Mike Limited Series Premiere Early Review

The following is a review of the first 2 episodes of Mike, premiering next Friday on Disney Plus Star and Hulu.

Everybody more or less knows about boxer Mike Tyson and his larger-than-life personality. That being said, how did a such a character come to be? Mike is the latest limited series looking to explore the roller coaster life of the polarizing boxer and his impact on sports and pop culture as a whole.

The lack of involvement of Tyson himself in the series admittedly makes for some awkwardness while watching. Befitting its subject, the series isn’t necessarily a straightforward telling as it takes more of a nonlinear narrative approach along with an inconsistent tone which does create its own set of issues as the series takes some time to get going and find its groove. Having a lot of ground to cover, short episodes clocking in at around the 30-minute mark is a peculiar choice at least so far though its prospects could become clearer as the series goes on. Meanwhile, casting was certainly going to be a challenge. Any figure such as Tyson is unlikely to be equaled but Trevante Rhodes appears to be up to the challenge. While he may not 100% look like him, he definitely captures his energy and presence as well as his distinctive voice.

Jumping back and forth, the first two episodes of Mike go to the many ups and downs of his past in order to relate it to the present as it sees Tyson (Rhodes) tell his story in front of an audience. Coming from less-than-ideal circumstances in late 1960s Brooklyn, he literally had to fight to survive. Developmentally-disabled, his high-pitched voice and lisp made him an easy target for bullies. With no support system whatsoever at home, he was alone. Overwhelmed, Tyson simply stopped going to school at a young age while turning to a life of fighting and petty crime. Hating himself, he took out that anger on others. Eventually finding himself incarcerated, this was where Tyson became enamored with boxing.

Obviously talented, he saw it as a potential future. Ultimately in order to move forward, he would need to start taking things a lot more seriously and apply himself, a task that would be easier said than done as he moved away from his former life. Getting better and better, he caught the attention of infamous boxing trainer Cus D’Amato (Harvey Keitel) who believed Tyson to be something special. From there, it was up to D’Amato to build up Tyson into the kind of champion he believed him to be. In order to do so, he would need to build the support system he never had. To start his amateur boxing career, his trainers cut some corners but nevertheless, his talent still shone through. Though D’Amato had a plan for Tyson’s career, it didn’t necessarily go according to plan. Pivoting, his career finally seemed to take off as more and more were taking notice of his rise.

Running pretty quick, Mike would have been better if it given some of its big story beats some more time to breathe and allow it to have more of an impact. Instead of opting for a more straightforward telling, the story is told from Tyson’s perspective with some over-the-top moments and fourth wall breaking meant to accentuate moments in a comedic way which was merely a distraction more than anything else. This style has already been used countless times across film and television but it doesn’t work for every kind of story. However, a straightforward telling probably would not have fared that much better as Tyson arguably lives somewhere in between so finding the right balance is a tough balancing act that the series doesn’t quite find so far.

At the end of the day, the best part of Mike is its performances. As mentioned, Rhodes captures the energy and presence of Tyson but these first two episodes put him on the backburner by mostly relegating him to a narrator role that will surely evolve over the course of the series. The real standout so far was B.J. Minor who gets the bulk of the screen time as Teen Mike Tyson. That section of the story was by far the strongest thanks to him, showing some vulnerability and naivety underneath all that personality which made it easy to connect to that part of his journey.

The first two episodes of Mike sees the series off to a rough start as it fails to find the right groove. The pieces are there but they haven’t quite come together.

still courtesy of Hulu

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.