Karate Kid 4 - Die nächste Generation

While I totally objected to this chapter ever being made, at least it had a young Hilary Swank (I seem to be her only male fan). While this film was kind of hokie and predictable, at least it accurately portrayed the horrors of men trying to shop for women. Pat Morita's performance in that scene alone was priceless. While this proved to be nothing more than a spin-off grasping at straws, at least no one completely embarrassed themselves. Also, where the heck was Ralph Macchio! Couldn't he have made a guest appearance. It's not like he had anything to do at the time.

In a few ways this movie isn't too bad, the acting is cheesy but decent enough, the characters are well developed, and good cinematography. But... there is literally no plot, it's just a bunch of random storylines. Not to mention these senior boys look like they're about 30.

Strange, utterly needless sequel has Pat Morita returning one last time as Mr. Miyagi. Set several years after Part III, Daniel is off on his own, leaving Miyagi free to instruct another troubled teenager, this time a woman, played by Hillary Swank, who is the granddaughter of his old commanding officer, who is being terrorized in her school by(you guessed it!) bullying martial arts/military cadet students(led by the dependable Michael Ironside) Plot is utterly predictable and uninspired; Miyagi's story was tied to Daniel's so having him instruct this girl is incongruous; it just didn't involve the viewer. Though not as silly as Part III, this is still not credible either, and marks an unfitting end to a story best left alone.

I thought this movie was going to be a disgrace to the series. After all, part 3 didn't measure up to part 2, and this one doesn't have Daniel Sawn. Miyagi's humour wasn't quite as witty in this one as in part 3, but it was funny enough to make the movie worth watching.

The girl's part was pretty good. She's a lost teenager who needs direction. I find the plot a little hard to believe. That the aunt would simply agree to leave her home and her niece under the care of Mr. Miyagi, a man she just met. Of course, he was a friend of her brother.

I did appreciate the monastery. One might think from some of my other reviews that I wouldn't have liked the dancing monks, but I thought it was amusing. It showed that they know how to have some fun. Now if these were monks in ancient China dancing to pop-music, that would have been another matter.

Probably the most intelligent part of the movie was when the girl thought it was stupid that the monks wouldn't kill a bug. Miyagi told her that street gangs killing each other is stupid, nations trying to destroy each other is stupid, but having respect for all life is not stupid. Miyagi has expressed such wisdom in the other films as well.

I give this movie a 4 out of 10. Sure, there were some things I liked about it. It wasn't as funny as part three, and no character could ever live up to Sato in part 2. This movie has no re-watch value. I can't imagine watching it again, but it is worth seeing once.

"The Next Karate Kid" is not a very impressive film. However, it introduces a young actress named Hilary Swank to the mainstream audience. Amazingly, just five short years after this film Swank would be holding the Oscar for her gender-bending role in "Boys Don't Cry". In this film she takes Macchio's role and does an admirable job even though the material is just not there. 2.5 out of 5 stars.