Karate Kid: Legends

image for Karate Kid: Legends

Short takes

Not suitable under 10; parental guidance to 12 (violence, themes, coarse language)

Age
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
classification logo

This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Karate Kid: Legends
  • a review of Karate Kid: Legends completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 10 June 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 10 Not suitable due to violence, themes, and coarse language.
Children aged 10–12 Parental guidance recommended due to violence, themes, and coarse language.
Children aged 13 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Karate Kid: Legends
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild themes, violence and coarse language
Length: 94 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Li Fong (Ben Wang) is a dedicated kung fu student trained by his grandfather, Mr Han (Jackie Chan) in Beijing. When Li’s mother accepts a job in New York, she makes him promise to stop practising kung fu. Her eldest son passed away from a fighting incident and she doesn’t want to see the same happen to Li. Though he agrees, he finds this task easier said than done. In New York, Li befriends a local girl named Mia (Sadie Stanley), whose ex-boyfriend Conor (Aramis Knight) begins threatening him out of jealousy. Meanwhile, Mia’s father, Victor (Joshua Jackson), convinces Li to train him for a boxing match.

When Victor is hospitalised from the boxing match, Mr Han convinces Li to enter the Five Boroughs Tournament, a karate tournament with a $50 000 prize. However, Li doesn’t know karate. To prepare, Mr Han enlists the help of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) to train him. Nevertheless, winning won’t come easy, as they only have 7 days to prepare and Li will have to defeat Conor, the reigning champion.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Family death; Crime.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Conor kicks a karate classmate in the head for laughing at a joke about his ex, Mia, moving on quickly.
  • Conor punches Li on the train because he is hanging out with Mia. Li is left with a black eye from the attack.
  • Conor and Li get into a fight at school. Li attempts a ‘dragon’ kick, but Conor counters and kicks him onto the floor before teachers break up the fight.
  • In a flashback, Li watches his brother get stabbed by an opponent he beat in a kung fu tournament. He passes away from the incident.
  • Some goons from Conor’s Dojo attack Victor with a baseball bat. Li fights them off using martial arts and his environment to fight dynamically.
  • Victor enters a boxing match. He seems to be winning, however, his opponent commits an illegal attack. His opponent pushes the referee away and knocks Victor unconscious, sending him to the hospital for several days.
  • Li returns home to his apartment and is attacked in the dark by an unknown assailant. It is later revealed to be Mr Han, who is visiting from China.
  • Conor and Li fight multiple opponents during the Five Boroughs Tournament. They defeat them using karate, knocking out several opponents in the process.
  • After Li wins his semi-final match in the Five Boroughs Tournament, members of Conor’s Dojo attempt to attack him. However, Mr Han and Daniel LaRusso step in and fight off the assailants.
  • Conor and Li fight in the final of the Five Boroughs Tournament, with both fighters delivering multiple heavy blows.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • The intimidating appearance of Conor and other members of his Dojo may frighten younger audiences.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

  • Nothing further noted.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • Two high school students are caught kissing in a hallway.
  • Li and Mia kiss.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • In footage from The Karate Kid Part II, Mr Miyagi says his ancestor loved to drink sake. He states that he once drank so much that he passed out on a boat and sailed from Japan to China.
  • Victor drinks a beer while having a late-night conversation with Li.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Dick
  • Ass
  • Shit
  • Crap.

In a nutshell

Karate Kid: Legends is the latest theatrical release in the Karate Kid franchise and is set after the finale of the television series Cobra Kai. The action movie sees Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio reprising their iconic roles. Due to the violence, themes and coarse language, the film is best suited to teens and up, with parental guidance from ages 10 to 12.

The main message of the movie is that we should use our strengths to support and uplift those around us. Even when it's scary, choosing to face our fears can lead us to become the best version of ourselves. As Mr Han tells Li, kung fu, and by extension any skill or strength, should be used to help others. The film shows that true power lies not in fighting for pride or revenge, but in protecting and empowering your community.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Teamwork
  • Perseverance
  • Empathy
  • Bravery.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the importance of standing up to bullies. Parents could discuss the problems with being a bystander and how to help a victim of bullying.