Summary30 years after the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) is running a successful car dealerships business while his old rival Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) is seeking to turn his life around by reopening the Cobra Kai dojo.
Summary30 years after the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) is running a successful car dealerships business while his old rival Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) is seeking to turn his life around by reopening the Cobra Kai dojo.
Cobra Kai manages to give Karate Kid fans exactly what they want, while using the template of the original to launch new characters aimed at younger viewers. ... But it’s hard to imagine anyone enjoying this show as much as those of us who grew up on the original.
All the trite talk of nerds and mean girls feels like it’s from a forgettable teen soap. But the foundation of Cobra Kai is solid: Not only does it deliver on the ’80s retro fun we expect--yes, Johnny and Daniel do face off across a karate mat once again--but it goes beyond that, forcing us to grapple with exactly why we want to see Johnny and Daniel face off again so badly.
Turning Johnny from a villain to a sympathetic character and showing some of Daniel’s flaws humanizes both men. However, while watching the first two episodes I was left a bit confused as there isn’t a clear antagonist or protagonist. ... If you’re a child of the 80s seeing how things have played out for Johnny and Daniel will be right in your wheelhouse.
This show gets a lot of things right from the perfect amount of references and music from the original and the acid-washed 1980s where the movie reigned supreme to the impressive casting and acting. .... That said, Cobra Kai relies on coincidence far too often even for a show spawned from the decade of decadence.
The thing you don't expect is for Cobra Kai to be pretty decent and to fill its entire first season with enough homages, twists and reversals to be much more consistently entertaining than it has any right to be.