The film received generally positive reviews from film critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an 85% approval rating based on 141 reviews, with an average rating of 7.08/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A warm, family-friendly underdog story, featuring terrific supporting performances from Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, and Angela Bassett". On Metacritic, the film has an average weighted score of 72 out 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film a rare average grade of "A+".