Twenty-five years after the Tune Squad defeated the Monstars the Looney Tunes are back, and this time they are pairing with LeBron James. After Al G. Rhythm (Don Cheadle) kidnaps LeBron’s son, Dom James (Cedric Joe), James is forced to do all that he can to save the day and get his family back together--and that comes in the form of a basketball game. With the help of the world-famous Bugs Bunny (Jeff Bergman) and his cohorts, James will take the journey of his life--and he will never see the world the same again. Space Jam: A New Legacy tells the story of LeBron as he journeys through the world of tunes.
The biggest issue with the original Space Jam was the fact that Michael Jordan is, at best, a very average actor who struggled to convey emotion appropriately, hindering viewers’ ability to appreciate important moments throughout the film. However, James makes Jordan look like Jack Nicholson or Denzel Washington. Sure, this is coming from a person who simply tolerates James’ existence in the National Basketball Association (NBA) simply because he likes basketball, and I know that diminishes my opinion just a bit, but, let’s be honest, LeBron can’t act. It’s difficult to find the emotion in any of the scenes in which James is present throughout Space Jam: A New Legacy, dragging the film down and making it difficult for viewers to appreciate.
It’s clear that a lot of time and effort went into the production of Space Jam: A New Legacy as multiple worlds, including Harry Potter world, The Matrix world, and Game of Thrones world play a role in the story of James and the new Tune Squad. I’m a sucker for crossovers and love seeing all of these Warner Bros. properties merging to create one, cohesive story. This genius move allows Space Jam: A New Legacy to appeal to fans of literally dozens of franchises that have existed over the course of the past sixty-plus years. This aspect of the film, and this aspect alone, is what intrigued me in this sequel/reimagining of Space Jam.
I get that Space Jam: A New Legacy is based on a fictional world in which real people and animated individuals combine to create a strange world of animated chaos, but director Malcolm D. Lee abandons the fundamentals of Space Jam, and we see James change his physical appearance too many times. I want to see a genuine combination of animation and live-action throughout the course of Space Jam: A New Legacy, but instead we get a hodgepodge of animation that just doesn’t make sense.
Warner Bros. tries so hard to modernize this film and appeal to a younger generation addicted to video games. Space Jam: A New Legacy sees the beautiful and entertaining game of basketball bastardized and turned into something nearly unwatchable and boring. As the film plays out Lee tries desperately to pull viewers into this fictitious world of basketball and competition, but through the monotony of Lebron’s journey those viewers struggle to feel the same level of intensity felt in the original.
While it’s not necessarily fair to compare Space Jam: A New Legacy to Space Jam, it’s impossible to view this film completely separate from its predecessor, as they are both part of the Space Jam franchise. The action sequences are boring, the comedy fails to land, and unnecessary changes to what had been so successful in the past haunt this film from the beginning. All that Warner Bros. had promised this film to be is thrown to the wayside almost immediately, and Space Jam: A New Legacy fails to entertain like many had hoped. LeBron James has no place in cinema and should stick to basketball. Space Jam: A New Legacy has very little to offer viewers, and viewers should avoid it and stick to the classic live-action/animated spectacle of Space Jam.
Directed by Malcolm D. Lee.
Written by Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier, Keenan Coogler, Terence Nance, Jesse Gordon, Celeste Ballard, etc.
Starring LeBron James, Don Cheadle, Cedric Joe, Khris Davis, Sonequa Martin-Green, Ceyair J. Wright, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Klay Thompson, Nneka Ogwumike, Diana Taurasi, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
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