In movies, action movies especially, kids don’t usually have a lot of places where they can fit in and be a part of the story since a lot of action movies are inherently dangerous and don’t seem to favor the survival of those that can’t fight against anything that’s their size or smaller. But there are still those sidekicks that are somehow useful to their older and stronger counterparts in other ways that make them worth the effort of keeping them around. In some movies they tend to need a lot more help than they can give, but in others they’re the backup that the hero needs at times in order to get around. Kids don’t often belong in action scenes largely because they don’t have the strength, the speed, or even the firm understanding that what they’re doing and what they’re involved in is highly dangerous. But there are those kids that seem to have a firm grasp on the moment if not the situation as a whole.
Here are some of the best kid sidekicks in movies.
5. Aliens
You might be tempted to say that this doesn’t count since Newt was more of a survivor and needed to be rescued than anything else, but the truth is that she was THE survivor of LV-426 until the Marines showed up. She’d been living on her own and surviving by evading the xenomorphs, using the ducts to move about as she avoided them completely. Had the Marines not showed up there’s good reason to believe she would have eventually met her end, but had Newt not been curious as to who had come to the planet they might never have met and they could have all died. She proved her usefulness pretty quickly when the stuff hit the fan.
4. Deadpool 2
Russell was that kid that no one ever thought much of and had a humongous chip on his shoulder because of it. Of course being experimented on and used as a guinea pig in many ways didn’t help his disposition any as he and Juggernaut made their way back to the place where he’d endured so much pain. It was easy to see that Russell believed he was the one in control, but so long as he was in the mood to destroy it seemed he had the Juggernaut’s attention and loyalty. In many ways Juggernaut was more of a sidekick than Russell was since he was the guy that stayed outside to run interference for his young companion.
3. Sidekicks
Barry was the hopeless dreamer that wanted to be the guy he saw himself as in his fantasies. His obsession with Chuck Norris was something that was mere child’s play until Chuck actually showed up at a martial arts tournament and made his dreams come true. The whole sidekick routine was more or less left to Barry’s fantasy world but it was the driving force that allowed him to overcome his fears and finally start believing in himself. Once he managed to do that he didn’t need Chuck any longer and he found a way to stand on his own two feet for once. But it’s always nice to have that kind of inspiration.
2. The Incredibles
It’s easy to get the feeling that if Mr. Incredible had practiced just a little more tact he might have avoided ticking off the kid that would one day become his worst enemy. A young Syndrome was full of hope and had great ideas that could have helped Mr. Incredible quite a bit. But simply brushing off a fan was obviously not the best idea since Syndrome came back and was anything but ready to make up and forgive the man that had tried to dash his dreams. This is a case of when a wannabe sidekick finally gets tired of trying to impress the hero and goes for the jugular as he presses the point that he no longer needs the hero’s validation of his greatness.
1. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Eo4ni0a_78
Short Round is perhaps one of the greatest sidekicks of all time since he’s one of the smallest people in the movie and yet he carries some of the most weight on his shoulders since he’s Dr. Jones’ moral compass in a way. He and Indy get along pretty well most times and in fact Shorty is Dr. Jones’ biggest supporter throughout the film. He’s also a bit clumsy at times and prone to theatrics now and again, but he was also responsible for bringing Indy out of his trance when he nearly threw his love interest into the fiery pit. Short Round loved his friend so much that he would do just about anything, and almost sacrifice everything to save him.
The sidekick is the person that doesn’t always get the glory but still supports the lead no matter what.
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