Space Jam: A New Legacy

Starring: LeBron James, Don Cheadle, Cedric Joe, Khris Davis, Sonequa Martin-Green, Ceyair J. Wright, Harper Leigh Alexander, Anthony Davis, Draymond Green, Damian Lilliard, Klay Thompson, Sarah Silverman, Steven Yeun, Lil Rey Howery, Michael B. Jordan (cameo), Jeff Bergman (voice), Zendaya (voice), Rosario Dawson (voice)
Directed by: Malcolm D. Lee
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: LeBron James must team up with the Looney Tunes to rescue his son from a rogue artificial intelligence.

Review:

Tim: I remember years ago, when LeBron James was still on my Cleveland Cavaliers, that I loved the idea of him starring in a sequel to Space Jam. We finally got that dream, but he's since moved to the Los Angeles Lakers, so I'm much more comfortable expressing my distaste for this movie. It might not quite be terrible, but there was every reason for this movie to better than the original. It's fairly disappointing that this movie manages to be worse.

Look, the reality is (in my opinion, obviously) that the first Space Jam isn't very good. I liked it as a kid, but as a reasoning adult, it's flawed and forced. As much as I want to like that movie, I just can't. That movie seemed cool, but it's surprisingly ineffective. The bar wasn't set very high for this movie. This sequel only managed to be a decent movie and it would improve on Michael Jordan's version. Unfortunately, that does not happen.

A big reason for this is the hiring of Malcolm D. Lee as director. Lee is a pretty awful director (see Undercover Brother and Scary Movie V). Night School was decent, I'll give him that. Unfortunately, Space Jam: A New Legacy doesn't even get close to that film. The film is a bit of a mess. A good deal of this has to do with the script, which is quite bad. But, you absolutely have to put much of the blame on Lee and Warner Brothers for hiring him. This film is badly executed, which is a big reason why it's so bad.

The story and the background feel forced. LeBron is tough on his kids, an A.I. thing kidnaps his son, he randomly teams with the Looney Tunes to get him back. I don't know, man, even typing all that has me rolling my eyes. None of this needed to be as complicated or forced as the film made it out to be. None of it is especially compelling. We just want to see LeBron and Bugs Bunny playing basketball. The story here feels like it just gets in the way (note: a bad thing for the story to feel like it's doing). It's lowest common denominator story telling.

I know some reviewers complained that this movie was just a way for Warner Brothers to sell their intellectual property. I don't get this take. That's exactly why they are making movies to begin with. So, the idea of treating this film like a giant commercial for other Warner Brothers' content didn't really bother me. It's all ridiculous anyway, so why not throw in the Whitewalkers, Superman, gremlins, etc.? Sure, this serves to distract us from the main story (which yes, is bad), but it's kind of fun to see all this IP crammed into one film together. It hurts the movie a little, but not as much as some made it out to. The biggest problem is that it pulls time and attention away from the real stars of the film.

LeBron is a pretty bad actor, but so was Michael Jordan. Jordan might have seemed a little more natural, but I think it's pretty even between these two. I felt badly for Don Cheadle- he really put a lot into his antagonistic role. He was never bad, but he didn't get much help. I thought Sonequa Martin-Green was completely wasted here. I hope she doesn't continue to get cast in these small, pointless roles. There's a lot of cameos, none of which are especially interesting, besides (SPOILER) the Michael B. Jordan one. That one was unnecessary, but sort of funny.

The basketball scenes were surprisingly ineffective. This is a major issue with the film. I know technology is omnipresent in 2021 and I get that this movie wanted to feel like a video game. However, it takes any kind of excitement out. Early on, the Goon Squad is set up to be overwhelmingly powerful, able to score at will and mess with the score. It feels rigged against the Tune Squad. Of course, they are going to come back, but it all feels pointless and arbitrary. It's hard to feel excitement when the Tunes are down by thousands of points and it's cringeworthy to see the lengths the story goes to get them to within a bucket (because you know the final shot will matter). The whole thing just came across as weak.

The animation was pretty good and a definite improvement over the original. I liked seeing the Looney Tunes rendered in that modern computer animated style. It certainly gave this movie a unique look.

I really tried to like this movie, just like I tried to like the original. LeBron is still the hometown kid and I wanted his movie to be a success. However, I have to be honest and Space Jam: A New Legacy only tarnishes whatever minuscule legacy the original had. I didn't care for the movie much at all.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Space Jam, Looney Tunes: Back in Action