Cobra Kai & Karate Kid Trilogy
Sep. 18th, 2020 03:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
satalasers So: full disclosure, I'd watched Cobra Kai seasons 1 and 2 on YouTube, when they first came out, and I'd seen the first Karate Kid movie, and never really bothered to watch the rest. (I'd also seen the Jackie Chan version, which I like, and I haven't got round to watching The Next Karate Kid, but I will soon.)
I freaking love this series
Thoughts:
- Man, they are exploring cult mentality so hard! I love seeing the damage and trauma that it leaves behind -- well, I don't, but it's well done? You have so many different shades of it -- Terry, Bobby, Johnny, Eli/Hawk, Alisha -- and to see how it stems from John Kreese. He's an awful person, but I genuinely like this character, because he's fascinating to me.
- This is a show that has their characters live in the past: for both Johnny and Danny, it's the 80s. For Kreese, though, it's clearly even before that. Maybe it's the 60s. IDK. But it's there, and a big critique of this show really is: you can't stay in the past, because time goes on. Things change. It's hard to move. But you gotta.
- I love that Johnny's heart is in the right place, but jeez, he's flawed. That's what you get for living in the eighties and not keeping up with the times. It does make him adorable with some of his more implausible answers ("asthma does not exist in the dojo!"), and solutions to things (like literally throwing his students to the dogs, and expecting them not to get infected). He has anger issues, and uses outdated language, but dear god, he's trying. And I love that he -- he does want to improve. There's a difference to how he was in season one to season two, and had Kreese not stepped in when he did, there's such a high chance that he would have been able to reign the more unruly students in -- Kreese was the flame that stoked the fire, I can see that quite clearly.
- God, he just wants to do right. He wants to be a good father, he wants to give people who messed up a chance. It doesn't always work. But god, he tries. He thought he was doing best by Robbie, with Miguel, with Kreese. And all of that blew up in his face.
- It makes such an interesting foil to Danny. It's so funny, when watching Karate Kid for the first time, (although maybe it's the age you are), Danny's actions feel justified in the first movie. He's cocky and arrogant and hot headed, and yes, he is bullied by Johnny and his crew, but he's also instigating a couple of the fights too. (Like. The water hose joke, does come out of nowhere from Johnny's perspective, but I can see why Danny and Ali think Johnny had it coming.) But I like that, because Danny feels more human now. It's not that he wasn't flawed, but, IDK, I feel like it adds more the overall product. He's not perfect -- I'd never say he's as bad as Johnny, at least in the first movie, but sometimes, when watching Cobra Kai, he can get pretty damn spiteful. Again, he instigates the rivalry, because Johnny was pretty happy to leave things alone, but Danny regresses into being that teenager he used to be.
- And it's so good! Because the power between them have switched now. Danny's living a better life, he's sucessful, he's got a wife and kids. His life is practically perfect. If only it weren't for that pesky Cobra Kai... so yeah, he's a little bit of a jerk, can't help himself from rubbing his success in front of Johnny, but he's still fairly cordial. And Johnny, well he's not doing so great. Being a mechanic, then a dojo master, now currently jobless, I don't know what's in store for him next.
- Power changes things, and I'm so interested in how this show explores that. Power makes people feel strong -- it's not just Danny, it's Eli/Hawk, it's Aisha, it's Miguel. Yes, the latter three take it too far, but they grow in confidence because they feel more powerful, and capable of defending themselves. And sometimes, they go overboard -- especially as the cult mentality of Cobra Kai makes it much more cynical.
- That's why it was super cool to see Johnny's old gang, and see what happened to them. They got out, but at the same time, they weren't quite as enthusiastic over Cobra Kai as Johnny (and Dutch, TBH) was. Maybe it seemed more of a club to them, though IDK if any of them considered it a cult.
- But that's what makes Eli/Hawk such a tragic character. He really thinks he's grown and changed for the better, unaware that he's losing himself for the sake of Kreese's ego. So, I don't know if Eli will go back to being Eli, and abandoning the Hawk persona, or if he'll ever be friends with Dimetri again, but I can hope.
