This show has a lot to complain about (but what show doesn't), and it has many annoying things (mostly the boring teen drama, and bad parenting (rewarding bad behaviour constantly, especially with the fat, spoiled brat).
But considering what I expected it to be, and what modern TV shows (and especially movies) tend to be, and how they shove all this 'certain crap' everywhere so liberally (no pun intended), this is actually ... surprisingly good.
I didn't expect a modern TV show to be able to be good. I am having my own prejudices shattered by this show.
How can they make that evil bully from the movies suddenly so sympathetic and make you want to root for him? I mean, it's easy to make Daniel a douche, because he always was exactly that, and pretty unlikable to boot - but even the performances are pretty amazing.
Also, the misunderstandings are so relatable - 'I didn't call her a b*tch, I said she was b*itching, there's a difference!'.
Of course what made me laugh out loud was what he said right after that.
This kind of surprise jokes and great (sometimes interestingly subtle) humor made me laugh way more than I ever thought I would.
The yoga people just taking over the Dōｊō in one episode, and doing it so matter-of-factly and starting to talk about 'cleaning the energies' of the place.. I mean, who could watch that without laughing like a small loon?
So subtle, and yet so masterfully crafted. They could've ruined the joke so easily by making it over-the top and silly. But it's exactly its subtleness, 'realism' of sorts and keeping it very mellow that makes it brilliant.
I wanted to nitpick about them over-utilizing nostalgia and also re-creating every single 'important' scene from the original movie, just with different people (instead of Miyagi and Daniel, it's now Daniel and someone else, but doing the same, exact moves, in a very similar style and music), all the relationshít-nonsense, etc., but I can't be angry about this show.
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[deleted]
5 years ago
I have only seen the first season, but besides a few scenes I had to skip, and a few boring ones I wasn't interested in, and all that 'teen drama'..
..this is a surprisingly interesting and intense show.
It's like they chose the -exact- correct direction where to take the story after the movies - it couldn't have been better.
It has a bit too 'dramatic' things sometimes, like the stuff Louie does. It also makes most people a bit too evil, and Daniel a bit too douchy.
But thinking that the actor is 57 years old (I don't think I will be able to perform even half as well the things Ralph Macchio does in this movie), and looks that good - it's amazing.
He looks and moves like a 40 year-old, if not younger! And he's almost 60. It boggles the mind.. If he wasn't famous and I met him in the world and talked with him, it would take quite enormous amount of convincing before I would even entertain the possibility that he's anything more than maybe 42.
Perhaps 47 I could see - MAYBE. But 57? Holy cow, is he related to Tom Cruise or something?
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[deleted]
5 years ago
I was finally able to see season two.
I was expecting it to be really boring, because people had said it will have lots MORE teen drama than the first season - which already had too much of it for my liking.
So I was expecting a boring groan-fest - and yes, I had to skip quite many 'teendramablah'-scenes, but HOLY COW is it intense!
Season two has left me shocked and feeling very mixed emotions - there were really precious moments, with the (SPOILERS!) main characters almost bonding - but then all that was shattered almost immediately.
I was wanting and expecting a proper 'confrontation' or some kind of 'conclusion' of the rivalry and being enemies, and was a bit disappointed that season 1 didn't seem to offer as much of that as I would've wanted.
Season 2 exceeded all my expectations, and in many ways, it was even better than season 1 (as brilliant as, I have to admit, it is). I liked the crazy dream-sequence with the 1980s-style video editing effects, and that finally 'father and son' can at least speak and interact and try to talk to each other a bit.
In the end, I just want them all to be good friends.
But what happened in the finale, was very dark, it was almost too shocking, and I can't even describe how I felt after it all - I really hope this show will have a happy ending or at least less dark ending in the season 3.
I only recently saw the final episode of season 1, and I have to add as a sidenote, how brilliantly crafted it is. The conflicting emotions of Johnny, between his son being hurt by Johnny's own Cobra Kai-style 'No Mercy'-stuff, and his consequent realization as to how WRONG it is to have such a slogan, when there should be a balance and self-control when you are practicing something dangerous, like martial arts.
It's like you can know -exactly- what Johnny is feeling about all this, without any narration or dialogue even hinting that way (except maybe Daniel's speech to Johnny's son).
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[deleted]
5 years ago
The only nitpicks are the usual ones - a bit of misandry (though amazingly, not all that much), and all women are basically Mary Sues that can only get hit by other women (if at all), and who ALWAYS beat the men they fight against (so no equality after all).
Why doesn't anyone dare try TRUE EQUALITY, and let women take hits and kicks from men, like a man?
The women are definitely overpowered and Mary Suelike, and can only take hits from other women, and can beat any man easily.
But when the show is THIS GOOD, this is actually a minor nitpick, although normally I would throw a fit about it.
Kreese is genuinely scary - he sometimes doesn't even look like a human! You never quite know what the heck he is. The nerdy guy, Hawk's former friend, is really funny sometimes - such a complainer, that it's almost like looking in the mirror. I really enjoy his char, but I think he beat Hawk too easily at one point, though.
I really hate the message at the end that 'mercy leads to serious injury' - but where would 'no mercy' have lead? Would Johnny's star student have killed Johnny's son? Why couldn't he say something like "I want to end this fight, so I am going to let you up if you promise not to fight anymore, ok?"
It's rare for me to care this much about fictional characters, ESPECIALLY of a modern TV show, so this Cobra Kai show definitely deserves all the praise it has got. I can't really critique it much. Oh, the -very- ending is really stupid, though, I wish they hadn't done that (the 'friend request' - GROAN!).
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wrecche (631)
5 years ago
From everything I'd seen, and read.. I did expect to be annoyed by it.
Happily, I was pleasantly surprised!!
(and I'm super slow reading comments on here, come here to post about stargate sg1, noticed I had comments in my post.. Oo)
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