Customer Reviews

Sidekicks

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It's great that this movie is back in print. We have taken it out for our children to watch, especially when they were taking martial arts. It's about a boy who's going through tough times with a loving but distracted dad and, of course, lurking in the background is a bully. The boy meets a Master, who helps him refocus on his life and face down the bully. There are some funny scenes. What I love best of all, is that the movie shows the best of the spirit of Martial Arts. It's a great kiddie movie.

First off, let me say that I only bought Sidekicks because Danica McKellar from The Wonder Years appears in it. I'm not a big fan of martial arts with the exception of Bruce Lee movies, I'm lukewarm toward Chuck Norris and Beau Bridges, and I am certainly no fan of Jonathan Brandis and Joe Piscopo. That being said, I have to say that I rather enjoyed this movie, despite the fact that Danica McKellar's role is pretty insubstantial in the balance of things. I can identify in some ways with the main character Barry, a little guy who gets picked on and laughed at by his classmates but who dreams big dreams indeed. Barry's dreams, though, unlike my own, involve feats of strength and endurance. Actually, his daydreams are getting out of hand; far too often he loses himself completely in fantasies wherein his hero Chuck Norris and he take on and vanquish scores of bad guys and, as often as not, rescue little ladies such as Barry's teacher or McKellar's character (who, early on, feels sorry for Barry and wants only to be the poor little guy's friend). Barry begins taking martial arts lessons from a Mr. Lee (Mako) and eventually amazes everyone, including himself, by standing up to the class bully. His true test comes in the state karate championships, however, where he finds himself in need of a partner in order to take on his nemesis from school and the boy's arrogant instructor (Piscopo). Wouldn't it be cool if Chuck Norris showed up and agreed to be Brandon's partner? The one thing I did not like about Sidekicks is the ending, wherein a few questions were raised in an effort to blur the line between fantasy and reality again. Obviously, Sidekicks is very similar to The Karate Kid, except this movie has two things The Karate Kid does not - Chuck Norris playing himself and the wonderful Danica McKellar lending her divine presence to the proceedings. This movie will most likely appeal to young people, but if you enjoy films featuring underdogs achieving success, Sidekicks might just be up your alley.

As a martial artist with a black belt in karate, I usually make a point of checking out films by Van Damme / Segal / Lee, etc. Because I fully understand going in that while I'm not going to come away comparing it to Casablanca or Citizen Kane, I usually can enjoy them on a certain "no-brainer" level.

However, when I watched this, I was very pleasantly surprised as it is thoroughly enjoyable.

Of course it has elements of so many other martial arts movies -young guy who is "befriended" by an older and, of course, very wise instructor who opens up the path of enlightenment as well as showing him how to open a serious can of "whoop ass".

However, this film adds another element - in this instance, the film's hero - an asmathic student named Barry - worships real life martials arts champion Chuck Norris, who makes a very entertaining appearance towards the end of the film. In fact, while I enjoyed so much of this movie, I loved the scene where a "ripped" Joe Piscipo ( was this the same guy who appeared on Saturday Night Live years ago..?? yikes - is he built now..!!) decides to take on Chuck at a karate tournament that our "hero" Barry is also participating in.

Of course, in common with many of these type of films, Joe is a thorougly obnoxious character and you just know that ol' Chuck is going to lay a serious beating on him. And does he ever.!!

Of course, Barry is also going head-to-head with some punk at his school, who continually bullies him and just happens to have a black belt in karate.

And in common with the Karate Kid, the finale comes down to one event where Barry is up against this guy - who also happens to be a loud-mouthed jerk who you would just like to reach into the television screen and punch his lights out.!

There may not be too many original themes in this film - there rarely is - but for some reason, everything seems to work in Sidekicks.

It's one of those "feel good" movies that really does drive home the message that anything is possible if you really believe and follow your dreams.!

You don't have to enjoy martial arts to like this movie. it would be appreciated by anybody. But if you're into martial arts, then it's a lock that you're going to like it.!

Here is a film which is truly a classic of it's kind. The fact that it has remained so long underrated among martial arts connoisseurs is not only disquieting but a disaster for modern art house cinema.

