Barry Gabrewski is a dork of his class. He is asthmatic and keeps daydreaming of being the sidekick of his hero, Chuck Norris. Barry's teacher, Noreen Chan's uncle, Mr. Lee (Mako), arrives into town and takes his mission to teach Karate to Barry.
When you cross 'Karate Kid' and 'Last Action Hero' then you'll get 'Sidekicks' - the Chuck Norris movie where Chuck Norris plays the sidekick. Although 'Sidekicks' lack the emotional punch of 'The Karate Kid' and raunchy witty humor as 'Last Action Hero', it is a movie with a heart. Upon its release the movie received mainly negative reviews from the critics. Although it debuted at No. 2 at the box-office, 'Sidekicks' is nearly forgotten for today besides Chuck Norris fans. It is an entertaining movie with a great message about becoming the best version of yourself while overcoming the obstacles and hardships (Even I, a guy in his 30s, felt inspired to pick up my martial-arts training again). 'Sidekicks' knows exactly that it is corny movie and never tries to be anything else but a tongue in cheek parody. Chuck Norris has never seemed someone who'll take his action star status overly seriously (unlike some others. *caugh* Steven Seagal *caugh*). The daydreaming sequences with Barry being the sidekick of Chuck are humorously cheesy action scenes which perfectly utilize slapstick and every known action movie cliché. Joe Piscopo is wonderfully hammy as unpleasant Karate instructor Kelly Stone. He also portrays the over the top villains in Barry's daydreaming scenes. Another great supporting character is gym teacher Horn, played by Richard Moll. He is another cartoonish caricature of authoritative teacher who first seems unnecessarily harsh toward Barry. Even bullish. Yet, when Barry starts to pick himself up and finally takes a stand against the school bully Randy (John Buchanan), Horn shows his growing respect. That shows that sometimes when someone is harsh toward the other necessarily doesn't mean they have bad intentions - they simply give out what some people like to call 'tough love'. The ambiguity of the final scene after the Karate tournament, where Barry speaks with Chuck Norris, gives the impression that Chuck is some mythological creature (tongue in cheek Chuck Norris joke before Chuck Norris jokes became a thing). It also seems to say that we shouldn't allow our dreams to hinder our everyday life, but we must allow our dreams to fuel our progress.
'Sidekicks' doesn't offer many laugh out loud moments, but is a nice, feel good movie that can entertain the whole family. To some people, 'Sidekicks' might seem a little flat, but this movie definitely has a heart (and Chuck Norris). Plus, movie's warm and positive message is nicely part of the story.
When you cross 'Karate Kid' and 'Last Action Hero' then you'll get 'Sidekicks' - the Chuck Norris movie where Chuck Norris plays the sidekick. Although 'Sidekicks' lack the emotional punch of 'The Karate Kid' and raunchy witty humor as 'Last Action Hero', it is a movie with a heart. Upon its release the movie received mainly negative reviews from the critics. Although it debuted at No. 2 at the box-office, 'Sidekicks' is nearly forgotten for today besides Chuck Norris fans. It is an entertaining movie with a great message about becoming the best version of yourself while overcoming the obstacles and hardships (Even I, a guy in his 30s, felt inspired to pick up my martial-arts training again). 'Sidekicks' knows exactly that it is corny movie and never tries to be anything else but a tongue in cheek parody. Chuck Norris has never seemed someone who'll take his action star status overly seriously (unlike some others. *caugh* Steven Seagal *caugh*). The daydreaming sequences with Barry being the sidekick of Chuck are humorously cheesy action scenes which perfectly utilize slapstick and every known action movie cliché. Joe Piscopo is wonderfully hammy as unpleasant Karate instructor Kelly Stone. He also portrays the over the top villains in Barry's daydreaming scenes. Another great supporting character is gym teacher Horn, played by Richard Moll. He is another cartoonish caricature of authoritative teacher who first seems unnecessarily harsh toward Barry. Even bullish. Yet, when Barry starts to pick himself up and finally takes a stand against the school bully Randy (John Buchanan), Horn shows his growing respect. That shows that sometimes when someone is harsh toward the other necessarily doesn't mean they have bad intentions - they simply give out what some people like to call 'tough love'. The ambiguity of the final scene after the Karate tournament, where Barry speaks with Chuck Norris, gives the impression that Chuck is some mythological creature (tongue in cheek Chuck Norris joke before Chuck Norris jokes became a thing). It also seems to say that we shouldn't allow our dreams to hinder our everyday life, but we must allow our dreams to fuel our progress.
'Sidekicks' doesn't offer many laugh out loud moments, but is a nice, feel good movie that can entertain the whole family. To some people, 'Sidekicks' might seem a little flat, but this movie definitely has a heart (and Chuck Norris). Plus, movie's warm and positive message is nicely part of the story.