|
Solice Kirsk posted:I have no idea what they'll have left to tell for a season 4. I'm expecting Kyler I think his name was? (The bully dude from S1) to wind up under Kreese's wing and come out as the new CK bad guy looking for payback. I binged through the first 2 seasons and agree with everyone else. S1 was better than S2 but the whole thing is strangely addictive and somehow avoids being so corny it's stupid with the way it leans into its 80's cheesiness and its use of humor. I thought the CK kids turning on Johnny was a hard sell too but I bought it once I remembered how they felt betrayed by Johnny softening his stance that they see as leading Miguel to get hosed up. William Zabka really carries this show. I don't know what kind of range he has but he's really good here and I hope he picks up more work. I don't have much more to add since most everything has been said other than I was getting really weird uncanny valley vibes looking at the actor who played Kreese. God, his freaky plastic surgery/botox face looked loving weird to me.
|
#
¿
Oct 9, 2020 13:54
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 12, 2024 10:10 |
|
|
I really kinda hope they don't go to Okinawa and start bringing in elements of KK3 and go too far and mystical with this thing. I love the cheesy 80's aesthetic we've got going here and, more to the point, just how well it's walked the line between over the top silliness and believability. We start going too far down the road of the shittier films (and let's face it, the first one is the only one worth a poo poo) we're gonna get into Rocky 4 and 5 territory real quick and I think the show will suffer for it by tipping too far into corniness. Creed 1 and 2 pulled it off but...I dunno. I don't want the entire balance of what it means To Karate hanging on the edge of Miyagi's ancestory and a bunch of ancient family grudges, with some bad guy from a movie nobody really saw, combined with a bunch of high school kids in the California suburbs carrying out the grudges of the so called adults. At least not on that scale anyway. Aside from Zabka's performance here (and several of the kids') along with some pretty sharp writing that looks at what it means to mature and age while always learning how to better yourself, this show could very easily have been (or become) incredibly stupid and laughably bad. It's not. I've really enjoyed it and so far it has expertly managed to walk that tight rope but the root element that makes it really click is simple; which is exploring toxic masculinity, aging and bullying for the most part. You get too goofy with that and add too much cheese then I think it's going to nosedive hard, Dexter style. Just expand on the characters and the setting we already have. I can live without the magic drum and Johnny and Daniel opening a new loving bonsai store or some poo poo. We don't need another villain either now that we have Kreese and half the CK have turned on Johnny. Work Ally in, of course, somehow - even if Shue doesn't opt in. If you can't get her, have the character be sick, make her go into "why the gently caress are you loving texting me so much? Now Daniel is texting me too? JFC!!?" territory and maybe have Daniel's wife get a bug up her rear end about it. If Shue is out just use her FB presence to point out how childish they're both still being and make her all "really?? Get a life." sort of thing. Regardless, the table is pretty well set with the characters we have and there's still a lot you can do with them and what's already been established without delving into "so bad it's good" territory. poo poo...that was long. TL/DR: No Okinawa Karate Kid 3 poo poo please.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 24, 2020 22:57
|
|
|
Tank Abbott is a loving rear end in a top hat
|
|
#
¿
Nov 8, 2020 19:02
|
|
|
Lurdiak posted:I just started watching this and I have a very important question: does this show ever stop being about Danny's terribly-written daughter and general high school drama because I desperately want to skip every scene with that poo poo to get back to the middle aged men and their karate. Not really, no. But that's odd because I saw it more as Johnny's redemptive arc and square peg 80's guy on the comeback trail than I did the kids so much. To me, he was the central character and basically becomes a hero to a large extent. The daughter comes in to her own a bit more in later episodes but if you're expecting the HS stuff to just go away you might want to bail on it. The show is sort of about how toxic masculinity, bullying and bad parenting directly effect the teenage kids so high school is rather central. If you're just starting out, general consensus is that S2 isn't as good as S1 so if you're early in on it and don't like it so far you might want to check out. You do you but I was seriously addicted to this thing once I dove in and couldn't stop watching it. "what time is it? 11:00? I can do one more episode." I didn't have any problems with the daughter character or any of the HS poo poo.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 26, 2020 17:14
