Space Jam: A New Legacy

2021

PG

The Looney Tunes reemerge on the basketball court for the first time in 25 years, but instead of Michael Jordan leading the team, it is LeBron James. LeBron must team up with the Looney Tunes to take on a team of professional basketball players with special powers led by an ego-maniacal AI villain. The Goon Squad must win the big game because the fate many people on Earth is at stake. I debated on waiting until this film was released in stores, but I was in the mood to watch it, so I did just that. This film obviously wasn’t going to be the same as the first as times have changed since 1996, but did this second installment live up to the hype? Did it meet or exceed expectations? Keep reading to find out my opinion.

The beginning of the film shows LeBron James as a kid back in Akron and his two loves are video games and basketball. Although he loves both, he is told by his coach that he must choose one to get serious about. He tossed the Game Boy aside and pursued basketball. It then flashes forward to present time. LeBron’s sons are playing basketball at their home court, but with his youngest son Dom (Cedric Joe), basketball seems to be his second choice between video games and basketball. Dom is a talented video game creator and developed his own NBA Jam-style video game. LeBron wants him to pursue basketball, but he doesn’t show as much interest in it. LeBron’s wife, Kamiyah (Sonequa Martin-Green), wants LeBron to support his son and his dreams, but he has a difficult time understanding his interests.

Attempting to take an interest in his game development, LeBron asks Dom if he would like to join him at Warner Bros. to meet with executives on a potential movie deal. The pitch was introduced to them and LeBron didn’t like the ideas, but Dom was interested. Wanting to learn more, the two wound up being consumed by the Warner 3000 serververse. This AI server is led by Al-G Rhythm (Don Cheadle) and Al-G manipulates Dom into thinking that his father doesn’t care about him and he would be better off on his own and takes him hostage in a sense. Al-G and LeBron come to an agreement that they would each play a basketball game for the release of Dom, but there is a catch. LeBron must construct a team from the Warner Bros universe and this is where he and the Looney Tunes team up. Al-G convinces Dom to team up with him to take on his dad but unbeknownst to Dom, Al-G uses the sequences from the game that Dom created to their advantage. Al-G and Dom’s team, or the Goon Squad, consist of Anthony Davis, Diana Taurasi, Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, and Nneka Ogwumike. All of these professional basketball players have superpowers that give them an advantage in one way or another and Dom’s abilities are maxed out as well. It is finally game-time between the Tune Squad and the Goon Squad and both teams find out there may be more at stake than they anticipated. Throughout the movie, but especially during the game, the characters are reminded of the ongoing theme of seriousness and fun.

I really had no plans to watch this movie in theaters, but I was influenced by Pardon My Take to watch it. I was going to watch it eventually, but I decided to pay the ticket price and get a theater experience. I noticed before I watched it that this movie is nearly 2 hours long. I was a little skeptical about a movie like this going on for 2 hours, but the extra time wasn’t really noticed, which was a good sign. My expectations for this film weren’t high and yours shouldn’t be either. This movie isn’t going to be an award-winning film. Viewers should realize that prior to watching it. It is an entertaining and family-friendly movie starring the Looney Tunes in Live-Action situations and nothing more. With that being said, I think the online ratings are totally unfair. I feel like viewers let their feelings of LeBron get in the way of their actual feelings of the movie. The film is currently listed as a 4.3/10 on IMDb and 31% on Rotten Tomatoes. I honestly don’t understand why. Was is awesome? Not really, but it wasn’t 4/10 bad. I thought the movie was actually pretty good for what it was, and I think the Audience Score of 81% on Rotten Tomatoes tells a story that the critics may have went in with unrealistic expectations.

The ongoing consensus among critics seem to go from heartless, cash-grab to Warner Bros flexing their proverbial muscles. Some said that it was a 2-hour advertisement for HBO Max. I didn’t see it that way. Sure, there were a lot of unnecessary cameos from the Warner Bros. Universe, but you have to remind yourself, this movie may not be intended for viewers like you. While I understand characters like Pennywise, Rick and Morty, and the whole Game of Thrones world doesn’t exactly appeal to the younger audience, it brings adult interests and children’s interests together for good family fun. Most “family-oriented” movies sneak adult humor in their films and this was no different, but for the most part, it was intended to be for kids. The visuals were fantastic. The Looney Tunes characters looked great in all environments and there was a great mix of animation and real-world/CGI visuals. I think that $150 Million budget was put to the test and I don’t think they’ll have a problem profiting from this movie.

Naturally, this will always be compared to the original Space Jam so, how does it hold up compared to the original? I watched the original just prior to watching this, because I wanted a reference point between the two movies. I have seen the original before, but I wanted to have a fresh memory of it going into the theater to watch the new one. Which one is better? I have no answer and I’ll tell you why. Despite having the same premise of a basketball star teaming up with the Looney Tunes to take on the Goon Squad, these were two different films. This wasn’t a sequel. Jordan’s adaptation focused on his baseball career and how he started to stray away from it and return to basketball. LeBron’s adaptation focuses on him supporting his son in his interest of video game development and how they share a love of basketball. I know what you’re thinking, how do I not have an answer? Despite their differences, the execution of their respective storylines were so similar, I can’t decide which I liked better. I liked both of them. I have to say though, I thought this film did a better job of developing characters other than the lead role. The original’s story didn’t stray too far away from Jordan, which was fine, but I liked that this new adaptation added more layers.

Growing up, I was a big LeBron James fan. In fact, LeBron was drafted Number One by the Cleveland Cavaliers on my 8th birthday and from that point on, I decided he was going to be my favorite basketball player. LeBron’s influence on the game of basketball has definitely compared to Michael Jordan in a number of ways and I’m not here to debate who is better, but it is times like these when we are reminded how big of an influence that these athletes are. When Space Jam was released in 1996, there wasn’t a bigger athlete on the planet than Michael Jordan. Many kids idolized him, and Space Jam was a big cultural influence during this time. One of those kids was LeBron James. I wonder how many kids growing up today will be influenced by LeBron James and this film? 25 years from now, will some kid today watch this movie and become the next star of the next Space Jam movie? It’s definitely crazy to think about.

With all of that being said, do I recommend this movie? This is a perfect family movie night feature, but for someone my age or older, I would recommend waiting until it is released to home media to watch it. I’m glad I watched it, but I advise you not to expect the unexpected. Don’t go into the movie with false hope for some kind of Oscar-worthy spectacle, because you will be let down. And if your hate for LeBron is so insurmountable that you think it may influence your opinion about the movie, don’t consider watching it at all.

GRADE: 3.75/5

Yacs

Movie Review - Space Jam: A New Legacy