Wax nostalgic with this ‘Karate Kid’ rematch

THE SERIES “Cobra Kai” WHEN | WHERE  Starts streaming Wednesday on YouTube Red

The series’ shrewd opening move is to switch our sympathies to one-time villain Lawrence, now a struggling handyman who can barely afford to buy his nightly six-packs. Meanwhile, he’s haunted by the face of LaRusso, which beams from billboards advertising his successful car dealership. (His tagline: “We kick the competition!”) We feel for the down-and-out Lawrence, even though he isn’t exactly Mr. Nice Guy. He greets a new-neighbor kid, Miguel (Xolo Maridueña), with the line, “Great, more immigrants,” though these two will bond together later.

In a subtle twist, LaRusso is now part of the privileged Valley crowd, and his daughter, Samantha (Mary Mouser), is hanging out with popular mean girls and handsome bullies. When Lawrence decides to reopen the Cobra Kai dojo and teach Kreese’s aggressive tactics to young outcasts — not just Miguel but a whole slew of nerds, runts and misfits — we hear the rah-rah echoes of “The Bad News Bears” and other classic underdog tales.

LaRusso’s sensei, Mr. Miyagi, taught the importance of balance, and that’s something this series struggles to achieve. Line for line, “Cobra Kai” may not have the most stellar dialogue, but the series’ writers (including Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, of the “Harold & Kumar” movies) do an impressive job of getting us to root equally for two adversaries. The acting is mixed: Macchio is dependably likable as a suburban family man (not a stretch, perhaps, for the Huntington-born father of two), though Zabka lacks oomph in a role full of comedic and dramatic potential. The overall look of the series — a little webisode-ish — can feel endearing or exasperating, depending on the moment.

“Cobra Kai” is betting that the nostalgia factor will cover up all flaws, and it pretty much does, especially when the old All Valley Karate Championship logo shows up once again on our screen.