10 Film Franchises You Really Should Stop Watching After The First Movie
5. The Karate Kid
The ultimate underdog story for high schoolers, 1984's The Karate Kid (written by Robert Mark Kamen) launched the film career of Ralph Macchio (Daniel 'Daniel-San' LaRusso) and resurrected the career of Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of the sage-like Kesuke Miyagi.
The film featured a number of scenes and sayings that are now fully-immersed in the pop culture lexicon, like "wax on, wax off" and Daniel-san's epic crane kick, and spawned toys, video games, an animated series and other merchandise. Two years later, a sequel was made that saw Miyagi take Daniel to Japan while attending to some family business.
Karate Kid II received mixed reviews from critics and, outside of its beautifully scenic setting (the film was shot in Oahu, Hawaii), it lacked the charm and inspiration of its predecessor. There's no karate tournament (a highlight of the original movie) but instead the movie built to a serious fight at the end.
1989's Karate Kid III went to the other extreme. It took place a year after the original movie, when Macchio, in his late 20s at this point, reprised the role of teenaged LaRusso, and was once again seeking advice from Mr. Miyagi for another tournament against the evil Cobra Kai karate school. Watching Macchio play a teenager was a cringe-worthy endeavor by itself, not to mention the boring, melodramatic script.
Kamen was reportedly so disgusted by how the movie played out, he refused to involve himself in the fourth movie of the series, 1994's The Next Karate Kid. This movie starred future two-time Oscar-winner Hilary Swank as a female karate pupil under Morita's Miyagi character.
The movie was a commercial and critical flop and, while it was considered a break-out role for Swank, there's nothing to see here unless you want to see the award-winning actress at the onset of her career.