Kung Fu

The original "Kung Fu" TV series was about morality. Yes, the fight scenes were fun and brought something new to Western audiences that amazed us all, but at the heart of the series was a map for how to live a moral life; how to connect with all things.

This series is a disgrace to the "Kung Fu" name. It is written for a young audience and it appears to center around a sword with magical powers (Holy Green Destiny, Batman) and only its rightful owner can hold it (shades of Thor's hammer).

The first episode hints at magical powers to come, and it implies that the charismatic young heroine has developed amazing kung-fu skills in three short years at a monastery. At least in the original series, Caine grew up learning kung-fu and the ways of their Taoist. Zen philosophy.

Apparently the producers of this new series believe young people are not interested in thinking deeply. The plot is as thin as a bad kung-fu movie where the plot centers around, "You killed my teacher!" And of course, they threw in a Tong war. So far, there is no hint of the series that might have been -- a wise and skilled young woman coming back home and helping people not only with her fists of fury, but also helping teach them to accept others and live a more balanced life. As a result, the producers have ripped the heart out of the "Kung Fu" series and shown it to us, beating in their hands, before the series dies.

Kung Fu and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues were interesting primarily because there was this one outsider, Cain, with a strong moral code about being kind to others, but who didn't really understand the world around him especially well. Cain would always zero in on some simple truth or flaw that lied at the heart of the episode's conflict, and explain what this was with an outsider's wisdom.

In this version, the new Cain, Nicky, is not an outsider at all. In the first episode, she returns to her childhood home to live with her large family and catch up with her friends. There is no real reason her perspective should be much different to that of the others, and it really isn't in any significant way. She's just a woman who fights well, occasionally with mild superpowers like in the original. The end result is something that's barely different to any other procedural with some mystical MacGuffins thrown in, and it's so very dull.

Nowhere near the original story line. Too much into relationships and a very loose artefact trail.

The first episode was promising but after that it went down hill. It's not a good action series.

After watching the pilot, I must say I had higher hopes. This is aimed at a young audience, more pre-teen than young adult, but for that genre, it's a decent watch. I had hoped it would be a contemporary spin on the original series, but, then again, I was a young teen when I was a fan of it, so maybe it is the same audience. The plot is simplistic, the fights are engaging, it will appeal to young Asian viewers, and, despite the dumbing down of some of the dialogue, I'm going to give it a passing grade. I give this series a 6 (fair) out of 10. {Action Adventure}