|
|
|
Lurdiak posted:I understand what they're going for thematically, but the character writing and the plot beats involving the teens are so "I've seen this before". The thing with the daughter's former friend getting a viral video made of her at the school dance feels like it could've been in degrassi in 2008. Plus her friends are such obvious shitheads that I'm siding with the dad as he tries to control her life, which I'm pretty sure is not what the show wants me to feel. I'm probably supposed to side with the bizarrely permissive mom instead who seems to think anything short of immolating a hobo is just normal teen behavior. Not necessarily. With a few exceptions, I found the lines are a little blurred about who's a good guy or a bad guy and most of the characters are flawed yet relatable and for various easily understandable reasons. I've read plenty of opinions that diss both the permissive mom as well as Daniel. There's only one or two just flat out unambiguous motherfuckers and several characters are shown changing throughout, for better and for worse, over the course of the show. I guess you could say some of them are one dimensional but I didn't really see it that way for the most part.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 26, 2020 17:31
|
|
|
Xealot posted:The high school plot for this show is honestly one evil fighting tournament away from being an SNK fighting game. Like, if next season involves Hawk succumbing to the Riot of the Blood, and Diego must defeat him before he summons the banished spirit of Orochi, it would only feel like a little bit of an escalation. The most obvious move they can make is to bring back Kyler into the bad guy Kreese dojo and I hope they don't but have a strong feeling they will. Feeling it in my gut that S3 is gonna lean way too hard into extra cheese and upset the delicate balance the show managed to mostly straddle so far and that poo poo's about to get really loving stupid; mystical healing BS and a bunch of Japanese mysticism made into white guy bullshit combined with characters from movies nobody much gave a poo poo about. Daniel's gonna heal Miguel's leg with that hand warmer bullshit or whatever. Karate sponsored field trips to Okinawa for all the students and new grudges and what not. I dunno. Maybe I'm cynical. It was a fun show for 2 seasons and far FAR exceeded my expectations but I think we're about to get into stupid town and, if I'm being completely honest, I think the low expectations are a big reason why the show resonated so well to even start with. The sweet spot they've managed to hit between over the top, goofy, nostalgic and poignant was a narrow needle to thread to begin with and is starting to feel really delicate looking at that preview but maybe they'll surprise me again.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 18, 2020 00:12
|
|
|
Rhyno posted:Getting typecast as a high school bully and not being able to shake it for 30+ years must be awful. He's got major chops and should have been a bigger star. Sand Monster posted:It's been said before, but I hope William Zabka starts getting additional roles sometime soon, perhaps with the increased exposure from the Netflix era of the show. Dawgstar posted:Now, now, he also played a college bully. In other words, you're right. Yeah, he's really loving good and even in this show demonstrates a lot of range within a relatively narrow defined character. I could easily picture him playing, say, a cop on The Wire, a crazy drunk uncle type in a Judd Apatow movie or something like a high school football coach in some Friday Night Lights sort of poo poo. What an odd niche for someone to find themselves typecast like he did. His performance in this show so far has been phenomenal though and displayed really impressive depth that I honestly hope opens some doors for him because I can honestly see him pulling off several types of characters. I think he's far better than Macchio.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 29, 2020 01:09
|
|
|
AV Club liked S3 https://tv.avclub.com/cobra-kai-karate-chops-its-way-back-to-broad-dumb-fun-1845923404 And also has an interview with Macchio and Zabka https://tv.avclub.com/ralph-macchio-and-william-zabka-on-cobra-kai-season-3-a-1845954060
|
|
#
¿
Dec 29, 2020 12:59
|
|
|
C-Euro posted:My wife is watching Season 3 while I'm puttering around in the background, and is the mohawk kid supposed to be at all sympathetic? He feels like something straight out of the evil track of a '00s Bioware game. He was the picked on nerd kid from S1 and became an rear end in a top hat once he learned how to fight.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 1, 2021 22:43