- I do think Miguel is my favourite new character out of the lot! He's sweet, and he has a good head on his shoulders, and I like his family and his ups and downs, and I like that his kindness persists, even if it's difficult to find at times. He is a good influence on Johnny, and Johnny, despite everything, is both a good influence on him, and a bad one. I have to hope that s3 is kind to him.
- Y'know what, I like Robbie and Sam too. I love all these kids. Even Tori. Oof, though, s3 is probably going to be rough to Robbie though.
Other thoughts:
- From watching the trilogy, it was neat to see what happened to Johnny and Kreese in KK2. Like. I don't think it was right to end KK1 with the beginning of KK2, because I feel like KK3 should have ended with a boop on the face, but holy hell, I could not have predicted that Kreese punched not one but two car windows.
- I kind of love that Kreese is the recurring feature that bleeds into all of the Karate Kids movie w/r/t Danny. Johnny's a symptom of that, but he's not the only one. Terry Silver is also, one heck of a guy.
- I know KK3 wasn't that good, but a) Terry Silver was great, b) it was nice that Danny and Mr Miyagi tried to start a business in that movie, and c) I actually like that Danny didn't get a love interest in KK3, and instead was pretty happy just to get a friendship. How neat! (I know that there were behind the scenes reasons for it, but it played out so nicely in the film, all the same.)
- KK2 was really cool at being a very different film though. Danny and Mr Miyagi go to Okinawa, Meet his dad, and former friends. Kumiko was great! Chozen was... a choice. TBH, it was interesting seeing the 'bad apples' of Miyagi-do -- even if they weren't, technically that.
- Don't love how they wrote Ali off like that. Hm. It doesn't really paint her in the best light, and IDK. It means that she never got to develop much as a character, she's fairly one dimensional, though the way they wrote her off definitely makes her a... teenager.
- The movies did not care for Danny's mom past the first one, though I'm glad she got to reappear in the third film at least for one scene. TBH, I don't think CK cares much for her either, but it's nice whenever she's on screen.
Future:
- Oh god, I don't know who to ship in this show. With Miguel/Sam/Robbie, S/R appeals to me because they're the kids of Danny and Johnny, and that would be sweet idea. But on the other hand, Miguel is also pretty clearly Johnny's surrogate son too? And I like Miguel/Sam, because they were the first ship of the show, and just. I hope they don't ruin the ships for me.
- If I'm honest, I feel like Miguel/Sam will be endgame. That's fine.
- I'm super nervous about the return of Ali, though. Like. I don't want a Danny/Ali/Johnny love triangle because Danny, you are married! you don't have to mess it up just because sometimes you live in the past! Danny/Amanda is adorable, and she calls him out when he's being terrible!
- There might be Ali/Johnny/Carmen love triangle, and I... don't want that either. To be fair, J/C might be dead in the water, considering Miguel's current state, and A/J might never happen bc she might be happily married to someone else? But. Once upon a time, Ali and Johnny were happy, and I'd kind of want to see if the people they are now could find -- if not happiness, then closure from the past. I'm not denying that Johnny was awful to Ali, because he was! He clearly was! But. They were happy once, and -- I'd kind of like to see that on screen too.
- I totally want Dutch, Terry Silver and Mike Barnes to reappear. You can recast if you want -- it's been 30 years! I'm not going to recognize an actor from 30 years ago, TBH! (Though, granted, it has been very nice to see that most of roles are reprisals from the original movie.)
- There's rumours of s3 showing Danny in Okinawa flashbacks, so it would be cool to see Yukie, Chozen, and Kumiko again. How have they changed, I wonder?
- I need Miguel to be okay. I just -- apparently they're taking inspiration from Bruce Lee in his future path, but. I do really want him to be okay, as the main thing.
- I'm so sad Aisha isn't returning for s3, but here's hoping s4, she'll return?
- And for Johnny to get his happy ending. Maybe John Kreese will die in a fire. But. Mainly I want Johnny to also get to place where he's okay and come to terms with things and become a better person.
