The Karate Kid Part II

Mr Miyagi and Daniel travel to Okinawa for a family visit.

This is a fairly enjoyable but inferior sequel with moments to both remember and forget.

The backstory and main plot thread involving Miyagi and Sato is pretty engaging, but the portrayal of Sato is somewhat one-note. In fact he comes across as a bit of a stereotypical ruthless Japanese businessman with penchant for bullying weaker locals like an A-Team baddie. Their situation concludes in a pretty contrived and cheesy way, but I can't help getting caught up in the plight of the characters. Pat Morita is on great form and makes the character equally as lovable as the original.

There is an increased focus on Miyagi and slightly less on Daniel, which was sensible writing as Daniel had nothing further to prove that wouldn't have felt repetitive. That being said he is targeted by a bully again and there is another girl caught in the middle of it. Ralph Macchio does consistently good work and with weak material in some of the love scenes. As in the first movie, his screen chemistry with Morita is excellent.

The production design is excellent, particularly the creation of an Okinawan village, plus the inclusion of the American military presence helps depict Okinawa as a place wedged between the presence of industrial, mainland Japan and a WWII occupation force.

A recent rewatch of this was my first viewing since the film was released and it seemed better when I was 7, possibly due to the simplistic story, exotic location and increase in stakes from the first film. My six year old daughter loved it.