|
|
|
sticklefifer posted:My main issue is the tonal whiplash. The first season was far more in line with the small, grounded story of the 1st movie. Seasons 2 and 3 try to keep that while also leaning hard into over the top goofy cheese of Fantasy California Karate World, and now it's hard to tell when the show is taking itself seriously. It's like they're trying to hit the funny/serious balance of Scrubs, except all of JD's imaginary cutaway gags are real and presented with a straight face. It's hard to buy emotional character moments when Cobra Kai breaks into people's houses and assaults them with weapons, and the actual solution everyone's on board with is "Let's settle this... with A KARATE TOURNAMENT!" If that was a plot with season 1's tone, the next season would be 100% courtroom drama. But where season 1 had a quick gag about ditching Miyagi's mystical healing massage in favor of a medic, the current tone might as well have Daniel teach it to all his students as a legit magic healing power. I'd be all for that kind of stupid, except that the show so often acts like it's not that kind of stupid. I haven't seen S3 yet but plan to shortly. I disagree with most of what you posted though. I think the charm of the show and what makes it work so well is just how masterful they are at leaning into the cheese, balancing the goofball poo poo and how well they really straddle the corniness. Its like pulling off a massive Tony Hawk PS combo and still landing that bitch somehow. I give the show a wide berth since I think that deep down it's not really trying to be heavy and serious for the most part and, like others have said, it has no business being as good as it is. It's really stupid and over the top, like you said, but drat if it doesn't dance that idiotic 80's dance quite masterfully. Its one of the most addictive TV shows I've watched in quite some time, which is saying a lot for a show built around a movie about a kid learning to fight back against bullies. Or basically "Rocky" with a skinny kid. None of this poo poo SHOULD work at all but somehow it does.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 2, 2021 23:09
|
|
|
veni veni veni posted:The mohawk kid has to be one of the worst actors I've ever seen. He's...fine?  I mean...at this stage, sure, he's a little one dimensional without much to work with but I'm not seeing anything more lacking or cartoonish in his performance that stands above anyone else and I've seen far, FAR worse actors in my life. To me he just seems like a dude cast as a heavy in a cheesy 80's homage about a series of cheesy karate movies that's intentionally made to be cheesy. ... 4 episodes in so far and loving it. I'm having a hard time coming up with anything similar that straddled the line so well between parody, self deprecation, homage and complete straight faced seriousness that deals in something so ridiculous. So hats of to the writers and the directors. This show has absolutely zero business being this loving good and so much fun when everything about it should be met with a giant eye roll so big that the eyelids make noise. It's SO loving corny but somehow it works. I still think Zabka carries the series and, again, I really really hope this lets him branch off and find more meaningful roles. I could see Tarantino using him.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 3, 2021 21:09
|
|
|
Halloween Jack posted:Edit: Johnny's name is still on the lease and the business license, for all I know. I don't think so (?)
|
|
#
¿
Jan 4, 2021 17:37
|
|
|
That's not Jaden Smith
|
|
#
¿
Jan 4, 2021 20:18
|
|
|
Narcissus1916 posted:way better than it has any right to be. Thread title
|
|
#
¿
Jan 6, 2021 19:28
|
|
|
Finished S3 and I think it's my least favorite so far. I'm not sure, but it seems like each season tips too far into the cheesy element and doesn't straddle the fence as well as S1 did. But that could just be the diminishing returns on my expectations, which were ground level when I first heard about this show. It just seemed like the over the top poo poo went really over the top this time. It still had its moments but my eye-roll-o-meter was registering really high. I'll list examples at some point when I have more time to effort post The ending felt really abrupt as well. Prediction: Johnny's selfie with Ally is gonna be his undoing since he doesn't know how to erase poo poo from his phone and FB. Carmen is gonna find that photo. Are we still doing spoilers?
|
|
#
¿
Jan 11, 2021 23:30
|
|
|
Gaius Marius posted:If she breaks with him cause he took a selfie with a girl he dated twenty years ago, then johnny dodged a loving bullet. Wasn't he like kissing her in one shot though? Plus if I remember right he blew her off to go on the date and also didn't tell her about it. Speaking of which, where was Miguel the night Carm spent the night with Johnny? Wouldn't he wonder where his mom was?
