Cobra Kai karate instructor is not accepting the reality of getting beaten by Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi. So he makes an effort for payback alongside a wealthy Vietnam War comrade.
About all that enlivens The Karate Kid Part III is a screamingly over-the-top performance by Thomas Ian Griffith, who plays a toxic waste magnate and karate buff who hatches a madly complex plot to humiliate Daniel and his teacher.
Part III, however, is not merely a disaster of the most uninspired contrivances but is actually unsuitable for youngsters, the series' natural audience.
Griffith's over-the-top toxic-waste king [is] an unbelievably sadistic type who enjoys tilting his head back to laugh maniacally every three minutes or so, and who is one of few signs of life in this brain-dead movie.
After suffering endless abuse, Daniel wins with just a few well placed whacks: those expecting standard wish-fulfilment fantasy will be disappointed that (in tune with the philosophy, of course) he didn't give the punk a pasting.
Morita still charms, Macchio still tightropes between petulence and raw optimism, whilst the fight scenes are competent enough to offset the woeful romantic sub-plotting.
The makers of The Karate Kid Part III -- also responsible for its successful predecessors -- have either delivered or taken a few too many kicks to the head along the way.
The Karate Kid Part III is a brave but misguided attempt to restate the lesson through a narrative ploy that nearly always works, but here produces no more than recycling.
