TheStewartofNY/Getty; Columbia Pictures/Getty Ralph Macchio tells PEOPLE what fans can expect from the new movieKarate Kid: Legends "This is a quicker pace for this generation, but laced with humor, excitement, next level martial arts and Ben Wang is a rock star in the movie," Macchio says of the new movie Macchio, Jackie Chan and Ben Wang'sKarate Kid: Legendsreleases in theaters May 30 More than 40 years afterRalph Macchio's name became synonymous withThe Karate Kid, the actor is premiering the franchise's latest movie. When Macchio, 63, caught up with PEOPLE at the New York City premiere ofKarate Kid: Legendson Tuesday, May 27, the actor shared that the new movie — the sixth in the martial arts franchise — "has different [and] more of like an earlyJackie Chanmovie style, a Hong Kong style." "The fight [scenes], the cameras are really wide lenses inside the fights. There's humor laced throughout and there was always humor in theKarate Kidfilms, but the original films we made was kind of cinema magic, very romantic," Macchio says. "Wide, long takes, dialogue scenes that breathe. This is a quicker pace for this generation, but laced with humor, excitement, next level martial arts and Ben Wang is a rock star in the movie." Macchio, of course, starred as Daniel LaRusso in the 1984 originalKarate Kidmovie and its two sequels, released in 1986 and 1989. The actor later reprised his role in the spinoff seriesCobra Kai, which functions as a sequel toThe Karate Kid's first three movies, and returned again forKarate Kid: Legends, which features young star Ben Wang as a Beijing-born martial arts student who trains under Macchio and Chan's characters. © Columbia Pictures Even more than 40 years after Macchio filmed the originalKarate Kidmovie, the actor still holds fond memories of his first time stepping into playing Daniel LaRusso. "From the original every day working with Pat Morita, it was a blessed partnership and it still resonates," he tells PEOPLE, when asked to share his memories of working on the film. Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE's free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. © Columbia Pictures "And the reason I'm in this movie is to pay that legacy forward," Macchio adds. "Shedding a little piece of Miyagi forward. It's never the wrong thing to do in Daniel LaRusso's eyes and in Ralph Macchio's eyes."Macchio and Chan, who reprises his role from 2010'sThe Karate Kidremake, costar inKarate Kid: Legendswith Wang,Joshua Jackson, Sadie Stanley andMing-Na Wen. "He's been this character for 40 years, and so coming into it, I felt an obligation to honor that legacy," Wang tells PEOPLE of working with Macchio at the premiere. "But he had a call with me very early on where he said, this is your character and you should feel free to do with him what you'd like. That really freed me up to play, and I think that's one of the coolest things that any sort of star has ever done for me." Karate Kid: Legendsis in theaters May 30. Read the original article onPeople