|
|
#
¿
Jan 12, 2021 00:19
|
|
|
^^^I agree with most of that^^^ I've rolled my eyes a lot during this series but usually had a smile on my face when I did it and I like the show. S3 almost gave me eye blisters though. The vietnam flashbacks and the snake pit (get it? KOBRA Kai!) The kids breaking into the zoo to steal a snake The landlord backing down from Kreese instead of just calling the cops Miguel's recovery from crippled to kicking rear end in about 2 weeks (?) Chozen coming on real heavy and ominous for some reason at first before revealing the magic pressure point Miyagi scrolls after making besties with Daniel and also what's her name in Okinawa just happening to be there, run into Daniel and just happening to have a friend at the auto company Another karate riot (several actually), this time one at Daniel's house where I'm sure they have security cameras. And cameras at the loving zoo. I'm sure the bright red mowhawk kid would be real hard to ID. Do any of these kid's parents have issues with their kids coming home from KK with their faces all busted up? It's LA but Daniel and Johnny always wind up in the same places at the same time all the time. In fact, everybody just happens to show up certain places at just the right time to create drama. Robbie at Miyagi Do JUST when Sam and Miguel are embracing for example. The 180 at the city council meeting due to all the "inspired speeches". In season 1 that would have ended with the council smiling, a music swell, close ups and then them saying "No. gently caress your tournament. Motion denied" I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff. Some of this poo poo though, seriously, just call the loving cops. We have assault and battery, breaking and entering, trespassing, endangering an animal, burglary, assault with a weapon and a cobra left in a car at a god damned auto dealership (which also has cameras I'd imagine). I like the goofy cheesy poo poo on this show but...we seem to have peaked.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 12, 2021 17:15
|
|
|
Xealot posted:Honestly, yeah. "Your high school girlfriend who you haven't seen in 30 years and who lives in Colorado saw you when she was briefly in town?! It's over! He didn't tell her about it and IIRC he blew her off to go see Ally instead. I've dated women who would call me out on something like that. I was married to one who would have. Plus the pics that are gonna wind up on FB show them kissing,being romantic and very much on a date type of thing. Could be I'm just projecting my bad experiences onto the character though. My ex was insanely jealous to the point that I avoided FB altogether since I knew there's be ex girlfriends on there.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 12, 2021 23:25
|
|
|
Narcissus1916 posted:
IIRC, the actor and the writers had some sort of back and forth falling out.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 13, 2021 22:07
|
|
|
Who really gives a poo poo about the cars? Near as I can tell the only thing you need to know is that there are rival dealerships and a manufacturer in Japan that needed squaring away. Fictitious brands or whatever don't really have any affect on the story.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 18, 2021 19:51
|
|
|
Solaris 2.0 posted:The fight scene with Kreese was pretty cringy because the actor's age really shows. Same. But to me it mostly showed in his face. I get serious uncanny valley plastic surgery vibes looking at my man's mug. He looks like early stage de-aging software took a run at him and he creeps me out. If I can buy Mr. Miyagi kicking rear end I can suspend disbelief enough to accept Kreese doing it and he does come off strong at least. Unrelated to anything, not sure if anyone here is a fan of the We Hate Movies podcast but in honor of the Kobra Kai show I went back and listened to their Karate Kid and Karate Kid 3 episodes and they're pretty great. If anyone's interested, look it up or I can post a link. They also did a riff on the Karate Kid cartoon series, which I never knew existed. BiggerBoat fucked around with this message at 00:03 on Jan 21, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Jan 20, 2021 23:59
|
|
|
This show's got some loving legs man. Last October I saw more than one Halloween costume and today my 4th grader told me how all these kids at school are into this show called Kobra Kai.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 26, 2021 22:01