The truly groundbreaking element in the script is surely that it functions not only as a martial arts masterpiece but also as a religious allegory with Chuck Norris' Chuck Norris being the Christ-like confidante to little Barry's representation of brow-beaten humanity and the opposition to Joe Piscopo's lauded satanic kung fu teacher with all his inherent riches and temptations. Indeed, one of the film's finest set-pieces is the scene in which Piscopo's character,resplendant in his robes and surrounded by his wealth of trophies attempts to entice Barry to renounce Chuck Norris and to fulfill his desire to become a great fighter, thus losing his soul in the process. Barry refuses and saves himself in an impressive showpiece in which he walks out the door, a scene which resonates with the struggle within us all even to this day. Adding to this already complex substucture are Barry's absentee father and his unconventional martial arts mentor Mr.Ungonjigoi who represent the two perceived sides of God; Ungonjigoi being the omnipresent, all-knowing hard taskmaster while Barry's father is the absentee ineffectual;the inattentive but ultimately well-meaning entity.

The film reaches it's apogee during the climactic battle between good and evil in which Piscopo's devil is reduced to a figure of fun, a bumbling low comedian who deserves our pity, rather than our fear, ultimately revealing him to be the trickster that he truly is. All this is brought about by Barry/Humanity's faith in Chuck Norris that causes him to pass from the spiritual realm and attain flesh and blood existence.

In summary;this film is an undoubted masterpiece which also created it's own sub-genre;the martial arts religious epic. Every scene and camera angle is seemingly perfectly crafted to serve the whole and like a sculpture in granite this film will stand forevermore as one of the archetypal testaments to man's effort to make great art from nothing;this film being the great art and Chuck Norris being the nothing. It is truly serendipitous that the craftsmanlike Aaron Norris and his famous brother Chuck accidentally ended up working on the same film and the bit where Barry's bike is stolen is quite sad too.

Most people don't know this but Michaelangelo died a very unhappy man. In the early 1500s when finishing the Sistine Chapel, the famous painter wasn't able to complete his most iconic scene of God giving life to Adam. Recent revelations in Michaelangelo's personal sketches have shown that he wanted God to be handing Adam a copy of Sidekicks. Unfortunately, this modern masterpiece wasn't made for another 500 years.

Sidekicks is simply put the best movie ever made by humans. It teaches us life lessons about hating the word "can't," empowering the physically disabled to learn martial arts, taking your inhaler every time a girl talks to you, and a lot about milk. This movie shines as a beacon to the marvelous career of Jonathan Brandis which was cut far too short. Beau Bridges performance was so great his career peaked too early catapulting his brother Jeff into an Oscar award winning actor. And... of course, Chuck Norris. Imagine cramming every roundhouse in 8 seasons of Walker Texas Ranger into 101 minutes (most roundhouses being delivered to Joe Piscopo's face).

Please watch Sidekicks. Name your next son Barry Gabrewski. Laugh and cry at how gloriously amazing this movie is. Never say can't. Always order milk.

the movie shows, that everyone can do martial arts, if they want. this movie gave me hope to do karate. i have big problems with my breath, like the boy in the movie. i no its only a movie, but i received hope and started with karate. now i feel good and have have the black belt in karate. thanks for this movie

I hadn't seen this movie in a very long time (possibly almost 12 years). I just remembered some scenes from it one day and wanted to watch it again. It doesn't play on tv, and for some reason it's not on DVD, so I bought the VHS. The movie is great. I'd recommend to anyone.

Let's just start by saying I love this movie. It's a movie I saw when I was young and I love it. I am just wondering when are they going to release this on DVD. Because it's a definate buy for my assorted dvd collection. !REALEASE ON DVD!

This movie is great for those who are into Karate. It contains some really good humor, great action and as a bonus has much of Chuck's personal outlook on the goodness of mankind. Get one of these if you can find it at a great price as I did.

Do not consider Sidekicks a poor mans Karate Kid. It is a unique movie that is great for the whole family. A few mild vulgarities/ nothing worse than what your first grader would hear on the bus on his/her way to school. Chuck Norris plays a compelling role here and the kid is pretty good too. Don't look for this title on DVD by the way- was only released on VHS.