I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Zuraidah Alamn to talk about new movies in theatres including the high kicking “Karate Kid: Legends,” the mannered “Phoenician Scheme” and the horrific (in a good way) “Bring Her Back.”
Watch the whyole thing HERE! (Starts at 13:10)
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the high kicking “Karate Kid: Legends,” the mannered “Phoenician Scheme” and the unsettling “Bring Her Back.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make the bed! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the high kicking “Karate Kid: Legends,” the mannered “Phoenician Scheme” and the horrific (in a good way) “Bring Her Back.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: Set three years after the events of “Cobra Kai,” “Karate Kid: Legends,” the sixth film in “The Karate Kid” franchise, sees teenage kung fu prodigy Li Fong (Ben Wang) and his mother relocate to New York City from Beijing, China after a family tragedy. Li befriends classmate Mia Lipani (Sadie Stanley) and her pizzeria owner father, which puts him in the crosshairs of Mia’s ex-boyfriend, aggressive karate champ Connor Day (Aramis Knight). Challenged to a karate showdown, Li trains with kung fu teacher, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), and the original Karate Kid, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) to prepare. “Li is to me what you meant to Sensei Miyagi,” Mr. Han says to Daniel LaRusso.
CAST: Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio, Ben Wang, Joshua Jackson, Sadie Stanley, Ming-Na Wen. Directed by Jonathan Entwistle.
REVIEW: At a tight 90 minutes, the new movie in the “Karate Kid” franchise doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel. Essentially a remake of the original film, it treads a familiar path with a simple feel-good story of an underdog and a bully.
“Karate Kid: Legends” is formulaic, predictable and leans heavily into fan service, but in this case, familiarity doesn’t breed contempt. Director Jonathan Entwistle rushes through the narrative, attempting to deepen the story with a tragic history for Li Fong and his mother, a budding romance and a shake-down gang story. None of them are particularly well developed—although as Li and Mia, Ben Wang and Sadie Stanley have good chemistry—and all serve essentially as McGuffins to point the plot in the direction of Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio and the film’s climatic showdown between Li and his nemesis, a one-dimensional Karate expert named Connor (Aramis Knight).
The presence of Chan and Macchio goes a long way to make up for the film’s complete lack of innovation. As Li’s mentors they bring humour and a warm nostalgic feel. Like so many of the film’s elements, they’re underused—Why wouldn’t they examine the parallel life paths of Li and the original Karate Kid, Daniel LaRusso?—but when they are onscreen the movie perks up.
“Karate Kid: Legends” isn’t a great movie. Six movies in, it feels as repetitive as the endless “jacket on, jacket off” training Mr. Han subjects Li to throughout. It’s a film that could have gone directly to streaming, but its short runtime doesn’t overstay its welcome, and the classic underdog story still works, even if it feels a bit frayed around the edges.
One Week tells the story of Ben Tyler (Joshua Jackson), a frustrated writer turned elementary school teacher. He’s on autopilot until he learns that he has stage four cancer but rather than go straight to the hospital and the inevitable, he buys a motorcycle and heads west from Toronto on a road trip that takes him to the western most parts of our country.
It’s a jam packed trip that sees him encounter everything from The Tragically Hip’s Gord Downey as a pot-smoking cancer survivor to the Stanley Cup. On his trip when he isn’t doing such distinctly Canadian things as “rolling up the rim to win” he embarks on a personal journey that leads to a greater understanding of not only where he came from but also, where he is going.
Over top of it all is a clever voiceover supplied by actor Campbell Scott. It’s a voice of God narration that adds some perspective and depth to Ben’s on-camera antics.
One Week features a fine performance from Lianne Balaban, as Ben’s level headed fiancée Samantha, and some interesting cameos from Canadian rockers Gord Downey and Emm Gryner, but it is Jackson who surprises.
The former Dawson’s Creek star—and ex of Katie Holmes—hands in an unexpectedly interesting performance. As Ben he’s a conflicted guy, pulled between taking the safe route—giving up his dream of being a writer, settling down to a quiet suburban life with Samantha and accepting his fate—or pushing the envelope by breaking free and embarking on a physical and personal journey, if only until his illness forces him to return home.
It’s that push and pull that either makes Ben the most selfish guy in the movies this year or someone determined to go out in a blaze of glory. Jackson’s performance and the film leaves that determination up to the viewer, but it is the actor’s work that gives the movie steam and purpose. He’s likeable but there’s more to the performance than charm. Jackson gets under Ben’s skin, bringing realism to a character that sometimes does unreal things. This grounding keeps the film from going off the rails in some of its stranger moments.
One Week has been called a “love letter to Canada,” and it is from its unabashedly Canadian setting to its strictly CanCon references—I doubt “roll up the rim to win” has much resonance for anyone outside the purview of Stats Canada—but its heartfelt story is universal and timeless enough to appeal to anyone whether they have the Queen on their money or not.
