Farhan Sadeed Ferdaus

So, on a Saturday afternoon, I was skimming through various series trailers. I have watched most of the movies of the 80s. However, I wasn't acquainted with The Karate Kid(unfortunately). After seeing the trailer of Cobra Kai, it arose my interest. I realized that for watching this series, I have to see all three parts of The Karate Kid movies series. I never thought this movie series would influence to the extent that I would be obsessed for days with it. From the movie series, Daniel is a protagonist. A balanced newbie fighter trained well by Miyagi. Thereafter, the antagonist of this series Johnny is a ruthless fighter and a hated bully. The first movie ignores his origin story, family background, rivalries and his relationship with John Kreese. I believe as an audience, we should have been familiar with these things. The psychological upbringing and values inserted in a kid's mind will always influence him/her in later life. Cobra Kai explores the other side of the story. It upholds Johnny's life and his failures due to 'Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy' policy. This philosophy is alluring and has a relevance to some extent. It's true that reality is harsh and we're constantly faced with challenges. A believer of this philosophy can easily be prepared and ready to fight it. The problem is that the cons of it cannot be ignored. Career and relationships can have a negative impact for this. The plot of this series starts 35 years after the Karate Kid movie. We've seen the harsh reality faced by Johnny. We can blame a lot of this for his teacher Kreese. The series explores Kreese's origin story and his Vietnam days. His own fights and struggles in the North Vietnam jungle made him to what he is today. Reality is harsh for sure but it's not a jungle after all. The series clearly portrays this. A lot of Karate kid fans were anxious about the reboot series. A lot of reboots destroyed the storyline and narrative misdirection were seen. Cobra Kai cleverly solved this issue. The series has new characters like Miguel, Samantha, Tory and my favorite Eli. John believes that today's kids are softies. They can't fight against bullying nor protect themselves. He takes the initiative to train Miguel. Under his ruthless training, Miguel transfers from an underdog nobody to a ferocious skilled fighter. The series shows that with hard training and determination, any nerd kid can be a good fighter. It makes me remember of my own high school days. I saw the series and started listening to podcasts about it. I watched through a good ton of videos on YouTube related to it. I kept dreaming about the series during sleep(LMAO) as well. Cobra Kai influenced me greatly and has molded my views and beliefs. The characters were well portrayed and the story development is highly praising. The fighting scenes were good to watch. I wish there were more of it. Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg did a great job in reviving one of the most iconic movies of all time.

The series has a great premise. It is set 13 years from now in the future.It talks of a virtual world created for the dead. The series includes the corporate and consumerism impacts. Nathan portrays his role as the hot and charming guy. Its a top pick for anyone who wants to verge into the fantasy of digital afterlife. I picked it up after seeing the Amazon prime video suggestion. It turned out pretty well as I expected. The comedy might seem expecting. The show is brilliant and has a great plot. A perfect treat for the eyes in lock down.

I would say that the movie accomplishes in giving its message. AI is quite powerful and it can turn over on humans. The problem with the movie was that it's too long and sometimes the plot seems prolonged unnecessarily. However, the concept of posthumanism as the AI creator puts it, is fearful. The idea of apes being replaced by silicon based sentient beings. As the movie shows it, it is inevitable. As Ava passes the Turing test, the gap between consciousness and intelligence narrows. There seems little action while story telling was more prevalent. The story seems great with plot holes and psychological aspects of consciousness. Alex Garland took a great take on this overseen scifi genre by making it unique. Overall,it's good.The visual effects and sound design was great.

The movie is a classic in its sense as it speaks of Cold War, a psychotic general, fear of communist infiltration, doomsday machine and the mental states of soldiers in the Air Force Base. Its black satire in the war room speaks of the Military's concept of politicians for saving the country. The phone call between US president and Soviet Secretary Dimitri shows the rivalry,friendly formalities and distrust. Though things have changed today, the movie is a wonderful plot with grand background and sound effects.