Cobra Kai Season 5 on Netflix: Is 'Karate Kid III' a BAD movie? Here's what critics say

'Karate Kid III' has emerged as the front runner for the worst sequel of the summer,' said one of the critics
Sean Kanan as Mike Barnes in 'The Karate Kid III' and 'Cobra Kai' Season 5 production still (IMDb/Netflix)
Sean Kanan as Mike Barnes in 'The Karate Kid III' and 'Cobra Kai' Season 5 production still (IMDb/Netflix)

'Cobra Kai' on Netflix is one of the most watched series with a decent ranking since the time of its release. It has some of the OG cast members from the beginning of the show which makes it an interesting watch for the Gen Zs as 'The Karate Kid' franchise once made many headlines for a mixed bag of reasons. Speaking of the movie, 'The Karate Kid III' was reviewed as a bad and unrequited sequel. 'The Karate Kid III,' plot summary is, 'Ostracised villain John Kreese attempts to gain revenge on Daniel and Miyagi, with the help of a Vietnam War comrade, the wealthy owner of a toxic waste disposal business.'

Sadly, as hard as the creators tried to make it work by casting some of the stars from the first movie, it still got disappointing feedback. 'The Karate Kid Part III,' is a 1989 martial arts drama film, the third entry in the 'Karate Kid' franchise and a sequel to 'The Karate Kid Part II' (1986). It was moderately successful at the box office, 'The Karate Kid Part III' received generally negative reviews, with criticism aimed at its rehashing of elements found in its two predecessors, though Griffith's performance as Silver received praise from some critics. Later it was followed by 'The Next Karate Kid' in 1994. Read to find out more about what the critics exactly said!

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On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 15% based on 33 reviews and an average rating of 3.8/10. The website's critic's consensus reads: "Inspiration is in short supply in this third Karate Kid film, which recycles the basic narrative from its predecessors but adds scenery-chewing performances and a surprising amount of violence."

On Metacritic, the movie has a weighted average score of 36 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Philadelphia Daily News reviewed it saying, "'Karate Kid III' has emerged as the front runner for the worst sequel of the summer." According to Gizmodo, Thomas Ian Griffin, who plays the film’s villain, Terry Silver, said to io9 during a recent press day that, “I’m the first to say 'Karate Kid Part III' is not a good film,” Safe to say, 'The Karate Kid III,' was a poorly executed film which the creators and the actors aren't too proud to be a part of.

However, the series which is created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, and is distributed by Sony Pictures Television is doing mind-bogglingly well and has a huge fan base of its own. The first season launched on YouTube Red on May 2, 2018, with a second season following on April 24, 2019. After the production of Season 3 was completed, YouTube decided to stop producing scripted original programming, leaving the show without a home. Netflix acquired the series in June 2020, and released the third season on January 1, 2021. Netflix renewed the series for a fourth season, which was released on December 31, 2021. It has received numerous awards and nominations, with the third season being nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards. Even though one of the prequel movies didn't do well it didn't take a hit on the series and is running successfully for the last four years.

'Cobra Kai' Season 5 premieres on Netflix on Friday, September 9, 2022.

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