The first movie is a cult classic and further elevated by the Cobra Kai tv series but this sequel is kind of the kid in class you forget about. I was very young when the first movie was made but like so many kids at the time I absolutely loved it and joined up for Karate lessons. Despite this being released two years after the original the sequel just didn't capture the imagination. It's not a terrible movie by any stretch, it just feels unnecessary. It gives the back story of Mr Miyagi rather than Daniel learning karate - which was probably the pulling point of the first film. This in itself is fairly well done and actors generally do a good job just it doesn't capture the imagination. The whole sub plot of Daniel tagging a long to Japan and finding a new love interest feels very cliche in among the back story concept.

At least Cobra Kai understands why people fell in love with the Karate Kid. I'd say watch this movie only if you want to understand the origin of some characters in the TV show or you have an interest in understanding the Mr Miyagi back story.

Not as good as the first but way, way better than the third and way, way, way better than the fourth. Is it recommend viewing for the Cobra Kai show? Absolutely not - however it will enhance the experience.

I loved the first Karate Kid. Despite it's predictable script, it told an original sports story with great characters, an excellent cast, some emotional moments, great music, and not to mention some great karate fighting scenes.

Now, when the director of Rocky made a sequel two years later, I became shocked and rented a DVD copy of the film (just like the first) and watched it to see if it can catch my very interest. Then, after watching the whole thing, I was saying to myself, "Wow. That was one heck of a great sequel!".

Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita did a great job once again as the karate student and the Sensei master and the chemistry between them are as fresh as the first film. The rest of the cast did a great job as well with Chozen, who was by far the greatest villain in the franchise because he threatens to kill Daniel by any means necessary. The story in this sequel is also great, but it's even darker and sentimental (there's a scene where we learn that Daniel explains about his father's death which makes us feel sorry for him, thus adding a decent emotional core to the script despite it's schmaltzy moments, but I'll get to that in a moment) than the first with great music and fantastic karate fighting scenes.

The pacing was great in the first film. In this sequel, however, it showed the ending from the first and started out well, but it gets a bit slower. Also, the script has some schmaltzy moments, but at least the romance between Daniel and Kumiko were enjoyable though.

Overall, this sequel is as good as the first despite it's own problems and I'm shocked at the rating it received on this website because it's even worth watching as the first film. Go watch it! It's that good!