The best karate kids project, according to IMDb

Balance isn't just something that martial arts virtuoso Mr. Miyagi (the late, legendary Noriyuki “Pat Moritai”) likes to teach his students in the Karate Kid franchise; it's also very important to what makes the property tick. The original 1984 film The Karate Kid by director John G. Avildsen and writer Robert Mark Kamen set the template for subsequent films and shows by blending the gritty realism of Avildsen's film. another sports classic “Rocky” with lively martial arts fights and cartoon antagonists. At their best, these stories of troubled, scrappy teenagers learning karate under the tutelage of Miyagai and his disciples are rousing coming-of-age sagas that manage to present heavy subject matter in a crowd-pleasing package. At worst, they still offer invaluable life lessons, even if they veer into the realm of self-parody.

In general, Karate Kid enthusiasts tend to agree on the highs and lows of the franchise. The original Karate Kid is still generally considered the gold standard on the film side, while the 2010 reboot of The Karate Kid, a film that will officially be re-considered as part of the larger “Miyagi Verse” writing era, upcoming “Karate Kid: Legends” — is mostly considered a slimmer and less efficient but otherwise respectable tread (despite the fact that it's kung fu and not, you know, karate). On the opposite end of the spectrum, “The Karate Kid Part III” was the tipping point where the property somehow became too deadly and completely ridiculous at the same time. Then there's the redheaded stepchild starring Hilary Swank in the 1994 soft reboot. “The Next Karate Kid,” which is better than its unflattering reputation would suggest.

However, if we use the IMDb ratings as a guide, there is one entry in the Miyagi-verse that stands above all others: a TV show that shares many of the same tropes as your average anime series. But do I mean the 1989 cartoon “Karate Kid” or “Cobra Kai?”

Cobra Kai creators Josh Heald (writer of Hot Tub Time Machine) and John Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg (writers of Harold and Kumar) have a knack for taking bad ideas and doing wonders with them. . Case in point: The Karate Kid legacy sequel series centered around gold-locked Karate Kid bad boy Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) as a middle-aged washed-up, not exactly a winning recipe. And yet, from the very first episode (when it was, amazingly, a YouTube Red original), “Cobra Kai” moves with such conviction that it's practically impossible not to empathize.

IMDb users agreeas evidenced by the fact that “Cobra Kai” has a franchise-high average of 8.4 on the site based on about 218,000 votes, with 1984's “Karate Kid” coming in second with a 7.3 rating from 254,000 votes. The thing that really makes the show tick is its ability to stay true to the property's long-standing theme of karate being about how one lives one's life (and vice versa) while painting interpersonal conflicts in deeper shades of gray than the previous “Karate.” Kid” movies ever did. That, and its high-flying martial arts action in an almost “John Wick”-esque way, featuring people (usually teenagers!) knocking each other out with intricate choreography and dynamic camerawork that actually lets you see what's going on. .

As in Avildsen's “Karate Kid” trilogy, “Cobra Kai” also gets funnier the further along it goes … which is a good thing in this case. Indeed, in the years since it was acquired by Netflix, the series has essentially become a live-action sports anime with characters obsessed with maxing out their “power levels” (re: getting better at karate), teen melodramas out the wazoo, and more soap operas where people changes placement than the Fast and Furious sequel. Despite all this, “Cobra Kai” somehow finds equal space for both heartfelt drama and self-aware levity, poking fun at itself even as it plays the sound of a hawk's shame every time a mohawked teenager nicknamed “The Hawk” (Jacob Bertrand) hits. in battle, keeping an eye on it. Maybe Mr. Miyagi was onto something with all this talk of balance after all.

“Cobra Kai” is streaming on Netflix.