- Also for Danny and Johnny to be friends. Maybe they're not besties. But. They do have a history.
Ugh, this show is so good.
I freaking love this series
Thoughts:
- Man, they are exploring cult mentality so hard! I love seeing the damage and trauma that it leaves behind -- well, I don't, but it's well done? You have so many different shades of it -- Terry, Bobby, Johnny, Eli/Hawk, Alisha -- and to see how it stems from John Kreese. He's an awful person, but I genuinely like this character, because he's fascinating to me.
- This is a show that has their characters live in the past: for both Johnny and Danny, it's the 80s. For Kreese, though, it's clearly even before that. Maybe it's the 60s. IDK. But it's there, and a big critique of this show really is: you can't stay in the past, because time goes on. Things change. It's hard to move. But you gotta.
- I love that Johnny's heart is in the right place, but jeez, he's flawed. That's what you get for living in the eighties and not keeping up with the times. It does make him adorable with some of his more implausible answers ("asthma does not exist in the dojo!"), and solutions to things (like literally throwing his students to the dogs, and expecting them not to get infected). He has anger issues, and uses outdated language, but dear god, he's trying. And I love that he -- he does want to improve. There's a difference to how he was in season one to season two, and had Kreese not stepped in when he did, there's such a high chance that he would have been able to reign the more unruly students in -- Kreese was the flame that stoked the fire, I can see that quite clearly.
- God, he just wants to do right. He wants to be a good father, he wants to give people who messed up a chance. It doesn't always work. But god, he tries. He thought he was doing best by Robbie, with Miguel, with Kreese. And all of that blew up in his face.
- It makes such an interesting foil to Danny. It's so funny, when watching Karate Kid for the first time, (although maybe it's the age you are), Danny's actions feel justified in the first movie. He's cocky and arrogant and hot headed, and yes, he is bullied by Johnny and his crew, but he's also instigating a couple of the fights too. (Like. The water hose joke, does come out of nowhere from Johnny's perspective, but I can see why Danny and Ali think Johnny had it coming.) But I like that, because Danny feels more human now. It's not that he wasn't flawed, but, IDK, I feel like it adds more the overall product. He's not perfect -- I'd never say he's as bad as Johnny, at least in the first movie, but sometimes, when watching Cobra Kai, he can get pretty damn spiteful. Again, he instigates the rivalry, because Johnny was pretty happy to leave things alone, but Danny regresses into being that teenager he used to be.
- And it's so good! Because the power between them have switched now. Danny's living a better life, he's sucessful, he's got a wife and kids. His life is practically perfect. If only it weren't for that pesky Cobra Kai... so yeah, he's a little bit of a jerk, can't help himself from rubbing his success in front of Johnny, but he's still fairly cordial. And Johnny, well he's not doing so great. Being a mechanic, then a dojo master, now currently jobless, I don't know what's in store for him next.
- Power changes things, and I'm so interested in how this show explores that. Power makes people feel strong -- it's not just Danny, it's Eli/Hawk, it's Aisha, it's Miguel. Yes, the latter three take it too far, but they grow in confidence because they feel more powerful, and capable of defending themselves. And sometimes, they go overboard -- especially as the cult mentality of Cobra Kai makes it much more cynical.
- That's why it was super cool to see Johnny's old gang, and see what happened to them. They got out, but at the same time, they weren't quite as enthusiastic over Cobra Kai as Johnny (and Dutch, TBH) was. Maybe it seemed more of a club to them, though IDK if any of them considered it a cult.
- But that's what makes Eli/Hawk such a tragic character. He really thinks he's grown and changed for the better, unaware that he's losing himself for the sake of Kreese's ego. So, I don't know if Eli will go back to being Eli, and abandoning the Hawk persona, or if he'll ever be friends with Dimetri again, but I can hope.
