I understand that a lot of people on social media were upset with Mike Tyson not being a part of his own story. People were equally upset with him not receiving any compensation for the biopic. I understand the anger and disappointment; however, if Mike Tyson had control of his own story it's possible that certain aspects of himself would not have been shown. The Hulu presented biopic, "Mike" is meant to leave the viewer with having to formulate their own opinion.
Mike Tyson and Don King were both well-portrayed. It felt like you were watching them play themselves. There are a total of 8 episodes with 22 minutes or so to each episode. Personally, I would have liked if the episodes were longer and would not have minded if there were multiple seasons to this biopic.
I listen to and watch Teddy Atlas' YouTube podcast called "The Fight Game," and he has talked about Cus D'Amato at length and never once talked poorly about him. Teddy Atlas was a "street tough" himself and neither he nor Cus I think knew how to address Mike Tyson's behavior. I understand that I am only basing my opinion off of Teddy Atlas so I do not truly know if Cus D'Amato was portrayed accurately. I think it leaves the viewer once again having to formulate their own opinion on who was actually in Mike Tyson's life to support him and who was there to only manipulate him. It left me wondering about Cus D'Amato's intentions, but I've heard consistently that he believed in him and treated him like family. Cus D'Amato, by the time he met Mike Tyson, was older and had lived for boxing and I think that was his way of teaching him about life and showing him love. Cus D'Amato's unwavering support of Mike Tyson I believe eventually pushed Teddy Atlas away.
I think the biopic does a good job of also holding Mike Tyson accountable for his own behaviors, that although a victim of trauma and being used by unsavory people he also made poor choices and hurt a lot of people, physically and emotionally.
I was not too fond of the boxing scenes and wish they were a bit longer. I understand it's about his story, but the boxing scenes also matter. For a figure that can be so polarizing I also wish they went slower with telling Mike Tyson's story. In some ways it felt rushed. The in-between narrating was excessive and took away from certain moments. It felt like literally in every scene there was some kind of narration. I don't need it all the time to understand the point. In some ways it also felt like the writer/director were trying too hard. When Mike Tyson was shown on stage there were some scenes where you could see the line of his bald cap. It might sound trivial, but for a major streaming service you have to do better.
It's a good biopic, but you don't need to watch it more than once. A 6/10 rating is more than fair.
