Barry Gabrewski (Jonathan Brandis) is an asthmatic bullied Texas teen picked on by the other students. He daydreams about being Chuck Norris' sidekick. His only friend is Lauren (Danica McKellar). His father Jerry Gabrewski (Beau Bridges) struggles to reach him. His teacher Miss Chan is concerned about him. Jerry tries to sign him up with Kelly Stone (Joe Piscopo) to learn Karate but the arrogant Stone dismisses the weakling and his love of Chuck Norris. Chan introduces him to her uncle Mr. Lee (Mako) who teaches him martial arts.It's the Karate Kid except stupider and with lots of campy dream sequences with Chuck Norris. It tries to be funny but it's done badly. It comes off as silly. Joe Piscopo is annoyingly idiotic although his Bruce Lee impression is so stupid that it's actually funny. I like the Chuck Norris dream sequences at first. They're good deliberate camp but even those get a bit tired. I'm not taken with Jonathan Brandis or his boyish charms. Other than the silly weak humor, that's probably my biggest problem with this movie.

I'm not sure what kind of a movie this is. Is it a Chuck Norris movie, or a comedy that has Chuck Norris in it.Chuck Norris is in it and doing his usual actions, but it's not part of the real story. It's part of some kid's day dreaming. The life surrounding the kid is written as a comedyThe quality of the movie is not bad. It has good production, and not bad of acting. The kid's character is not strong enough to be the focus of the story, and Chuck's potential is hampered by having the kid as the center piece. Same goes for other actors.It's a good movie for teenagers, but not for Chuck Norris or martial arts movie fans.

This is intended to be sort of a martial arts drama for kids, but it is in fact one of the best unintentional comedies ever. Most really bad movies are just bad and will bore you and make you not want to watch anymore, but Sidekicks is entertaining throughout. Mako, the martial arts instructor, and Joe Piscopo, the evil rival dojo owner, are clearly in on the joke and really ham it up. Brandis and Norris generally play it straight, although I'd have to honestly wonder if Chuck knows how cheesy the stuff is, I'd imagine not, having made Walker Texas Ranger.I will not spoil the ending, but it fits perfectly with the movie. Watch this one with a group of friends and/or on an intoxicating substance for best effect. Chuck fans and children will also love this, but don't expect a good movie or a plot and dialogue that make sense.

I can absolutely NOT agree, that SIDEKICKS is a "Karate Kid" rip-off - it is thousand times better than Karate Kid! Me, who is training martial arts since many years can say, that Sidekicks is one of the best movies of this genre. The martial arts sequences are great. Maybe the humor is to much slapstick sometimes, but because of it is in Barry's dreams, I can look over it. AND Sidekicks is a movie showing all the weak and helpless kids, that you can make more out of yourself. You don't have to be a loser all your life. You can fight! I can identify with the character of J. Brandis. And I think, every movie who helps people to find faith in their selves, is a good movie...for those people.