The Martial Arts Kid

Well, I have to say that I wasn't really harboring much of any expectations to this 2015 movie "The Martial Arts Kid", as I happened to stumble upon it here in 2023. In fact, I had never actually heard about the movie prior to getting the chance to watch it. And with it being a movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to watch it.

I have to be honest that I was figuring "The Martial Arts Kid" to be a knock-off of the 1984 movie "Karate Kid". And it definitely is in the same league as "Karate Kid" no doubt about it, and yeah it is heavily influenced by it, I would say. And there was even a nice nod towards the 'wax on, wax off' sequence in "Karate Kid" as well, which brought me to laughing.

The storyline in "The Martial Arts Kid", as written by writers Michael Baumgarten and Adam W. Marsh, is pretty straight forward, which makes for an easy viewing experience. This wasn't exactly rocket science, nor was I expecting it to be. The storyline is straight forward, but rather similar to the 1984 movie "Karate Kid".

The acting performances in the movie were for the majority adequate. There were some rather toe-curling performances throughout the course of the movie. But I will say that most of the cast did perform well enough. The movie has Don Wilson and Cynthia Rothrock on the cast list, so there is something for us that grew up watching martial arts movies in the 1980s and 1990s.

With "The Martial Arts Kid" being a martial arts movie, of course you will have lots of martial arts fight scenes, duh. And most of these scenes and sequences were actually nicely performed and looked good on the screen. But then there was that cringeworthy fight scene between the two dojos. Ugh, that was just painful to watch.

All in all, then director Michael Baumgarten delivered a watchable enough movie, though it is lacking in originality. If you enjoy martial arts movies, especially those from the 1980s and 1990s, then give "The Martial Arts Kid" a chance.

My rating of "The Martial Arts Kid" lands on a five out of ten stars.

I've been a fan of Don "The Dragon" Wilson and Cynthia Rothrock for a long time and when I heard about this film, I was quite excited. They were perfectly cast as Glen and Cindy, a couple who take in troubled nephew Robbie and soon become his mentors in the martial arts when he is bullied.

The film does convey its anti-bullying message, but in a way, the film also changes the way people may perceive martial arts as a whole and that is what also stands out between Wilson's Glen and T.J. Storm's Coach Kaine. Their differences of opinions as to how martial arts should be conveyed is truly personified not only by them but by Robbie and Kaine's student Bo, who is the one who bullies Robbie.

Jansen Panettiere and Matthew Ziff really break out in the film as they did great jobs in their roles of Robbie and Bo respectively. Plus if you are a martial arts fan, you will see most of the cast is comprised of martial artists with some legends of the field and world champions playing themselves as mentors.

This truly is marketed towards the family and speaking not only as a film fan, but as a parent as well, this is one that is suitable for families and is a break away from your generalization of martial arts films. Definitely worth checking out!

This movie was bad even at made for TV standards. The acting is atrocious, the story line predictable and every single character lacks substance.

This is the most silliness movie ever , acting is very poor and I don't know what were they thinking while filming this nonsense , the only thing that was good is the car *yeah there is a cool car in the movie* apart from that car nothing is worth watching , just some human being with very poor ability to act are jumping and screaming.

Honoring the Past, Embracing the Future Is The Martial Arts Kid a knockdown, drag-out fight flick in which Don "The Dragon" Wilson and Cynthia Rothrock lay waste to gang bangers and drug dealers? Nope. It's more accurate to describe it as a family film in which an ordinary teen discovers the meaning of the martial arts.

However, because I'm a few years past being a teenager, it wasn't the movie's portrayal of the trials and tribulations of teen life in the 21st century that appealed to me most. What I really enjoyed was the way the movie paid homage to the men and women who helped spread the martial arts in America. Both in front of and behind the camera, the stars were out in force.

Wilson and Rothrock may have retired from competition decades ago, but they still can throw down — and they get a few chances to do exactly that. Among other encounters, Wilson takes on martial artist T.J. Storm, and Rothrock dispatches some baddies on the beach. The man who choreographed those close encounters is veteran martial artist, actor and stuntman James Lew, perhaps best known for his work in Big Trouble in Little China.

Another martial arts veteran contributed her expertise to the making of the movie: Cheryl Wheeler served as co-producer. You probably recognize her name. She's a former Black Belt columnist and WKA kickboxing champ who's done stunt work in scores of movies — including fight-doubling for Rene Russo in Lethal Weapon 4, which featured one of my favorite male-on-female fights.

As I mentioned, Wilson and Rothrock are center stage in The Martial Arts Kid, where they're surrogate parents for troubled teen Robbie (Jansen Panettiere). Yes, critics fired a few shots at Wilson and Rothrock's performances in the early years of their acting careers, but their skills have improved substantially. In fact, their scenes with Robbie are among the most engaging parts of the movie.

I also loved the film's nods to history. I'm talking about things like Rothrock's character hailing from Scranton, Pennsylvania, the city where the star actually grew up. And things like the dojo her character co-owns hosting seminars with real martial arts luminaries like Pete "Sugarfoot" Cunningham, Gerry Blanck, Christine Bannon-Rodrigues, Olando Rivera and Jeff Smith. And details like using old competition photos of Rothrock to adorn the walls of said dojo.

The positive messages that run through The Martial Arts Kid make it perfect for youngsters who are in the martial arts, as well as those who should be. But there are plenty of gems that make it fun to watch even if you're a generation removed from that target audience.

— Robert W. Young Editor-in-Chief, Black Belt magazine