Critic Reviews
36
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
positive
1(7%)
mixed
9(60%)
negative
5(33%)
Showing 15 Critic Reviews
63
The Next Karate Kid' has all the makings of a terrible movie, but it never quite becomes one. One reason might be that cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs just loves a beautiful picture. [10 Sep 1994, p.E6]
50
Leisurely and overly familiar pic should appeal to young teen girls, but won't be breaking any B.O. bricks with its bare hands.
50
This film feels like a desperate attempt to squeeze a few last bucks out of what was once a very obliging cash cow.
50
The fourth film in the series, the newest installment has a new director, Chris Cain, and a female Kid, Hilary Swank, but otherwise it reprises the formula established by John G. Avildsen in 1984: A troubled teen conquers self-doubt and the local bullies with the help of an enigmatic karate teacher.
50
If this installment is just slightly less laborious than Karate Kid II or III, it's not from Mark Lee's surprise-free script or Christopher Cain's placid direction, but because young Swank really might be a find. Early on, she's such a convincingly testy teen that parents may flinch, but she does seem to blossom before your eyes.
50
Overlong and utterly predictable, The Next Karate Kid offers little excitement, even in its culminating fight sequence.
50
The formulaic plot does not give the actors that much to work with. Swank, though, does a good job as Julie. [16 Sep 1994, p.2]
42
Clearly, three sequels haven’t improved Miyagi’s English, but there is something bitchin’ about seeing a babe give a bully a good thwack. Not that girls will go see this or boys will care.
40
Almost a guilty pleasure. But not quite.
40
There's really nothing new here (as if anyone expected there would be), but it's a decent enough entry into the Karate Kid series, if you don't mind having seen it all done before, and better.