- I do think Miguel is my favourite new character out of the lot! He's sweet, and he has a good head on his shoulders, and I like his family and his ups and downs, and I like that his kindness persists, even if it's difficult to find at times. He is a good influence on Johnny, and Johnny, despite everything, is both a good influence on him, and a bad one. I have to hope that s3 is kind to him.
- Y'know what, I like Robbie and Sam too. I love all these kids. Even Tori. Oof, though, s3 is probably going to be rough to Robbie though.
Other thoughts:
- From watching the trilogy, it was neat to see what happened to Johnny and Kreese in KK2. Like. I don't think it was right to end KK1 with the beginning of KK2, because I feel like KK3 should have ended with a boop on the face, but holy hell, I could not have predicted that Kreese punched not one but two car windows.
- I kind of love that Kreese is the recurring feature that bleeds into all of the Karate Kids movie w/r/t Danny. Johnny's a symptom of that, but he's not the only one. Terry Silver is also, one heck of a guy.
- I know KK3 wasn't that good, but a) Terry Silver was great, b) it was nice that Danny and Mr Miyagi tried to start a business in that movie, and c) I actually like that Danny didn't get a love interest in KK3, and instead was pretty happy just to get a friendship. How neat! (I know that there were behind the scenes reasons for it, but it played out so nicely in the film, all the same.)
- KK2 was really cool at being a very different film though. Danny and Mr Miyagi go to Okinawa, Meet his dad, and former friends. Kumiko was great! Chozen was... a choice. TBH, it was interesting seeing the 'bad apples' of Miyagi-do -- even if they weren't, technically that.
- Don't love how they wrote Ali off like that. Hm. It doesn't really paint her in the best light, and IDK. It means that she never got to develop much as a character, she's fairly one dimensional, though the way they wrote her off definitely makes her a... teenager.
- The movies did not care for Danny's mom past the first one, though I'm glad she got to reappear in the third film at least for one scene. TBH, I don't think CK cares much for her either, but it's nice whenever she's on screen.
Future:
- Oh god, I don't know who to ship in this show. With Miguel/Sam/Robbie, S/R appeals to me because they're the kids of Danny and Johnny, and that would be sweet idea. But on the other hand, Miguel is also pretty clearly Johnny's surrogate son too? And I like Miguel/Sam, because they were the first ship of the show, and just. I hope they don't ruin the ships for me.
- If I'm honest, I feel like Miguel/Sam will be endgame. That's fine.
- I'm super nervous about the return of Ali, though. Like. I don't want a Danny/Ali/Johnny love triangle because Danny, you are married! you don't have to mess it up just because sometimes you live in the past! Danny/Amanda is adorable, and she calls him out when he's being terrible!
- There might be Ali/Johnny/Carmen love triangle, and I... don't want that either. To be fair, J/C might be dead in the water, considering Miguel's current state, and A/J might never happen bc she might be happily married to someone else? But. Once upon a time, Ali and Johnny were happy, and I'd kind of want to see if the people they are now could find -- if not happiness, then closure from the past. I'm not denying that Johnny was awful to Ali, because he was! He clearly was! But. They were happy once, and -- I'd kind of like to see that on screen too.
- I totally want Dutch, Terry Silver and Mike Barnes to reappear. You can recast if you want -- it's been 30 years! I'm not going to recognize an actor from 30 years ago, TBH! (Though, granted, it has been very nice to see that most of roles are reprisals from the original movie.)
- There's rumours of s3 showing Danny in Okinawa flashbacks, so it would be cool to see Yukie, Chozen, and Kumiko again. How have they changed, I wonder?
- I need Miguel to be okay. I just -- apparently they're taking inspiration from Bruce Lee in his future path, but. I do really want him to be okay, as the main thing.
- I'm so sad Aisha isn't returning for s3, but here's hoping s4, she'll return?
- And for Johnny to get his happy ending. Maybe John Kreese will die in a fire. But. Mainly I want Johnny to also get to place where he's okay and come to terms with things and become a better person.
- Also for Danny and Johnny to be friends. Maybe they're not besties. But. They do have a history.
Ugh, this show is so good.
