The third installment in the Karate Kid trilogy proves to be director John G. Avildsen's most lackluster attempt at the series of films. It's almost as if he has given up with the process of making these films, perhaps taking a whole "Let's just see how this goes and hope for the best" approach to it. While it is possible that he directed this film with the intention of making a film that was "so bad that it's good" - it is more likely, however, that that was not the intention.

From start to finish, the film tends to break down new and exciting barriers of outrageous and ridiculous plots and actions. For one, the film begins with an unnecessarily long montage reminding the viewer of what happened in the first two films - stretching to about 5 minutes long. There's nothing wrong with a quick recap, but Avildsen's choice was to include whole scenes from the other films. As a result, the movie started at an awkward pace, already upsetting the usual flow of the first two films. Ralph Macchio acts as though he was tricked into participating in this movie, and as a result has decided to act in a most over the top and comically awful fashion. Not that Ralph Macchio has ever done anything worthy of an Oscar in the past, but this seems like an almost premeditated sort of low for the actor. Martin Kove returns as John Kreese, back and more ridiculous than ever. Pat Morita tries his best to save the film and maybe an attempt to make it slightly serious, but there is far too much overpowering this attempt.

The movie crosses the line of "so bad it's good" countless times. It is still possible to enjoy watching this film for the sheer fact that the outrageous acting and the obnoxious story in general is in fact so ridiculous that it allows the film to be enjoyed by some as a comedy, regardless of how it was originally intended to be.