|
|
|
GimpInBlack posted:Kobra Kai Karate, you say? Sounds like a terrible idea to me. Right. Along those lines, I don't think enough love is being given to the fact that Johnny brainstormed for days trying to come up with a new ultimate bad rear end name for his rival dojo and arrived at "Eagle Fang"
|
|
#
¿
Jan 28, 2021 15:35
|
|
|
Show is spilling out into real life https://i.imgur.com/PnrbxLw.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Jan 30, 2021 01:39
|
|
|
Found this on Snopes of all places and didn't see it posted here but they've transcribed Johhny's ALL CAPS FACEBOOK MESSAGE to Ally from S3. I'm gonna leave it in its original formatting. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cobra-kai-facebook-message/ "Johhny Lawrence, Founder, Eagle Fang Karate posted:AND THEN IN 1992, IRON EAGLE 3 CAME OUT. YOU KNOW WHAT? I DON’T CARE WHAT THE CRITICS SAY, I THOUGHT IT WAS PRETTY GOOD. NOT AS GOOD AS IRON EAGLE 1 AND IRON EAGLE 2, BUT HEY, WHAT MOVIE IS? I THINK WAYNE’S WORLD WAS THAT YEAR TOO. THAT ONE WAS OKAY. THOSE NERDS HAD GREAT TASTE IN MUSIC, AND THE CHICK WAS HOT. WHAT WAS SHE DOING WITH HIM? HOW COME THE HOT CHICKS GO FOR THE LOSERS IN THESE MOVIES? ANYWAY, OTHER THAN THAT 1992 WAS A PRETTY QUIET YEAR. GOT FIRED AGAIN, BUT WHAT THE HELL DO THEY KNOW. I DIDN’T LIKE CONSTRUCTION ANYWAY. THEY ALL SPEAK SPANISH AND I’M PRETTY SURE THEY WERE MAKING FUN OF ME SOMETIMES. DO YOU KNOW WHAT A “GRINGO” IS? I STARTED LEARNING A LITTLE BIT OF SPANISH FROM MIGUEL AND HIS FAMILY. I KNOW “HOLA”, “PLANTAIN”, “TACO” AND “DINERO.” PRETTY GOOD, HUH? WHERE WAS I? OH, RIGHT, 1993. THERE WAS THAT DINOSAUR MOVIE. PRETTY GOOD FOR THE NINETIES. I MEAN, NOT ANYWHERE NEAR WHAT WE HAD BACK IN THE DAY. REMEMBER PREDATOR? THAT MOVIE WAS BADASS! THIS DINOSAUR THING WAS PRETTY COOL BUT TOO MUCH SCIENCEY STUFF FOR ME. I GUESS YOU PROBABLY LIKED THAT THOUGH, RIGHT? I MEAN, YOU’RE A DOCTOR NOW. I COULD NEVER BE A DOCTOR. NOT AFTER THAT INCIDENT AT COMMUNITY COLLEGE (I TALKED ABOUT THAT A COUPLE PARAGRAPHS AGO, DOES FACEBOOK LET YOU GO BACK AND REREAD?) STILL THINK THEY OVERREACTED. ALL THE GREAT SCIENTISTS SET THINGS ON FIRE, RIGHT? LIKE EINSTEIN OR WHOEVER. ANYWAY, 1993. DUTCH GOT ARRESTED. THAT ONE WAS PRETTY STUPID. I WAS DRUNK FOR MOST OF IT, BUT I’M PRETTY SURE HE HOTWIRED A GOLF CART FROM THE COUNTRY CLUB. I LOOKED UP FROM THE BAR AND DUTCH IS DRIVING THIS THING AT HIGH SPEED, OR I GUESS AS HIGH AS SOMETHING LIKE THAT CAN GO, AND CRASHES IT INTO THE POOL! THEY HAD TO BRING A CRANE IN TO GET IT OUT. HE DID SOME TIME BUT IT WAS WORTH IT! ANYWAY, I DON’T THINK I’VE BEEN BACK TO THE COUNTRY CLUB SINCE THEN. SID WON’T LET THEM BAN ME BUT THOSE GUYS ARE ALL UPTIGHT, AND THEY ONLY SERVE FOREIGN BEER. IT’S OFFENSIVE. WE WON TWO WORLD WARS DRINKING AMERICAN BEER. WHAT THE HELL HAS BELGIUM EVER DONE EXCEPT GET INVADED? WHO WANTS TO DRINK THAT poo poo? I THINK I GOT OFF TOPIC AGAIN. LET’S GET BACK TO THE MID-NINETIES. 1994 WAS A SLOW YEAR. THE NINETIES SUCKED. MAN, YOU TURNED ON THE RADIO AND IT WAS JUST CRAP. WHO WRITES A SONG ABOUT BEING A LOSER? AND ALL THOSE GRUNGEY TYPES WITH THE FLANNEL. LET ME TELL YOU MUSIC IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT BEING BADASS AND AWESOME, NOT ABOUT WANTING TO KILL YOURSELF. THAT poo poo CAN’T BE GOOD FOR KIDS TO HEAR, RIGHT? LOOK AT ME, WORRYING ABOUT WHAT THE KIDS ARE HEARING. I GUESS BEING A PARENT CHANGES YOU. NOT THAT I’M ALL THAT GREAT OF A PARENT. WELL, MIGUEL SEEMS TO LIKE ME OKAY. ROBBY DOESN’T, I MESSED THAT ONE UP PRETTY GOOD. CAN’T EVEN GET THE KID TO TALK TO ME ANYMORE. HE’S STUCK IN THERE FOR A FEW MORE MONTHS, AND HE’S GOT NOBODY. HE WON’T TAKE MY CALLS. I HOPE HIS MOM IS TALKING TO HIM AT LEAST. I THINK IT MIGHT BE TOO LATE FOR ME AND HIM. I MESSED UP TOO MANY TIMES. NOT THAT I’M A TOTAL SCREW UP. I’VE DONE SOME GOOD STUFF TOO! WHICH BRINGS ME TO 1995 AND HOW I MADE TWO GRAND BETTING ON THE OJ TRIAL.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 5, 2021 17:20
|
|
|
ruddiger posted:This first and last sentences are incredible. The whole thing is a work of art but the lack of any real typos takes it down a notch.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 5, 2021 18:46
|
|
|
