Despondent over the closing of his karate school, Cobra Kai teacher John Kreese joins a ruthless businessman and martial artist to get revenge on Daniel and Mr. Miyagi.
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.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
26 Mar 2009
rotten:
The pattern has so calcified that Gene Autry westerns seem like models of moral complexity by comparison.
– Jonathan Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader,
9 Jun 2010
rotten:
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.
– Dave Kehr,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Jul 2014
rotten:
Part III, however, is not merely a disaster of the most uninspired contrivances but is actually unsuitable for youngsters, the series' natural audience.
– Kevin Thomas,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Jul 2014
rotten:
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.