by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
Full disclosure on a couple things: I was born and raised in the Chicago area and my feelings towards LeBron James are complicated. I grew up on the ’90s Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan is an icon to me. Any talk of who’s the greatest basketball player of all time between James and Jordan is tough since I try not to let my Chicago roots dictate an emotional decision. As a basketball fan, it’s easy to say that there can’t be just one greatest of all time since basketball is a team sport. Since the positions are different and they require different skills depending on player, judging two different players at two different positions in two different eras is tricky. Eras of basketball are different with physical play and scoring shifting in importance in the last 25 years or so, and the evolution of the game has shifted towards new styles of play with increased emphasis on three point shooting and flashy posterizing dunks.
It’s no different for this next chapter of who’s better: who’s Space Jam movie is better? Again the answer is complicated.
I saw Space Jam in theaters and loved it. As a kid, it checked all my boxes: basketball, Jordan, great soundtrack, comedy, cartoon characters I loved. The first Space Jam movie is so campy and focused more on the Looney Tunes needing Jordan that it’s charming, almost to a fault. After watching it again in anticipation of the sequel (shout out to Hulu for dropping it on the streaming platform) and taking off my nostalgia glasses, Space Jam isn’t objectively a great movie and a huge reason why is because Jordan is clearly not an actor. This was a great platform for him to announce his return to the NBA after a brief retirement and his dabbling in minor league baseball. Jordan is surrounded by actors helping him out. Danny Devito made for a compelling villain, Wayne Knight chipped in as the annoying yet lovable assistant, and Bill Murray was the unsung hero of the original movie.
Here we are, 25 years later for Space Jam: A New Legacy and James is the star of this movie. This fictionalized version of him is an all-time NBA player and entrepreneur who pushes his kids to work as hard at basketball as he’s had to do his whole life. One of James’ sons, Dom, would rather create video games and is finding a way to let his dad know he’d rather go to video game camp instead of basketball camp. James doesn’t yet understand that he should push his kids to be who they are instead of who he thinks they can and should be. Trapped in the Warner Bros. Serververse, James needs the help of the Looney Tunes to save his son (and soon, a lot of other people) from the evil Al G Rhythm (Don Cheadle). Al G Rhythm is upset when James spurns his idea of having James be scanned into movies through an application called Warner 3000. James’ opponents this time around is the Goon Squad (already a point taken off because Monstars is a fantastic name for an opposing team from the first movie) composed of video game avatars of James’ NBA and WNBA buddies. James and the Tune Squad must defeat the Goon Squad in order to save his family and all the followers trapped in the Serververse to watch the game.
There’s quite a few things to like in this movie. Don Cheadle looks like he’s having the time of his life playing Al G Rhythm; he understands what movies he’s in. It’s supposed to be fun and over-the-top, particularly for the target youth audience. Zendaya is a welcome breath of fresh air to Lola Bunny. She is a great addition in general because she can actually play basketball.
I did also like parts of the plot. Execution becomes an issue, but more on that later. The plot pieces involving the video game that James’ son creates were really cool. It gave me a NBA Jam feel. I loved seeing WNBA players on the Goon Squad. The Dame Time sequence was my favorite part of the actual basketball game and Chronos is my favorite character on the Goon Squad. Her performance was also great. The “Michael Jordan” cameo did have me laughing out loud as well. Finally, the uniforms for the Tune Squad in this movie are legitimately better than the first one’s classic design.
There are three messages I really liked from Space Jam: A New Legacy. The overall messages of family being fundamental, individuals need to chart their own paths, and the need for fun in basketball are all conveyed effectively. Family being fundamental is a great message for a kids’ movie, especially in a digital age where kids can be anything they’d like to be. Especially important, the parts where Dom stands up for himself and what he wants to do are nice ways for kids to see it’s okay to speak your mind to parents in a respectful way. LeBron eventually listens, but it takes some time for him to figure this out. Basketball being fun is a great message, too. In this day of AAU basketball for young talent, basketball is very much a sport that needs to be working non-stop with top young basketball players. Sometimes just playing the game for fun is okay!
Space Jam: A New Legacy suffers from some common sequel issues. Expanding the universe too much leaves characters getting the short-shrift. This felt like two love letters boiled into one movie. This movie is a love letter to Warner Bros. and its impressive studio catalog disguised as a Space Jam movie. Splicing Looney Tunes characters into iconic moments in the WB studio history was pretty cool to see. However, we’ve already seen this story play out before with Ready Player One a few years ago. Stuffing the IPs into this movie was fun to watch so we can go full “Where’s Waldo” finding characters we recognize and moments from IPs we love.
But there’s just too much going on and not enough of a focus on what’s at hand. It has all the vibes of expanding the plot by dartboard and feels like the filmmakers said, whichever character the darts land on, we’ll just add it to the movie. It unfortunately doesn’t give enough time for the Looney Tunes to do what they do best — be looney! That’s one element of the movie I really wish had more time. For instance, in the first Space Jam, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck go on their own side quest to retrieve Jordan’s college basketball shorts, but the sequel doesn’t feature anything like that. The Porky Pig sequence in the middle of the game is probably going to be a divisive topic. I didn’t mind it and wouldn’t have minded more sequences like this or more time for the Looney Tunes to shine. There’s a reason why the first Space Jam had Bugs Bunny receive top billing.
The film also makes the stakes way too serious for a movie of this caliber. Everyone who’s viewing the game will be trapped in the Serververse forever if the Tune Squad doesn’t win.
The biggest issue I have with this is actually the things James says and does. There’s a scene at the Warner Bros. studio where James goes to a meeting where they pitch putting him in all these Warner Bros. properties. Not a bad strategy considering it’s working out great for Dwayne Johnson to be put in a variety of different types of IPs. James scoffs at the idea and says, “I’m a ball player, acting and athletes never works.” Although I can appreciate the irony of the line, it stuck out as an out for James to put together a relatively lazy movie and he gets the excuse of being an athlete for why this movie doesn’t work. This isn’t James’ first foray into acting. He was great in Trainwreck in smaller doses and when the writing and producing is in someone else’s hands. James then also says Al G Rhythm’s idea is whack and doesn’t think scanning himself into WB properties is a good idea. The movie then proceeds to do this anyway despite James saying the idea isn’t good.
I can see kids really liking this movie the same way I liked the first Space Jam as a kid. For me, there were parts I enjoyed, but for the most part, I was not a huge fan. This falls under an unnecessary sequel that I don’t think entirely works. James gets points for trying, but this was a missed dunk.
Grade: C-
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