Why Karate Kid 3 Proved To Be A Challenge For Ralph Macchio

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ralph Macchio didn’t hold back while expressing his dislike of “The Karate Kid Part III.” He said, “I felt the story was only repeating itself … It was not a smooth ride. In the end, there were parts of the character that I didn’t embrace as well as I did with the original and the first sequel. I don’t put it on the top of my resume.”

Macchio told GQ that there’s a lack of “freshness” in the script regarding his character. He also felt the film places too much emphasis on the various types of martial arts, whereas its predecessors have more magically iconic moments. Who could ever forget the “wax on, wax off” lesson of Mr. Miyagi?

Plus, after quite literally fighting for his life against Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) in “The Karate Kid Part II,” some fans were disappointed in Daniel’s lack of strength in the follow-up film. On Reddit, u/Spidey007 said, “[H]e became a mature, strong, lethal man. KK3 erases all of this. Karate Kid 3 ruined Daniel’s character and fighting skills. To me, he became stubborn, obnoxious, wimpy, weak … “

Still, according to Macchio, there’s a bright side to the third movie — it helped influence the hit Netflix series “Cobra Kai,” which recently dropped its fifth season. “[I]t informs ‘Cobra Kai’ going forward, clearly with Season 4. It gives us so much story,” Macchio told The Hollywood Reporter. “And what is so wonderful about doing the ‘Cobra Kai’ series, the creators find ways to take that story and let it evolve and find backstories for characters who might have been thinly written.”