Reception
The Next Karate Kid received more negative reviews from critics than the third Karate Kid film. However, many critics praised Swank, and it is still considered to be her break-out performance. It has a "rotten" rating of 5% based on 19 reviews at Rotten Tomatoes only one reviewer gave the film a "fresh" rating. Stephen Holden said it "may be the silliest episode yet in the popular Karate Kid series", a film that "doesn't even try to achieve surface credibility"; about the only thing positive Holden says about the film is that Swank makes an "appealing debut."
In February 2005, upon the release of the three-DVD "Karate Kid Collection", Variety magazine called The Next Karate Kid a "boilerplate coming-of-age sequel" but notes that Swank's "plucky determination and athletic drive shines through" that film as it would later do in Million Dollar Baby.
The Next Karate Kid was by some margin the least successful movie of the series at the domestic box office. Indeed, the film's performance ensured that the franchise disappeared from cinemas for sixteen years, only reappearing in 2010 as a remake of the original movie. The total box office gross for The Next Karate Kid was $8.9 million, compared to $90.8 million for the original, $115.1 million for Part II, $38.9 million for Part III and $171.8 million for the 2010 Karate Kid.
Read more about this topic: The Next Karate Kid
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