
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, September 10, 1994                   TAG: 9409140048
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THERE NOT MUCH KICK IN 'NEXT KARATE KID'

"The Next Karate Kid" is a low-octane little martial arts flick notable for two things: (1) Star Hilary Swank might have a promising film career ahead of her, but it's hard to say because (2) she's working with possibly the worst script ever to come out of the Hollywood formula factory.

The writing is sloppy and incoherent. For martial arts stories, that's not necessarily bad. The action scenes are the key, but director Christopher Cain doesn't show much affinity for them, either.

After some convoluted stage-setting, Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki "Pat" Morita) winds up in Boston where he volunteers to care for Julie Pierce (Swank), the granddaughter of one of his World War II buddies. Totally bummed out because her parents are dead, Julie is a spoiled brat.

Her one friend is a broken-winged hawk that she keeps hidden at her high school. That's also where a group of young fascists under the leadership of Col. Dugan (Michael Ironsides) enforces the rules. No drugs and no littering! This Means You! They're such preposterous villains that the movie never really has a chance.

Instead, Mr. Miyagi and Julie spend a long vacation at a Buddhist monastery. That's the liveliest and most interesting part of "The Next Karate Kid," which tells you a lot about the rest of it.

The training scenes and the fortune-cookie aphorisms are no different than they were in the first three films. In fact, the only original thing about this one is a curious introductory appearance by Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii. As for the fights, they are few, poorly staged and completely lacking in emotion.

Even the big emotional uplift that has been the key to the series' success seems labored. Notice, for example, the key scene in which the hawk is set free to return to the wild. You'll see that instead of soaring for freedom, it's actually being chased by an angry mockingbird.

Everybody's a critic.

The Next Karate Kid

* 1/2

A Columbia release playing at the Salem Valley 8. 105 min. Rated PG for violence, a little rough language.

by CNB