Okay…. I’m not a blogger. Anyone that has ever followed me knows that I don’t write opinion pieces very often. I’m an inspirational writer. Something has to move me to initiate my writing. The last review I wrote was Pronobozon’s sophomore album. I wrote that review because of all the sophomore albums I ever listened to, his was the greatest. Prono approached me and asked me to write a review of his 3rd album and even gave me a prerelease. I never wrote that review because it didn’t inspire me. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t move me. It didn’t strike that chord that makes me want to write. I love Pronobozo and I’ll always support him, but I have to provide context for what is about to follow.
My wife and I just finished episode 10 of the new Cobra Kai series available on YouTube Red. If you value my opinion at all, and want the TL;DR, Cobra Kai is easily the greatest web series to ever be created.
To call Cobra Kai a “web series” is selling it offensively short. Cobra Kai can easily survive against any and all of the giants of current network TV. Bringing back THE two greatest character actors of the 80’s and have them relive everything about the movies that made them household names is simply stunning. Ralph Macchio and Billy Zabka reprising their roles as Daniel-son and Jonny could have gone wrong in an infinite number of ways. How Sony and YouTube have presented this continuation of the story is inarguably the ONLY way it could have gone right.
Sony has a track record of cocking up fantastic story lines (Wade Wilson in Origins: Wolverine?). But, with Cobra Kai, they hit the greatest of homeruns a production house could possibly hit. Cobra Kai is a Grand Slam.
Cobra Kai is a ball-tickling amalgamation of 80’s nostalgia and current events. The soundtrack is slam full of 80’s metal and rock. Billy and Ralph are perfect evolutions of the characters that made them house-hold names. Thirty years later and Daniel and Jonny are still deep-rooted enimies. They have children in a derivative, but fresh love triangle. Simply stated, Cobra Kai is both simply formulaic and freshly inspiring.
With a sprinkling of original footage from The Karate Kid 1 and 2, Cobra Kai spins a fresh story woven in everything that those of us born in the 80’s and only truly remembering the 90’s could possibly appreciate. It sounds nieche, but it really isn’t. Anyone born in the last 20-30 years will embrace all that is Cobra Kai.
If you value my opinion at all, WATCH COBRA KAI!!! I cannot stress this enough. Disregard Hillary Swank and the reboot with Will Smith’s son and Jackie Chan. Cobra Kai is the continuation that we didn’t know we wanted or needed. To go a step further, Cobra Kai is the continuation that we didn’t know we needed. If you didn’t want to pony up the cash for YouTube Red because they didn’t have anything to offer, Cobra Kai is worth it. Cobra Kai will make you evaluate everything you think you know about Good and Evil. Who is right and who is wrong? Who is evolving and devolving? Cobra Kai will make you root for who you think is the “bad guy,” and immediately have you question who you think the “bad guy” actually is.
Cobra Kai is everything you want in a series. It resonates with everything you loved as a child and all that entertains you now as an adult. It will tickle every ball and fancy that can entertain you. Long story short, if you suffer from FOMO, you will surely expire if you don’t watch Cobra Kai.
