A few years ago, I remember seeing on my social media feeds that people were raving about the show Cobra Kai. Well, I remember Cobra Kai as the ‘bad’ guys in the movie Karate Kid. I honestly wondered, why make a series about bad guys? There was this phase where movies were made with the point of view of the villain. It was a fresh idea I guess, but at that time – I wasn’t interested in Cobra Kai.
Fast forward to last month, I was looking for something to watch on Netflix and I happened to see that Cobra Kai was listed to have new episodes. I guess you can say that I just hit the watch button and the rest was history.
Just on the first episode, I was hooked! The show was about 30 minutes long and so I was able to catch on quite fast. I honestly did not expect to root for Johnny Lawrence, but as the episodes went along – you’ll see that he had a different view of what happened and transpired. It was a really fresh take on a cult classic. I remember watching Dancing with the Stars and seeing Ralph Macchio dance, he will forever be labelled as the Karete Kid guy, and he’s grateful for it. But what I didn’t see was the other side of if – the villain, Johnny Lawrence. I wonder how his career fared after the Karate Kid – I mean, most people don’t want to play villains because they will be typecast in villain roles, so I wondered what happened to him.
The story is quite simple, but you know what – it’s still very much relevant. I really enjoyed seeing the flashbacks, the old characters and the whole Karate Kid vibe. The story turns its tables on the villain, what happened to Johnny, why he became such and how he is willing to grow 33 years after.
I didn’t expect that the hero became the villain and vice versa. What’s nice about it is that you see the character developments as the show progresses. It’s not a perfect show, but it’s helluva entertaining for me. It’s really entertaining and there’s lessons to be learned in the show.
One thing though, I am in disbelief that the character of John Kreese is still alive! Hahaha. I get amazed how they bring back characters from the movies to the TV and make them relevant again. I guess being in the generation where Karate Kid was the ‘thing’ I get sentimental, nostalgic and kilig seeing them onscreen again – together.
I wonder though are Johnny Lawrence and Ralph Macchio friends in real life? Hahaha!
