Hulu will present a new series, titled ‘Mike,’ on their service on August 25th. The show will chart Mike Tyson’s rise to fame as well as all the trials and tribulations of his life throughout his boxing career. Trevante Rhodes will be the actor to dare try and give us a memorable performance as the two time champion.
Fans may remember that HBO made a television movie about the man once known as the “Baddest man on the planet” back in 1995 starring Michael Jai White as the famous heavyweight fighter. Now outdated, ‘Tyson’ only followed Mike’s career up until his release from prison in 1995 for rape charges.
If you are a devoted fan of boxing or a dedicated follower of Mike Tyson’s career then it is likely that you have already watched that particular biopic, which also features Paul Winfield as Don King and George C. Scott as Cus D’Amato.
Does it still hold up today, 27 years later?
Well, ‘Tyson’ is a movie that, for all of it’s running time of 104 minutes, does not contain much of anything that would date it. Michael Jai White, known for his roles in such films as ‘Spawn’ and ‘The Dark Knight’ does not particularly look similar to the real Mike Tyson. Still, he does the best with what he had to play with and effectively portrayed a man who you sensed was on the brink of self-destruction at any moment.
George C. Scott as Cus, Tyson’s legendary tutor, tries his best with what he has. Nevertheless, he captured the mannerisms and the general body language of the real D’Amato pretty well. His Cus isn’t totally likeable. But then perhaps he was not meant to be. And dare I say it, neither was the actual figure. At least he looked more faithful, physically, than Jai White did to the respective person that he was mimicking. Paul Winfield as Don King is probably the actor that steals the movie for me. He just about gets the aura and charisma of the real King about right and he commands every scene that he is in. James Sikking as Bill Clayton and Clark Gregg as Kevin Rooney are merely adequate.
The fight sequences is something that I have the biggest issue with. It seems that director, Uli Edel did not bother to do his homework and take note of how the real Mike Tyson fought. That is blatantly evident whenever we see Jai White on screen. He comes across as a fighter who was more of a pressure brawler than the skilled defensive genius that Mike once was. Not once does the film bother to show us just what made Mike Tyson stand out from the rest. In fact, the Tyson in this film looks startingly ordinary! And it takes more than quick cut edits of various opponents being knocked out to get us to understand what made Mike one of the most exciting heavyweight boxers of all time.
Being a HBO Films production, it is important to watch this biopic with a certain perspective. As it is not a Hollywood picture, it was never going to come with “all the trimmings,” as they say. At times it looks cheap. And that should be expected. But the story telling is serviceable, even if we do not learn much of anything new that what we already know. Some liberties are taken when it comes to the facts. But movie studios always reserve that right. And again, that should be expected.
I would say that ‘Tyson’ is worth a watch again if you have not seen it for many years. It will likely serve as a nice appetiser before the Hulu series in August. And if you have not seen it at all then I would not go out of my way to track it down. Unless you are a Mike Tyson addict. Then it is likely a must watch for you.
You can check out the trailer for the upcoming show here:
