Film Preview: Karate Kid: Legends (2025)

Film Poster

Page Revisions:

(December 22, 2024) Original
(April 13, 2025) New Trailer (#2) — New Posters (#2-#9)
(May 25, 2025) New Posters (#10-#22)

Release Date:

May 30, 2025

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “Kung fu prodigy Li Fong is uprooted from his home in Beijing and forced to move to New York City. When a friend needs his help, Li enters a karate competition. Li’s teacher Mr. Han enlists original Karate Kid Daniel LaRusso for help.”

Poster Rating: C+ / B- / C- (3) / C (3) / C+ / C (2) / B / C- (5) / B / C (2) / B / C

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOW
Review: (#1, C+) Reminiscent of past Karate Kid posters, the resemblance is obviously intentional. The backdrop is a bit too formal and rigid but it gets to the intended purpose fittingly and using the warm orange glow to add to the feeling of familiarity.

(#2, B-) A lack of background elements can make it difficult to appreciate a design but this effort uses that space effectively by segmenting it with different colors and shapes. The lower third has compelling detail and the figures, while loosely linked, are generally well balanced. (#3-#5, C-) These character posters are cheap-looking with the solid black backdrop and the ill-fitting gold lettering. Throwing in a title with colors that don’t quite blend with the central images makes it feel like a pop of color for no reason. (#6-#8, C) Taking the prior character designs, zooming out a bit on the characters and adding background details helps elevate the efforts. While they tie in well to the main poster design, they don’t inject anything compelling into them. (#9, C+) Taking some of the good elements from design #2 and then removing the color balance and positioning makes for a decidedly less appealing design.

(#10-#11) Add two more to the more interesting batch of character posters. (#12, B) A nice throwback to the ’80s with a video game aesthetic fans of the original film will appreciate. (#13-#17, C-) And five more of the worst character designs they’ve created. (#18, B) While this doesn’t quite have the feel of the ’80s nostalgia of design #12, it doesn’t stand too far from it with lots of interesting little details and bold colors to draw the viewer’s attention. (#19-#20, C) Unfortunately, not all format designs are created equal and these are certainly inferior. (#21, B) Were the film more attuned to the first film, the paint splatter aesthetic might hit more strongly. It’s still a solid effort with a well arrayed cast of characters and some bold, appealing colors. (#22, C) There’s really not much here to talk about. It’s dull, uninteresting and oppressively red and orange.

Trailer Rating: C / B-

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Review: (#1, C) There’s an attempt here to build on character loyalty while meandering through expected tropes in a pseudo-sequel that blends the Jackie Chan character with the Ralph Macchio character and a new generation of karate kids. There just isn’t enough here to entice any but the most devoted fans.

(#2, B-) By bringing the audience back into the headspace the original film created, this trailer does a tremendous job linking the past with the future and setting expectations that this film will be more interesting and heart-filled than previously indicated even if it reminds of every other bullied teen-triumphs-over-bully narrative.