One thing that’s notably correct in the article written by Jon Fuge of MovieWeb is that The Karate Kid has in fact been a well-loved story for many years and it has inspired one generation after another since it first appeared in the 80s. But a musical on Broadway is something that some people tend to be excited about while others are probably going to stand back wondering ‘why?’. At this rate it would appear that any culturally-significant movie that’s emerged throughout the decades might be subjected to this treatment. While it’s not the worst thing to happen it’s also hard to imagine the Karate Kid set to a musical number since it was such a great movie in its own right that trying to adapt it to the theater is something that almost begs the question as to what it’s going to look like when all is said and done. It could be that I’m simply being too cynical and narrow-minded about this matter and want a favored movie to remain untouched in this manner, but I doubt I’m the only one. In a sense it could go quite well and it might be an interesting and intriguing show, but it’s still something to wonder about and think that it might be kind of odd to see. So far the writer of the original story, Robert Mark Kamen, had to this say per Jon Fuge:
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think this little movie would reach across generations the way it has. And beyond my wildest dreams did I think what started out as a love letter to my devotion to Okinawan Karate and the man who taught me would become a full-blown Broadway musical. But here it is. Here I am. And here is hoping that what comes to the stage brings the same joy and relevance The Karate Kid has brought to countless kids and their parents for the past 35 years.”
When you step back and think about the Karate Kid really has been a big part of pop culture for a long time since the references to it in various shows and movies has been easy to notice and has gone a long way towards keeping the idea of it alive. It is kind of sad to see that Pat Morita couldn’t return for Cobra Kai, as it might have been nice to see him square off with Martin Kove‘s character yet again, but it’s enough to think that he helped to create a legendary story that has been continued by the surviving cast members and is still a very desired story in terms of how it’s continuing to shape the world of pop culture given how many people have been insanely excited to see each season. In fact season 3 has been approved and while filming hasn’t begun yet there is the idea that Hanh Nguyen of IndieWire has revealed that Daniel will return to Okinawa to try and recoup a bit of the essence of Miyagi-Do karate that he’s been missing since his sensei passed away.
If the musical is going to only concern the first movie it would be best since not only is the first one the most iconic since it started everything off, but it’s also likely that trying to dip into the second or third movie could muddy things up a bit since if you recall the Karate Kid plays out as a running anthology almost, with three different stories that are set up along the same time line but still differ greatly from each other in terms of what’s at stake. So yes, it’s possible that the stage play could be something different and likable for many people, but again, maybe I’m just too set in my ways to accept anything but the representation of the story as it’s been for so long. After all the Karate Kid has been one of the mainstays of pop culture for so long that trying to see it in any other light is a little difficult considering that despite any faults that have arisen from further inspection of the movie, there’s also the idea that updating it and adding or deleting certain parts could work against any future production. While it wasn’t the most hated movie around, The Karate Kid reboot with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan was a bit confusing since they practiced Kung Fu, not karate, and while the original took place in America and focused on Japanese karate the reboot was featured in China and was notably different from the original in many ways. Still, it was a fun movie to watch if slightly inaccurate, but purists tend to prefer their movies make more sense than the reboot allowed for. The one hope for the stage play is that they stay true to the source material, as much as possible anyway.
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