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Like Mike Review:
This fantasy gives the Nike catch phrase "It's gotta be the shoes" a whole new meaning. Transposing Rookie of the Year's pipsqueak-in-the-pros formula to basketball, Like Mike rides an astonishingly natural performance from rapper Lil Bow Wow all the way to easy grins and harmless escapism. The idea of a 14-year-old in the NBA also has an ironic timeliness, as the feature was released in an era in which the sport was coming under fire for enticing teenage athletes to skip college. As a socially responsible children's movie, however, Like Mike makes sure to include footage of Calvin Cambridge continuing to do his homework, even as he's on the road with the team, trailed by a media circus. (Less commendable is the copycat-prone scene in which Calvin gets zapped while fishing the sneakers in question from an electrical wire). Though it contains more establishing shots of its primary product tie-in (L.A.'s Staples Center) than actual jump shots, Like Mike does mostly have its priorities in order. With real player Spud Webb having demonstrated that height is not an absolute prerequisite for NBA success, the concept isn't even that far-fetched, though its execution is hardly seamless, with the dunking Calvin looking jerkily airlifted toward the basket. Lil Bow Wow holds the shakier moments together with a grounded performance, his doe eyes expressing volumes of excitement and disappointment. He also buries his instinctual rapper machismo, embracing the film's kiddie focus. Notable supporting performances include Crispin Glover, whose oddball tics are a pleasure in such a mainstream movie, and Jonathan Lipnicki, who still seems barely to have aged in the six years since Jerry Maguire. Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide