Sidekicks

I had the pleasure of being a crowd scene extra during the filming of the tournament scenes. Some excellent martial arts technicians showed up to demonstrate their skills.

The movie has been compared to The Karate Kid, but it stands on its own legs. Good acting throughout and a good storyline. I got a kick out of the scenes filmed at Lamar High School - my alma mater.

Joe however you spell his last name is funny. I mean real funny. I love the part where he plays these fantasy bad guys. The best part is where he makes a fool out of himself when he fights Chuck in a tournament. The other part I get a laugh out of is the biker and the hot Chinese soup. Well the rest, of it is a bit sappy, but oh well.

Sidekicks is a pretty entertaining little film about a young, asthmatic boy who, in his imagination, is the sidekick to his hero, Chuck Norris. Barry, the kid (Brandis) is taught martial arts by his teacher's uncle (Mako). The story culminates with an exciting martial arts exhibition where Barry meets his idol, Chuck Norris, who agrees to help the boy in the competition.

A wish-fullfilment movie in the juvenile sense. Although Chuck has definitely had his day, the idea of meeting and being helped by your fantasy hero, is good fodder for a kids film like this. Some people will probably quibble at the occasional silliness (Richard Moll's ridiculous gym teacher, and Piscopo's over-the-top bad guy karate teacher, to name a few), as well as the obvious self-promotion for Chuck Norris, but I think that the fantasy of the film will work itself over it's intended audience, who should enjoy this little treat of a movie.

This movie was just great! Jonathan Brandis was a great actor and will be sadly missed by all of his friends and fans... This movie was about an teenage boy with asthma always getting into trouble because of his vivid fantasies and daydreams of Chuck Norris teaming up with him to rescue his teacher. In order to help the boy (Jonathan Brandis) overcome his daydreaming and his asthma, his teacher's restaurant owning uncle takes the boy under his wing to teach him healing and strengthening techniques.He does so well that the uncle signs him into a martial arts competition.As a surprise, the mentor sees Chuck Norris at the competition and Chuck Norris introduces himself to the boy.In the end he teams up with his the boy to compete in the martial arts competition. A Great Film!

Aaron's firmly in the driver's seat while brother Chuck lays down the action yet again in this enjoyable and harmless action romp, a re-hash of The Karate Kid only less involved and played mainly for laughs. Brandis is the asthma-induced child who dreams of fighting alongside his screen hero Chuck Norris. Mako plays loveable sage Mr. Lee who teaches the kid a little confidence and karate and soon enough his dreams form reality as the man himself soon turns up in the flesh at a martial arts tournament. Tame and undemanding, Sidekicks is an idle gem that whiles the hours away.