Everyone loves a good underdog story, and this week’s new streaming movies are filled with characters who are outmatched, outnumbered, and underestimated. From a young karate student to a lone man against a gang, we’re exploring the appeal of the underdog’s journey.
The most classic underdog is Li, the hero of Karate Kid: Legends (Netflix, Saturday). As a newcomer to the city and to karate, he is the definitive outsider. His journey to the top of the tournament is a powerful and inspiring story that taps into our love for seeing the little guy triumph through hard work and heart.
Nicolas Cage’s character in The Surfer (Hulu, today) is the ultimate underdog. He is a single man, an outsider, facing a hostile local gang on their home turf. He has no weapons and no allies, only his own stubborn will. We root for him because his fight against overwhelming odds is a primal struggle for dignity.
Even the protagonist of Ballerina (Starz, today) can be seen as an underdog. While she is a skilled assassin, she is a lone wolf taking on an entire criminal organization. She is one woman against a vast, powerful system, and her quest is a seemingly impossible one, which makes her fight all the more compelling.
M3GAN becomes an unlikely underdog in M3GAN 2.0 (Peacock). She is technologically outmatched by the new military android, AMELIA. For the first time, M3GAN is not the most powerful android in the room, forcing her into an underdog role that makes her quest to win unexpectedly thrilling.
The two friends in All of You (Apple TV+, tomorrow) are emotional underdogs, fighting against their own fears and insecurities. Their love is an underdog, struggling to survive against the powerful forces of silence and complication.