This week’s edition of Eric’s Bad Movies at Film.com features “The Next Karate Kid,” starring Hilary Swank and (of course) Pat Morita. Did you know that in real life Pat Morita was born in California to Japanese immigrant parents and spoke perfectly good English with a regular American accent? And that he and his family were put in an internment camp during World War II? It’s true!
It’s a coincidence that today’s film is similar to last week’s, “Death Wish: The Face of Death.” Both are the final chapters in movie franchises about old men who teach punks a lesson through physical violence, and both were released in 1994. But I chose last week’s film because it coincided with “Law Abiding Citizen,” and this week’s because it coincides with Hilary Swank’s new “Amelia,” and didn’t realize until later that they actually had some things in common. The universe is a strange and wonderful place.
