Although “The Karate Kid Part II” was released two years after the first “Karate Kid,” it begins just shortly after the competition that marks the final scene of the first movie. As Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) are leaving the stadium, they see a disturbing sight. Johnny, Daniel’s old enemy, has come in second in the karate competition, and that’s just not good enough for John Kreese, his sensai. Mr. Kreese begins beating Johnny up, to teach him a lesson, and even though the other boys step in and try to stop him, he is relentless. Mr. Miyagi interferes, most likely saving Johnny’s life, and gets Mr. Kreese in a death hold.
“Live or die?” he asks the sensai.
“Die!” he answers, preferring death to the humiliation of defeat.
Mr. Miyagi brings his hand back to deliver the death blow, and then says, in what I think is the best line of the whole movie, “Wrong!” He reaches out and tweaks Mr. Kreese’s nose, making the humiliation complete and showing himself to be the better man.
Six months later, Mr. Miyagi receives word that his father is dying, and he plans a trip to Okinawa, his native home, to pay his last respects to his old father. He knows that in returning home, he will also have to face down an old rival, but decides it’s worth the fight. Daniel feels that he can’t just let his teacher go on this journey alone and goes with him. He and Ali have had a fight and broken up, which was sort of a strange way to go forward with the plot, but I won’t enter into a debate with the script writers this late in the game.
Sato, once Mr. Miyagi’s best friend and fellow karate student, is waiting for them when they arrive, and tells Mr. Miyagi that he hasn’t forgotten their feud. Forty-five years ago, they both loved the same woman, Yukie, but in order to solve the dilemma of who would marry her, they would have to enter a death-duel, according to tradition. Rather than hurt his good friend, Mr. Miyagi left Okinawa, and Sato has never forgotten that humiliation.
Now Yukie is the one who cares for Mr. Miyagi’s father, and her niece, Kumiko, is a beautiful girl just Daniel’s age. As romance sparks up between the two of them, we also see that tender feelings remain between Mr. Miyagi and his lost love.
But what would a karate movie be without a couple of good karate fights? After the mourning period is over for Mr. Miyagi’s father, Sato challenges Mr. Miyagi to finish what they started. Daniel picks up an enemy of his own – a no-good guy who thinks he owns Kumiko. Using everything he’s learned from Mr. Miyagi, will Daniel be able to face an opponent who has not just studied karate, but has it ingrained in him his entire life?
I don’t generally like sequels as well as original films, but I have to say, I really liked “The Karate Kid Part II.” I mean, they could have gotten rid of Ali a little bit more cleverly, but I said I wasn’t going to complain about that, and I’m really not. Honest.
This film is rated PG.
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