History YMMV / TheNextKarateKid

* {{Narm}}: After Louise calls Julie "Susan" by mistake, Julie proceeds to remind her of her actual name and that her mother's name is Susan... Then adds that she and her father were both killed in a car accident and are both dead, all in a ''painfully'' forced manner for exposition.

** On paper, the premise of a young girl learning karate to escape her male abusers was pretty good. But in the movie itself, the execution was so poorly done that Julie isn't really in so much danger, so much that the final fight isn't even about her defending herself, it's about ''defending her boyfriend''.

** Couldn't have Mr. Miyagi and Louisa dated? Was that "beautiful Louisa" line a way of him flirting with her, albeit in a discrete and respectful manner?

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Louisa Pierce, Julie's grandmother. She never shows after she goes to the airport to head to California after Mr. Miyagi promises her he will help Julie get over her anger, and is only mentioned in passing in the "Karate Waltz" scene, during which he states Louisa taught him how to waltz in France.

* HilariousInHindsight: Creator/HilarySwank later appeared in the Creator/{{Netflix}} series ''Series/{{Away}}'' at the exact same time that ''Series/CobraKai'' made a ChannelHop there, which actually raised some fans' hopes that Julie could appear in it.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Louisa Pierce, Julie's grandmother. She never shows after the dinner in which Mr. Miyagi promises her he will help Julie get over her anger, and is only mentioned in passing in the "Karate Waltz" scene, during which he states Louisa taught him how to waltz in France.

* {{Narm}}: After Louise calls Julie "Susan" by mistake, Julie proceeds to remind her of her actual name and that her mother's name is Susan...Then adds that she and her father were both killed in a car accident and are both dead, all in a ''painfully'' forced manner for exposition.
** While chasing after Julie, one of the cops... simply stops in his tracks to catch his breathe as if chasing a younger girl was too much exercise for him.

* FanonDiscontinuity: Gets it even worse than the third film, which at least is treated as canon by ''Series/CobraKai''. WordOfGod though, is that Daniel and his family do know Julie, having met her at Miyagi's funeral, and there's an off-hand line in Season 2 about Myagi-Do having had more than one student in the past, alluding to Julie.

* FanonDiscontinuity: Gets it even worse than the third film, which at least is treated as canon by ''Series/CobraKai'' (it's yet to be referenced in the show, but WordOfGod is that Daniel and his family do know Julie, having met her at Miyagi's funeral).

** The police immediately arresting Julie after she's just escaped from the Alpha Elite goon squad while they're allowed to go free. Sure, she broke into the school, but today a young teenage girl telling about how she'd been chased by five teenage boys much larger and more intimidating than her who were going to do [[RapeAsDrama God-knows-what]] when they caught up to her would at ''least'' warrant the boys being hauled down to the station as well.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Louisa Pierce, Julie's grandmother. She never shows after the dinner in which Mr. Miyagi promises her he will help her get over her anger, and is only mentioned in passing in the "Karate Waltz" scene, during which he states Louisa taught him how to waltz in France.

** It's obvious that Hilary Swank couldn't actually do the stunt of jumping between the two rocks, given how the shot is carefully framed to not show where she's landing.
* HilariousInHindsight: Hilary Swank later appeared in the Creator/{{Netflix}} series ''Series/{{Away}}'' at the exact same time that ''Series/CobraKai'' made a ChannelHop there, which actually raised some fans' hopes that Julie could appear in it.

* {{Narm}}: After Louise calls Julie "Susan" by mistake, Julie proceeds to remind her of her actual name and that her mother's name is Susan... Then adds that she and her father were both killed in a car accident and are both dead, all in a ''painfully'' forced manner for exposition.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: If nothing else, Hilary Swank's performance was considered by many to be the film's sole saving grace, and the then-unknown actress would see her Hollywood profile grow considerably as a result.
* ValuesDissonance: Some of what went on in the '90s wouldn't hold sway today. Examples include:

** The police immediately arresting Julie after she's just escaped from the Alpha Elite goon squad while they're allowed to go free. Sure, she broke into the school, but today a young teenage girl telling about how she'd been chased by five teenage boys much larger and more intimidating than her who were going to do [[RapeAsDrama God-knows-what]] when they caught up to her would at ''least'' warrant the boys being hauled down to the station as well.

* FanonDiscontinuity: Gets it even worse than the third film, which at least is treated as canon by ''Series/CobraKai''.

* HilariousInHindsight: Hilary Swank later appeared in the Netflix series ''Away'' at the exact same time that ''Series/CobraKai'' made a ChannelHop there, which actually raised some fans' hopes that Julie could appear in it.