no mercy and strike first. Their number one student who was also the bully of Daniel was Johnny Lawrence who in the end lost in a Karate tournament to Daniel.
Fast forward, over 20 years have passed, Daniel is a successful business owner with a beautiful wife and 2 kids while we see the struggles of Johny around his life. He is basically stuck in the past thinking about his life had he won that tournament.
Long story short he opens a Dojo once again named Cobra Kai and he teaches kids that got bullied and he tries to be a different person and teacher to them than his actual teacher. In the first 4 seasons, we get to see what Daniel has to say about these and also some people returning back to the Valley like Kreese and Silver. The 5th season revolves around Silver but i don't want to make any more spoilers!
What I Liked
There are a lot of things that i actually like about the show. First of all, don't expect an expensive production with amazing scenery and stuff like that. Mostly you will see everything happening around 2 dojos, a couple of houses and a school. It's more than enough though.
It's quite interesting that even though we have as main actors the protagonists of Karate Kid fighting with their inner demons and past we also get to see the next generation and by that i mean their kids and friends and how they treat Karate and the whole philosophy around it.
Also, the fight scenes even though there are mediocre at best, season after season it seems that they get better or maybe i got used to it, i don't know. It's important to give credit to the directors and the scriptwriters behind this because actually the whole plot has some continuity and there is some deep character development.
The bad guys or the "enemies" are stronger and more complicated in each season and at the same time we see how each and every character handles the situation. We are talking about human beings and we actually see the characters for once being actual human beings that have emotions, can't handle them, got affected by circumstances and overcome their difficulties.
Finally, the series is also quite funny, especially the character of Johny. He is a guy without any knowledge of technology and all the new trends and he also is pretty simple-minded and straightforward so get ready for epic moments of laughter!
What I Didn't Like
I don't have much to say to be honest. Ofc, as i mentioned the fight scenes, are quite mediocre but it seems to me they get better each season. Especially season 5 had some badass moments. Also, there is the usual dose of political correctness that has no sense but Karate kid was always a show in my mind that was ahead of its era.
The only thing i hope is to find an appropriate time to complete the show. I am sure that there would be a season 6 but if they don't find a "big enemy" or a "bigger event" to focus around and return the same bad guys for example over and over it will be a disaster. Thankfully, it's not even close to that.
My Rating 8.5/10
IMDb Rating 8.5/10
Have you watched the Show?
