Karate Kid: Legends

Never count a karate kid out—forty-one years in, the Karate Kid franchise is making another comeback, some fifteen years after the reboot of the original 80s/90s tetralogy. This time, Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio reprise their roles from the original series, taking on more of an emeritus role as a new generation takes the lead, starring Ben Wang as martial arts student Li Fong.

After a six-second micro teaser, we see Fong moving to the United States. This is set to an instrumental version of Jelly Roll’s “Born Again”, a big hit from last year, which receives the trailer treatment with extra percussion and other atmospheric accoutrements. At 0:46 we see a single synch point between Fong’s punch and the beat of the soundtrack as the vocals enter. Throughout, it’s clear the lyrics of the song offer intertextual commentary as the plot unfolds: “So lost, thought I couldn’t be found,” Jelly Roll sings as Fong proceeds to get beaten by a schoolyard bully.

At 1:20, after an extended instrumental focusing on strings and percussion, the trailer editors pull out two trailer music tropes in quick, unabashed succession in a “power down” sound effect at 1:20 followed by a single, high piano note. For the discerning ear it might come off as a bit uninspired or trite—on the other hand, tropes exist because they work.

As “Born Again” returns in full force with an emphasis on the chorus and even more emphatic percussion, there’s also a moment of comedic reprieve at the two-minute mark, with Fong quipping “there’s two of them”—in reference, of course, to Macchio and Chan both serving as mentors this time. Just as there’s a focus on an intergenerational family theme in the film, no doubt there will be multiple generations of Karate Kid fans watching this one. It’s a formula that’s been used time and again to keep a franchise cogent and interesting without necessarily resorting to a hard reboot, with the original actors moving into mentoring roles—Star Wars is another high-profile example that comes to mind.

With the choice of “Born Again”, the trailer tries to balance the need to bank on nostalgia with the insistence of something new. This is true both with the choice of music—a distinctly contemporary track—and with that track’s theme, affirming that this is, indeed, a new kid on the block.

Karate Kid: Legends high-kicks into theatres May 30th.

— Curtis Perry