Guy A. Person posted:I honestly think it's better this way, he's not typing in all caps (only) because he is dumb or rushing through in stream of consciousness mode. He is trying really hard with this letter he just doesn't realize that typing in all caps and recounting your life one year at a time is a faux pas. So he's dumb in a more subtle way than "he can't spell". That's a good point. I could have used maybe one "I should of done this" or "I would of done that" Or maybe I mean to say "I could of used" one of those things. Also, I forgot but I think it was a PM and not a post which makes it even better.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 5, 2021 22:38
|
|
|
First review I've seen https://www.avclub.com/cobra-kai-s-new-season-is-another-winning-combo-of-sill-1848258734 Seems like if you like it so far that you'll like this season reminds me I need to get an Eagle Fang tshirt
|
|
#
¿
Dec 29, 2021 12:26
|
|
|
Finished it up and it was good for the most part. I'll give it this, the show is addictive as hell. I know the show's key to success is straddling the delicate balance of cheese, drama, believable rivalries and cartoon violence but I think that overall this season leaned just a little bit too hard into the cheesy factor. It kind of made up for it by leaning so hard into it like previous seasons did but also by subverting my expectations: Cobra Kai winning I totally thought that Daniel was gonna do the Miyagi "rub the palms together" thing to heal Miguel. Or later on Sam. Or Hawk. Several times I expected a crane kick Predicted a big brawl at the prom but they did it at the after party instead and it was only a 2 on 2 I thought that Robbie and Tori would gently caress up the sports car somehow - driving drunk or something - and would face retribution or be indebted to Terry Silver Only one I remember really getting right was the tie between Johnny and Daniel. Shades of Rocky 2. But too often I thought it went a little over the top, even for this show. BiggerBoat fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Jan 2, 2022 |
|
#
¿
Jan 2, 2022 18:51
|
|
|
The Bee posted:Honestly, I felt like this was a little less over the top than the seasons where you literally had public karate riots breaking out. When I get a minute, I'll cite a few examples that stood out to me, which seemed mostly front loaded and felt like they leveled off as it got going. Could just be I'm getting slightly burned out on the formula though. Flesnolk posted:I actually thought this was pretty predictable, going in I felt like if Cobra Kai loses, the story kinda just abruptly ends, and they wouldn't waste their time building up Terry so much to just have Cobra Kai fizzle out. And the blow would be softened by giving Miyagi-do or Eagle Fang one of the trophies, just not making enough points to win the whole thing, so there could be this "technically we didn't lose" thing or whatever. Miguel getting hurt I didn't call (I hated that, thought it was a weak attempt at a swerve, especially when he turned out to just have a pulled muscle; also I felt like Eli deserved a clean win over him, and that would've been a better twist than fakeout injury+Miguel decides to quit) but it was pretty clear which two people would win the trophies, especially once Announcer Guy tipped the hand by announcing "Cobra Kai only needs to win once to be grand champions" That makes sense, especially that last part but I felt like no matter who won the tournament, there were several different ways to keep it going. One team cheated (I was honestly expecting a callback to the illegal kick crane kick only a DQ this time), the bribery thing that we actually got, one of the Karate Council members cutting deal Cobra Kai just saying "Well, gently caress that. WE aint gonna leave town" or some technicality poo poo where the loser just simply starts a new dojo under a different name and brings in a front. I knew we weren't going to get a final resolution knowing that S5 is in the can but I was honestly surprised when the Cobras won I just found myself constantly making calls and predictions that fit into the lore but never came and was happy to be wrong. Also, regarding that last sentence you posted (bolded), that remains the most hilarious element of this entire show. This huge Southern California High School Karate Industry where the stakes are so high a, bordering on world domination, and the results make the sports page. This show has absolutely no business whatsoever being as good (or even as palatable) as it is. It's hammy, cheesy, over the top, goofy as hell and still overly serious but somehow straddles all that poo poo. It's kind of a miracle. I said it before but I really hope that William Zabka gets some more diverse and serious roles out of this because I think he's great on this show and I suspect he has range. BiggerBoat fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Jan 2, 2022 |
