`Sidekick' Full Of Action-Movie Cliches

XX "Sidekicks," with Chuck Norris, Beau Bridges, Mako, Jonathan Brandis. Directed by Aaron Norris, from a script by Donald G. Thompson and Lou Illar. Newmark, Aurora, Crossroads, Everett 9, Totem Lake, Grand Cinemas Alderwood, Parkway Plaza, SeaTac North, Valley drive-in. "PG" - Parental guidance advised. ------------------------------------------------------------------- It would be very easy to call "Sidekicks" a derivative assemblage of every cliche that has been compiled throughout the films of martial arts action veteran Chuck Norris. It's like watching one of those sitcom flashback episodes that cannibalize past shows to save time, money and effort on the part of everyone involved.

It would be just as easy - not to mention more appropriate - to acknowledge the obvious shortcomings of this movie while praising its equally obvious good intentions.

If you've seen Norris on talk shows or in person, you know he's a likable, soft-spoken and decent guy, possessing a healthy ego but seemingly unimpressed with the trappings of stardom. He shows every indication of having taken to heart the most noble and affirmative lessons of his highly accomplished martial arts training.

Those are the qualities that make "Sidekicks" a refreshing move for Norris, who casts himself as the quintessential role model of a pale, asthmatic Texan teenager (Jonathan Brandis) who constantly daydreams of being Norris' sidekick in adventures lifted straight out of Chuck's better-known movies, including "Missing in Action" and "Lone Wolf McQuade."

All of his fantasies involve a rescue of his favorite teacher (Julia Nickson-Soul), who gets conveniently chummy with the kid's widower father (Beau Bridges), and whose uncle (Mako) assumes the role of karate mentor so the kid can get strong and make good at the big karate team championships against a team coached by Joe Piscopo (whose hamminess knows no boundary), with a real-life assist - gosh! golly! - from good ol' Chuck Norris himself.

Sure, it's a "Karate Kid" clone, and a vanity production for Norris, whose brother Aaron again serves as director. But it's also a benevolent and sweet gesture on the part of an aging action star who realizes his onscreen days are numbered. For its target audience of boys ages 10 to 15, "Sidekicks" offers a simple but admirable lesson that never goes out of style.