|
Because Daniel, for man with no forgiveness in heart, life worse punishment
than death.
The Karate Kid, Part II picks up immediately following Daniel's
victory at the tournament. As Daniel and Miyagi are getting ready to leave, they witness an altercation
between Kreese and Daniel's former rival, Johnny Lawrence. Infuriated about the
loss, Kreese kicks Johnny off his sparring team and breaks his second-place
trophy into pieces. When Johnny protests, Kreese puts him in a headlock,
swatting away his fellow Cobra Kais who come to his rescue. Miyagi orders Kreese
to leave Johnny alone, but Kreese retorts with a racial slur. Miyagi pulls a
gasping Johnny away from Kreese's grip, prompting Kreese to take two shots at
Miyagi. As Miyagi ducks away from Kreese's moves, Kreese punches his fists
through two car windows. When it appears that Miyagi is about to deliver a fatal
strike to Kreese, he stops short of his nose, honking it instead and then
walking away. As they leave, Miyagi imparts a lesson on Daniel: "For person
with no forgiveness in heart, living worse punishment than death."
The film picks up six months later shortly after Daniel's senior prom. Daniel
receives several pieces of bad news, having been dumped by Ali and learned that
his mother will move to Fresno for work. Miyagi takes Daniel to his
backyard and restores the boy's focus by having him build a new wing for
Miyagi's house. This architectural work has a hidden side: It is revealed that
Daniel is building a guest room for himself, Miyagi having arranged for Daniel
to live with him while his mother goes to Fresno.
Miyagi receives a letter telling him his father is dying. Miyagi intends to
return to Okinawa
alone, but Daniel uses part of his college savings to accompany him. Arriving in
Okinawa, they are confronted by Miyagi's old friend, Sato (Danny Kamekona) and
his favorite nephew, Chozen (Yuji Okumoto). They were once best friends who
studied karate under Miyagi's father,
but became rivals because they loved the same woman, Yukie (Nobu McCarthy). Miyagi fled
Okinawa to avoid a fight to the death with Sato.
Miyagi and Daniel are welcomed to Tome village by Yukie and her niece Kumiko
(Tamlyn Tomita). They
learn that Sato is now a rich industrialist, whose supertrawlers
have destroyed the local fish population, impoverishing the other villagers, who
have turned to small farming to survive. Further complicating the lives of the
villagers is the fact that they rent their property from Sato, who has slowly
acquired the entire village over the years.
On his deathbed, Miyagi's father begs for both his son and student to make
peace with each other by drawing their hands together. Once he gasps his last
breath, Sato pulls his hand away, telling Miyagi that out of respect for his
sensei, he will give him the customary period to mourn, but will expect to face
him in a final fight to the death.
During the course of their stay in Okinawa, Miyagi teaches Daniel that the
secret to his family's karate lies in a handheld drum that beats itself when
twisted back and forth. This "drum technique", as Miyagi calls it, represents
the block-and-defense that Daniel attempts to practice during the course of the
film. Chozen and his gang (Taro and Toshio) continue to terrorize Daniel and
Kumiko, an attractive young Okinawan who wishes to someday study dance and leave
her country, and sparks a romantic interest in Daniel. One night Chozen and his
thugs beat Daniel and heavily damage the dojo which once belonged to Miyagi's
father. Miyagi makes the decision then to return to the U.S. the following
morning.
Miyagi is greeted by Sato and a fleet of bulldozers and other earth-moving
equipment the following morning. Sato threatens to destroy and redevelop the
village if Miyagi persists in his refusal to fight him. Angered at being pushed
into a corner in this manner, Miyagi finally agrees to fight his former friend,
on the condition that no matter who wins, Sato must agree to relinquish the
title to the villager's homes to them. Sato balks, stating that he asks for too
much. Miyagi plays on his pride and replies that it's a small price to pay for
his honor. Sato agrees to the terms. The night of the fight, the village is hit by a monsoon. The villagers gather at the local shelter,
including Miyagi and Daniel. Miyagi watches Chozen enter and asks him of his
uncle. Chozen replies that Sato is dead. Both Daniel and Miyagi go to Sato's
destroyed dojo and find Sato pinned under a beam. Miyagi splits the beam in half
with his bare hands and frees his former friend, taking him to safety.
Daniel then ventures to the bell tower, where the girl who rang the warning
bell is frozen in fear. Sato sees him struggling and orders Chozen to go and
help him. Chozen refuses, because he feels that Daniel has dishonored him.
Ashamed of his nephew's total lack of compassion, Sato goes after Daniel right
as Miyagi prepares to leave, asking to go in his stead. Sato helps Daniel free
the girl and they return to the shelter, where Sato renounces his nephew. A
devastated Chozen flees.
Sato and his earth-movers return the following morning. Sato greets Miyagi
with a bow, telling him that he is there to help rebuild the village, handing
him the deed, and begs forgiveness, which Miyagi happily accepts. Daniel takes
advantage of the opportunity to ask Sato to hold the upcoming O-bon festival in
the village's former castle. Sato agrees if Daniel will join him and the other
villagers in the celebration. As Kumiko is preparing her dance at O-bon, the festivities are interrupted by
Chozen, who crashes onto the stage and holds a knife to the frightened girl's
throat. Sato implores his nephew to overlook the matter between him and Daniel,
stating that he was wrong to hate Miyagi and that hate is wrong. Chozen is
unfazed by his uncle's words, and tells them he will kill Kumiko if Daniel does
not step upon the stage and throw the bridge to it in the moat separating it
from the spectators. Daniel agrees, and does so.
Chozen attacks Daniel, who defends himself. Both of them are well-matched,
and each delivers some damaging blows to the other. However, when Miyagi and the
other villagers take out their hand drums and beat them in unison, Daniel
understands what he must do. As Chozen attacks him one final time, Daniel
successfully blocks each of his blows, while delivering a devastating
counter-blow each time, defeating Chozen. Daniel grabs Chozen by his hair and
cocks his hand back, giving him the choice to live or die. Chozen says he wishes
to die. But Daniel, remembering Miyagi's lesson in his fight with Kreese, stops
short of a fatal blow and simply honks his nose and drops him to the ground.
 Copyright(C) 2007
- 2020. All rights reserved
|
|