Sidekicks (1992)
2/4
Chuck Norris is an interesting talent. He can be great at what he does, like with films such as "Lone Wolf McQuade" or "Code of Silence" with those films, he's a pretty talented guy - he's quite the martial artist and quite the action hero.
In "Sidekicks" he is nothing less than a bonafide legend, playing himself as a mentor to a young kid. What does it take to do something like that? Oh, you'd be surprised. I was going to say that he plays himself, but he literally does, here, so that's something that wouldn't make any sense. It is not a particularly good movie, but it sure is not boring, that's for sure, because this is a story so ridiculous that it has to be seen to be believed, but this is a movie review, so I'll tell you to believe it.
It mainly follows Barry (Jonathon Brandis), a young asmatic kid who's constantly bullied in school and isn't getting far in life. It's clear he has a passion for karate and Chuck Norris, having daydreams in class, fantasizing about karate, etc. Deciding to finally do something with his life, he wants to train in karate, and asks Kelly Stone (Joe Piscopo), a strict, almost cartoonishly strict martial arts instructor villain, and long story short, he says no, with a bit of drama. That's when he meets his schoolteacher's uncle, Mr. Lee (the legendary Mako) who agrees to train him in karate. Barry actually does really well as a karate student, and is put into a karate championship, facing, of course, Kelly Stone, yet again. At the championship, a big surprise comes; Chuck Norris shows up. And because Barry only has three for his team and needs four, they ask Chuck, who actually agrees and fights with Kelly Stone.
What do you think? Sounds insane? It is. It very much is. Joe Piscopo gives one of the most hilariously bad performances of all time as Kelly Stone. He screams, yells, and just about makes you have a heart attack from laughing so hard. As for the plot, it's "The Karate Kid" all over again, but just copied. Mako is the Mr. Miyagi character, and Brandis is the Ralph Maccio character. Chuck Norris actually playing himself is crazy, and this film is ridiculously entertaining, yet also, really cheesy and predictable. One thing that I found even more crazy was that Piscopo's character is basically a rip-off of the villain of "Karate Kid III" which in itself was a ripoff of every cheesy 80's villain... see my point? "Sidekicks" is recycled, except for the fact that Chuck Norris is here. It's a bad but gloriously, entertainingly bad movie, with a lot of camp and enjoyment value. "Sidekicks" is also certainly not boring - not with all these colorful performances and random moments.
2/4
Chuck Norris is an interesting talent. He can be great at what he does, like with films such as "Lone Wolf McQuade" or "Code of Silence" with those films, he's a pretty talented guy - he's quite the martial artist and quite the action hero.
In "Sidekicks" he is nothing less than a bonafide legend, playing himself as a mentor to a young kid. What does it take to do something like that? Oh, you'd be surprised. I was going to say that he plays himself, but he literally does, here, so that's something that wouldn't make any sense. It is not a particularly good movie, but it sure is not boring, that's for sure, because this is a story so ridiculous that it has to be seen to be believed, but this is a movie review, so I'll tell you to believe it.
It mainly follows Barry (Jonathon Brandis), a young asmatic kid who's constantly bullied in school and isn't getting far in life. It's clear he has a passion for karate and Chuck Norris, having daydreams in class, fantasizing about karate, etc. Deciding to finally do something with his life, he wants to train in karate, and asks Kelly Stone (Joe Piscopo), a strict, almost cartoonishly strict martial arts instructor villain, and long story short, he says no, with a bit of drama. That's when he meets his schoolteacher's uncle, Mr. Lee (the legendary Mako) who agrees to train him in karate. Barry actually does really well as a karate student, and is put into a karate championship, facing, of course, Kelly Stone, yet again. At the championship, a big surprise comes; Chuck Norris shows up. And because Barry only has three for his team and needs four, they ask Chuck, who actually agrees and fights with Kelly Stone.
What do you think? Sounds insane? It is. It very much is. Joe Piscopo gives one of the most hilariously bad performances of all time as Kelly Stone. He screams, yells, and just about makes you have a heart attack from laughing so hard. As for the plot, it's "The Karate Kid" all over again, but just copied. Mako is the Mr. Miyagi character, and Brandis is the Ralph Maccio character. Chuck Norris actually playing himself is crazy, and this film is ridiculously entertaining, yet also, really cheesy and predictable. One thing that I found even more crazy was that Piscopo's character is basically a rip-off of the villain of "Karate Kid III" which in itself was a ripoff of every cheesy 80's villain... see my point? "Sidekicks" is recycled, except for the fact that Chuck Norris is here. It's a bad but gloriously, entertainingly bad movie, with a lot of camp and enjoyment value. "Sidekicks" is also certainly not boring - not with all these colorful performances and random moments.