This film begins with a young teenager by the name of "Daniel LaRusso" (Ralph Macchio) having to relocate from New Jersey to California because his mother "Lucille LaRusso" (Randee Heller) has accepted a job offer on the other side of the country. Naturally, having lived in Newark all of his life, Daniel is not happy to leave his neighborhood, but things start to look up when he meets an attractive girl named "Ali Mills" (Elisabeth Shue). The problem is that Ali has an ex-boyfriend named "Johnny Lawrence" (William Zabka) who still has feelings for her and--being an arrogant bully--does not like it when she gives any attention to someone else. Not only that, but he is also a black belt in karate and surrounds himself with other like-minded teenagers as well. However, after getting beaten up on several occasions, Daniel finds a unique friend named "Mr. Miyagi" (Pat Morita) who not only mentors him like a father, but also teaches him a style of karate taught to him by his own father in Okinawa. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this is one of those films that manages to capture that awkward transition from being a teenager to adulthood and the struggles a boy sometimes has to endure along the way. On that note, although I liked the performance of Ralph Macchio, I thought that Pat Morita played his character to perfection and pretty much dominated every scene he was in. Be that as it may, I enjoyed this movie and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.
Review of The Karate Kid
