'Cobra Kai' Honest Trailer: Where Everyone Is A Bully, A Victim, And An Overnight Karate Master

It's nothing short of a miracle that a revival of The Karate Kid franchise somehow ended up being more significant than a Funny or Die sketch. What's even more impressive is that not only did Cobra Kai survive as one of YouTube Premium's original programs, but it's actually pretty damn good.

As the Cobra Kai Honest Trailer respectfully points out, instead of being a cheap nostalgia trip, this is a series that captures the spirit of the original Karate Kid franchise while also turning 1980s archetypes into full fledged characters with layers of complexity. Plus, it surprisingly delivers compelling story turns that keep things interesting, even if it's all still a little melodramatic.

All right, we'll admit that Ralph Macchio doesn't exactly have the physical skills to make it look like he really knows karate. But since he's literally The Karate Kid, we have to cut him a break. At least they've kept his skills consistent by having his daughter be equally as bad at martial arts. I guess that's what happens when you have to trick kids into learning karate instead of having them actually care about it.

But what we really need to acknowledge is the vicious cycle of bullying that forces everyone in the San Fernando Valley to become karate masters. Johnny was bullied by his sensei, Daniel was bullied by Johnny, then Johnny was bullied by Daniel, so he bullies some nerds into learning karate. But then the nerds use karate to bully the popular kids, forcing the popular kids to learn karate from Johnny's bullying sensei. Do you see how big of a problem this is? At least it's all pretty entertaining and finally available on Netflix so we don't have to pay for YouTube Premium.