The Karate Kid 2 (2025)

Here’s a detailed summary of Karate Kid: Legends (2025) (sometimes referred to as “The Karate Kid 2,” though officially its title is Legends):

Plot Summary

1. New Protagonist — Li Fong
   The story centers on Li Fong (played by Ben Wang), a young kung fu prodigy originally from Beijing. After a family tragedy, he moves with his mother to New York City, trying to start fresh and adapt to a very different life.

2. Struggles in New York
   In New York, Li attends a prestigious school. He befriends Mia, the daughter of Victor, a former boxer who now runs a pizzeria. But Li’s calm doesn’t last — he draws unwanted attention from Connor Day, a local karate champion whose dojo has a darker side tied to his family.
   

3. Training Begins
   Feeling the pressure and the threat of violence, Li’s kung fu teacher, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), realizes that kung fu alone may not be enough to help Li face this new challenge. Han brings in Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) — the original Karate Kid — to help train Li, combining Han’s kung fu background with Daniel’s karate expertise.

4. Merging Styles & Internal Conflict
   Throughout his training, Li struggles not only with the physical demands but also with his identity. He needs to reconcile his kung fu roots with the new lessons in karate. This isn’t just about winning a competition — it’s about Li finding his own strength, his place in a new country, and how to defend those he cares about.
   

5. Karate Tournament Showdown
   Li enters a local karate tournament — one with high stakes. With Mr. Han’s and Daniel’s mentorship, he learns to fuse the two fighting styles into something uniquely his own. This becomes the climactic battle where Li’s growth, discipline, and courage are all put to the test.

6. Legacy & Mentorship
   A big theme of the film is mentorship and legacy. Daniel LaRusso is no longer just a student — here, he’s a mentor, passing on the Miyagi-style values he learned from Mr. Miyagi. Meanwhile, Mr. Han represents hard-earned wisdom from his own past. Their guidance helps Li not only in fighting, but in learning what kind of person he wants to be.

7. Ties to the Broader Karate Kid Universe
   The movie is very much a legacy sequel — it connects to previous Karate Kid stories while introducing a fresh chapter.  Daniel’s return bridges the original films to this newer generation story. Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han also reconnects to the 2010 Karate Kid movie, so it’s a melding of different branches of the franchise.
   

8. Emotional Core
   Beyond the fighting, the movie dives into themes like grief, belonging, and self-discovery. Li’s move from Beijing to New York isn’t just physical — it’s emotional. He must overcome internal fears, find community, and gain the confidence to stand up for himself and those he cares about.

9. Reception & Criticism
   Critics have noted that while the film leans heavily on nostalgia — bringing back Macchio and Chan — it sometimes feels crowded with legacy characters and references. The pacing is brisk (the runtime is about 94 minutes), which some feel doesn’t give every subplot the space it deserves. Still, Li Fong’s journey remains the emotional anchor and is generally praised as the strongest thread.

If you like, I can break down major scenes (training montages, tournament, final fight) or compare this movie’s story with Cobra Kai or the original Karate Kid films — do you want me to do that?