Movies

Behind-the-Scenes: The Wild Alley Fight in Karate Kid: Legends Explained by the Crew

BBG News

The creative team behind “Karate Kid: Legends” faced a daunting challenge. Director Jonathan Entwistle and his colleagues not only needed to preserve the franchise’s original storytelling, but also create thrilling martial arts sequences. One such sequence features the main character, Li Fong (played by Ben Wang), battling thugs in an alley. Now, Entwistle and the film’s stunt choreographer are revealing their methods for this scene in an exclusive video that aligns with the movie’s digital premiere.

In the 2025 movie, we find Li observing a distressing situation where Victor Lipani, the neighborhood pizza shop owner (portrayed by Joshua Jackson), is attacked by thugs working for the malevolent O’Shea (Tim Rozon). Moved to act, Li engages in a fight with these tough guys himself. The filmmakers, Jonathan Entwistle and Peng Zhang, carefully planned out this intense physical confrontation. Zhang highlights the comedic aspect of the scene, while Entwistle elaborates on it, suggesting a blend of action and humor.

In order to infuse some humor and elusiveness into our narrative, as well as demonstrate that Li’s character isn’t initially portrayed as a superhero, we chose an approach that was more humorous, playful, and even slightly chaotic, featuring quick movements like jumping and falling backward.

According to Peng Zhang’s explanation, this particular scene offers a chance for some extraordinary fighting techniques to be showcased, such as “unusual maneuvers” and “impressive stunts.” While watching the movie in the cinema, I found myself pondering what the set was constructed from. Therefore, I was both captivated and somewhat taken aback when Jonathan Entwistle revealed that the walls and floor were rubber-made. It’s thanks to the dedication of Entwistle, Zhang, and the cast that we can truly feel each blow Li endures and every tumble he encounters.

More on Karate Kid: Legends

In our conversation, let me share with you how the director of “Karate Kid: Legends” explained the origin of the post-credit scene joke to me, and I was thrilled by the tie-in to “Cobra Kai”.

The thoughts expressed by the creative team resonate strongly with past opinions about the movie, as they aimed to incorporate key aspects from Jackie Chan’s early films (with Jackie Chan reprising his role as Mr. Han in Legends). This included incorporating comedic action scenes reminiscent of movies like “Drunken Master” and “Project A”, known for their humor-filled fight sequences. These types of battles not only establish the film’s atmosphere but also help shape the characters.

Jackie Chan, the star of “Rush Hour,” didn’t just act during filming; he also got involved in the action. Some scenes demanded him to show off his kung-fu skills, and at 71 years old, he even dislocated his shoulder while shooting his first action scene. But the veteran actor proved his professionalism by simply putting his shoulder back in place and carrying on with the shoot. It’s no surprise given that a man who enjoys doing his own stunts wouldn’t settle for anything less.

It’s hard to fathom how priceless it was for the cast and team to have the star of Shanghai Noon with them. Yet, Ben Wang should be acknowledged for his physical prowess, as evidenced by the alley fight which speaks volumes about his abilities. We’ll keep our fingers crossed to see if Wang gets more opportunities like that in a potential sequel.

You can now purchase “Karate Kid: Legends” digitally! Don’t forget to watch other Karate Kid movies too while you’re at it. Enjoy the journey!

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2025-07-09 19:39

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