A Spoiler-Free Review of Cobra Kai
I blogged about Cobra Kai, YouTube’s Karate Kid sequel-series back when the first trailer dropped back about a month and a half ago. I conceded that 34 years is an audaciously long time to try to reboot a franchise. And listed a bunch of failures that didn’t wait nearly so long but still couldn’t come anywhere close to recapturing their former glory. Dumb & Dumber To, Anchorman 2, Fuller House. And yet, in spite of my logic, experience and common sense, I could not stop myself from being all geeked up for this thing.
Well I’m two episodes in, and not only has Cobra Kai not let me down, it’s exceeded my wildest, most optimistic expectations. Simply put, so far it’s the best new series to drop since Season 1 of Stranger Things.
I promised you no spoilers and you’ll get no spoilers. Suffice to say every beat of this thing is spot on. Co-executive produced by Ralph Macchio and William Zabka – who was the second most iconic ’80s villain behind only Darth Vader – they cleverly give you the bad guy’s perspective you didn’t get in John G. Avildsen’s 1984 masterstroke. Macchio and Zabka look great. Their performances are perfect. It’s part comedy, part tribute to the original and part satire as adult Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence struggle to relate to kids the same age they were when they fought the All-Valley Tournament. It hits all the right tropes from The Hero’s Journey, a “Save the Cat” moment to a character driving at night to an 80s song while flashbacks of his story arc play out in a montage ala Rocky IV.
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The episodes I watched are on basic YouTube and apparently to keep going you have to subscribe to YouTube Red. The issue isn’t whether you should, it’s how immediately you need to and how many rewatches I’ll give it. Cobra Kai is Certified Fresh on Thornton Tomatoes.