Like Mike (2002)

Like Mike is a quite formulaic and cheesy family movie about an outsider who is having dreams of becoming somebody famous and of course his dreams come true. Our hero, Calvin Cambridge, (played by Lil Bow Wow) lives in an orphanage in Los-Angeles, near basketball stadium where his favorite NBA team – L.A. Knights plays (by the way fictitious team, real teams in L.A. are Lakers and Clippers). He also loves to play basketball very much and l this game is the only sweet thing that he got in his miserable life in an orphanage. But he is just an ordinary thirteen or fourteen year boy without any special talent for playing his favorite game. One day his finds old sneakers, which are supposed to belong before to some famous basketball player and he believes that was legendary Michael Jordan. After a short confrontation with his rival those sneakers get stuck on a power line and when Calvin is trying to get them back the lightning hits near him and he is shocked by power line. Soon he realizes that his shoes are magic and they give him extraordinary abilities for playing basketball and he wins an exhibition match against real NBA star. There is nothing surprising that after such win he become a player of his favorite team Knights and his life is going to change. The magic promised in the beginning of the story is gone within few minutes and we just see how young celebrity is trying to get into contact with his new partners and fragments of NBA matches with our hero who easily become one of the best players in the whole league and jumps like a … well I don't know exactly like what but one is obvious that he beat some records with his jumps. So Calvin became a NBA player and a celebrity but somehow he has no contract and he still has no any money. Sense of reality is obviously completely lost here. Numerous and mostly silly appearances of actual NBA stars throughout the movie (though some basketball fans obviously would like that), with mentioned scenes of basketball matches and inside the team scenes make that some parts of the movie look like a some kind of silly NBA promotion. And all those basketball elements of the story most of the time easily overshadow all possible morale messages in Like Mike. Well, I believe I have paid enough attention to the movie plot and negative elements and flaws. Despite all above mentioned besides its primitiveness Like Mike is a harmless movie (today that already means something) and not so rude, compared to some recent family friendly movies. The acting is mainly mediocre (the bad guy was really pathetic) with Morris Chestnut (as Tracey Reynolds) as the only bright spot. The chemistry between his character and Lil Bow Wow (who also in some moments shows some acting abilities) is one of a few really decent moments about Like Mike. In the conclusion if you are looking for a good family movie I would rather recommend to find something else than Like Mike, though some kids might like it, particularly die-hard basketball fans.

My grade 5 out of 10.

Fmovies: This is a nice little FAMILY film for kids of all ages young and old this will make you laugh your guts out form start to finish, it is rated G by the motion picture association of America, I my self own a copy Love this movie have since it came out. having aid that the second one I did not enjoy much at all, this film deals with issues such as family life , sibling love as in the case of Calvin and Murph I will say no more on that, this movie if for Kids, and Parents and Grandparents alike young and old and the young at heart

Excellent movie. Lil Bow Wow and Morris Chesnutt gave a funny and inspirational performance. I am a teacher, and I will use this movie in my class to teach lessons about life in general. Entertaining for all ages. The movie taught lessons, showed action, comedy, and emotions.

Like Mike fmovies. I watched this movie and thought it was great. I have two younger sisters, and nowadays I cannot find a good movie that I enjoy, and that is appropriate for my 10 year old sister. This was a very good movie, very clean and enjoyable. Other than the fact that Bow climbs an electric wire in the rain, and that the shoes were magic, the storyline was just enough realistic so that kids can see that life isn't perfect for everyone. Other people have problems too. And there were a surprising twist of events. All in all, I think this was a great show. I really appreciate finding a movie that I don't have to worry about my sisters, and that my parents feel okay with us watching. Thank you!

Like Mike was one of those fun family movies. I never had high expectations of the movie going in and subsequently I was pleasantly surprised. It is no masterpiece, but it is definitely a worthwhile-piece. Bow-Wow was decent as was the script. The movie held an even keel throughout, never getting too dull, but also never having any real riotous moments. Obviously the movie was a bit of a fantasy with a boy finding mystical shoes that gave him the skills of Michael Jordan; but hey, that is what made the movie as good as it was. I like the idea of using a kid as opposed to an adult so as to make the movie more entertaining. In fact, it reminds me of a story I wrote for a sixth grade project. All-in-all, a good movie, certainly better than average.

Like just about every other recent pop star before him, Lil' Bow Wow has landed the starring role in a major motion picture. Unlike the rest of them, he has managed to carry a good, clean family film. There's nothing too offensive here and kids of all ages (at least from the test screening) seemed to eat it up. While it's not terribly original (see "Rookie of the Year"), it's not trying to re-invent kids' movies, it's just trying to entertain in a fun, safe way, which it does.

Bow (Mr. Wow?) has enough boyish charm and enough charisma to show what could be a promising acting career in addition to his duties as a rapper. Morris Chestnut ("The Brothers") does well as an unwilling mentor who becomes a father figure to the orphaned boy. Crispin Glover is pretty creepy as the greedy "caretaker" of the boy, and Robert Forester and Eugune Levy both have humorous bit parts. Funny cameos by famous basketball players with obviously little acting skills give it an authentic feel.

While this probably won't do too well with critics, that's not who it was made for. The target audience is young kids and it will work for them. Parents won't have to worry about anything objective, except a questionable scene where Bow climbs an electrical wire in a rainstorm to recover his shoes. It's entertaining for kids and passable for adults taking their children. If this sounds good to you, you'll probably like it. If not, it wasn't made for you anyway.