|
#
¿
Jan 2, 2022 21:07
|
|
|
Dawgstar posted:They sort of explain that likening to how karate in the 80's in the Valley was like football in Texas and it's just like that again now. It's fine. Karate is the source of and solution to the series' problems. Also that whole Miyagi child labor racket is pretty sweet.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 2, 2022 21:43
|
|
|
Golden Bee posted:
This is the correct reaction for him to have I think. Adnor posted:How the hell is a sequel to the Karate Kid franchise so good? Agreed. It's bizarre and genuinely impressive and I still don't know how they pulled it off myself, especially over 4 seasons. In addition to the writers solidly having each foot firmly planted into the serious vs. the cheesy, I also think having some good actors helped a lot as well. Honestly been trying to think of a parallel and only thing I can come up with is Creed 1 and Creed 2 but those were movies. I can't think of another film like Karate Kid (also there were 4 of them) that could be turned into a consistently good and successful TV series like this. It'd be like if Netflix green lit a Footloose or Top Gun series or some poo poo and somehow it all worked out. Reminds me a little bit of some of the success that movies like Starsky & Hutch and 21 Jump Street managed only in reverse (tv show to film) and, again, those were kind of one shots and full on parodies. What other cheese-tacular movie series of similar quality could sustain a really good 5 season episodic TV show adaptation like this? I guess you'd need teenage protagonists to start with. Totally drawing a blank.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 3, 2022 19:23
|
|
|
Golden Bee posted:They weren’t rebuked! It’s interesting that stingray took the most verbal abuse of any fighter this season. He tried descalating repeatedly. Then he encountered one of the people from the karate kid universe, ‘the guy who pushes you until you beat their rear end’. Well, I mean, he was "popular with the kids" because he was old enough to buy booze, hosted a rager and then kicked some uptight neighbor's rear end in front of a crowd. No one was standing up for him when he did his "well actually" poo poo at the Cobra Kai dojo and he was still the "creepy older guy hanging out with high school seniors" until he provided a safe space them to gently caress and drink booze. I didn't see any of the kids visiting him in the ICU I was honestly expecting him to flip to Miyagi Do or, more likely, Eagle Fang and be a player in the tournament somehow. He didn't really knock anything out of the park and got his rear end savagely whipped for his troubles, lying in traction, lying to the cops and setting up a redemption arc for S5 but I kind of dug the reveal we got just to add another layer of Karate Soap Opera to this thing. I wonder why the Stingray and Alsha disappeared like that and instead they brought in so many new characters. Did the actors not want to do it or were they written out? Seems to me you could do more with less by just keeping them both around and changing their motivation(s) rather than introducing Kenny and the two women characters whose names I sadly can't even remember. They needed a strong fighting female supporting character for the Eagle Fang arc and already had one that people liked. I guess they wanted Kenny because they needed a new bully target and wanted to give Larusso Jr. something more interesting to don but Alsha was right there for Johnny. SOme kid in the dojo just needs to be all "Hey...I know someone..." poo poo...sorry. That was longer than I expected it to be. This loving show, man. BiggerBoat fucked around with this message at 00:11 on Jan 4, 2022 |
|
#
¿
Jan 4, 2022 00:09
|
|
|
Golden Bee posted:She was in first position for a smokey and the bandit reboot What?
|
|
#
¿
Jan 4, 2022 02:01
|
|
|
Golden Bee posted:She was in first position for a smokey and the bandit reboot BiggerBoat posted:What? lumpentroll posted:oh the gofundme was for her car I'm still confused. Was there a black Trans-Am that she demanded in her new contract?
|
|
#
¿
Jan 4, 2022 02:27
|
|
|
I fell for the stripper fake out too and just assumed Tory was 18 or close enough for a skeevy strip club owner at least. I couldn't imagine anything else she'd be doing in that make up room and was happy it was a Chuck E Cheese thing. Another example of the show defying my predictions. I thought of another one since I was sure that Demitri's girlfriend was running a con on him somehow and made up the trip to wherever she went and would double cross or cheat on him with Hawk but nope. She honestly digs him. Demitri is hungAlchenar posted:I just started watching this by chance while clearing up after my NYE party and I love it. The goofy soap-opera/sunday morning cartoon styling despite the presitge tv format means that it has an earnestness to it that's appealing. Have you seen any of the movies? Show is very addictive and the 1/2 hour format combined with the cliff hangers really adds to it. I bet you're back in the thread giving our review for the whole series by the time I finish this post. It's loving crazy how well it all works because on paper it's a disaster. I know the writers (deservedly) get a ton of credit for pulling this show off but I think a lot of heavy lifting is done by the actors too. I have a hang up about lovely acting and never really run across it here - at least any examples that just totally take me out of the show - and I've said it before but Zabka is a real standout and needs to get some more high profile movie roles. I could see Tarantino, the Coens of someone like Paul Thomas Anderson putting him to good use. I'd like to see what he could do in something like True Detective, Deadwood, The Wire or Six Feet Under where he can break out of his typecast and the show the range I suspect he might have. I mean, even though he's playing the same Johhny Lawrence character from the movies, the performances in those films compared to this show are totally different but still tonally consistent. What I'm saying is I'm gay for William Zabka and want to party with him at a Twisted Sister concert. BiggerBoat fucked around with this message at 23:21 on Jan 4, 2022 |
|
#
¿
Jan 4, 2022 23:19
|
|
|
Jose Oquendo posted:I don't know if he ever talked about it but I am curious what happened to him as the 80's ended. He did Karate Kid and Back to School, which were his two most well known movie roles. He had a reoccurring character on The Equalizer and then just a pile of poo poo movies and guest bits on TV shows. I forgot he was in Back to School but yeah. He just disappeared. Even within the confines of this show he displays some impressive range with what could easily just be a one dimensional character.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 5, 2022 00:15
|
|
|
Golden Bee posted:If she was in a strip club, the only person she would run into is season one Johnny. Stingray?
|
|
#
¿
Jan 5, 2022 12:39
|
|
|
Seriously. Stingray is a 2012 goon who posts in YCS, talks about katanas and maybe dabbles in TFR here and there. Likely big into WoW with strong opinions about anime and craft beer. Probably was a LF superstar back in the day carrying the Libertarian torch.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 5, 2022 19:27
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 12, 2024 10:10 |
|
|
Halloween Jack posted:With a name like that, it's only a matter of time before he seizes Nakatomi Plaza. You mis-spelled "pizza"
|
|
#
¿
Jan 5, 2022 21:04
|
|