Review: Space Jam: A New Legacy

Space Jam 2, or Space Jam: A New Legacy is aptly titled as a sequel to the 1996 original Space Jam.

A continuation, rather than a straight sequel, “Legacy” is Space Jam meets Hook meets Tron.  But, is it a worthy successor to the “Legacy” of the original?  OR, just an expensive commercial for Warner Brothers Intellectual Properties?

The Plot – Space Jam: A New Legacy

Humble Beginnings

After a brief look at LeBron James’ childhood, where Young LeBron learns hard work on the Basketball court, and to avoid distractions off the court, he chooses to provide for his family; and we jump to the present.

LeBron James’ two sons, the older Darius, and the younger Dominic, or Dom, play Basketball at LeBron’s Los Angeles mansion.  Darius chastises his little brother for not focusing on basketball and being distracted by a video game.  Adult LeBron enters and continues the talk about dedication and hard work, but veers into domineering and toxic parenting rather than listening and supporting.

Dom, played by Cedric Joe, gets saved by the call for Dinner by his mom, Kamiyah, played by Star Trek: Discovery’s Sonequa Martin-Green.  We then see Dom’s true love, video game design.

We also meet the villain of the film, Al G. Rhythm, played by Don Cheadle; a sentient, evil computer algorithm, who lives on Warner Brothers computer servers in the ‘Serververse.’  

Warner 3000

LeBron takes Dom along to a business meeting at Warner Brothers, where he is pitched a virtual business opportunity called “Warner 3000” by Al G Rhythm himself.  In a scene reminiscent of Mr. DNA from Jurassic Park, LeBron hears the proposal; and rejects it.  Al G. loses it.

Dom, amazed by Al G. walks out of the meeting, followed by LeBron.  As they talk, they wander around the building, eventually ending up in the Warner Brothers computer server room, where Al G. sucks them into the Cartoon universe. 

From here, Space Jam enters the 21st Century, and the story closely follows the plot of Robin Williams‘ “Hook”, the Steven Spielberg classic based off of Peter Pan and Captain Hook.  LeBron must assemble a team of Warner Brothers cartoons to play Al G. Rhythm’s Goon Squad in a game of Basketball, based off of Dom’s video game.  Win, and go home.  Lose, and get stuck in the Serververse, FOREVER!

The Good

Story

First and foremost, the story of Space Jam: A New Legacy follows a simple message of loving one’s family, and listening to each other.  SJANL will not be mistaken for an Oscar Winning ‘Best Picture’ candidate, but it does tell an honest, character-driven narrative that shines through all the bright colors and flashy animation.

The relationship between LeBron and Dom is the emotional center of the story. Dom feels unheard as the 12 year old son of the world’s greatest Basketball player; and LeBron feels frustrated trying to be a good dad after growing up in a single parent household.  That conflict takes center stage, even with every conceivable Intellectual Property Warner Brothers owns making an appearance.

Animation

The animation style and pop culture references fly across the screen at a frenzied pace, barely letting the joke sink in before moving on to the next. 

Both traditional hand drawn animation, and more modern, expensive Computer Generated Imagery (CGI), dominate the majority of the film.  LeBron meets the traditional hand drawn cartoon of Bugs Bunny after being sucked into the Serververse.  Bugs and the cartoon LeBron travel around the Warner Brothers IP, assembling a team of Looney Tunes characters to play a basketball game versus the Goon Squad.  Al G, eventually turns the cartoons into CGI characters for the game itself, building out a 3D world.

The Pop Culture references and Comedy one-liners come at a rapid pace throughout the film.  When the animated LeBron lands on Toon World and meets Bugs Bunny, he leaves a Nike shaped hole in the ground that’s impossible to miss.  When Daffy Duck asks Yosemite Sam to ‘shoot the Basketball’, Sam literally shoots the Basketball with his guns.  Some are sight-gags, some are recycled Dad jokes, but all have a fun, playful spirit to them; even if not all of the jokes hit.

The Bad – Space Jam 2

LeBron’s Acting

The acting of LeBron James suffers most in this star vehicle.  While LeBron has acted as “LeBron” before in a big budget Hollywood movie before; this performance is nowhere near as strong.  A New Legacy does ask much more of LeBron as an actor, moving from supporting character with a relatively realistic portrayal in Trainwreck, to lead character with an emotional story to tell in Space Jam 2.

While his performance in 2015’s Trainwreck was one of the stronger points in an otherwise disappointing movie, LeBron this time out gives the flattest performance in a film filled with hand drawn cartoons.  The tennis balls and green screens didn’t take away from 12 year old Cedric Joe’s performance as Dom, but LeBron seems to have a hard time nailing down his performance in that virtual realm. 

Not every scene suffers because of his bad acting, but many do, and do so inconsistently throughout the film.

On top of that, LeBron’s character arc advances and regresses seemingly by the moment.  His character seems to make ‘progress’, then immediately reverts to his toxic parenting from the start of the film.  It’s not that characters can’t backslide throughout a film, but LeBron’s acting choices lack subtlety and nuance. 

The ‘toxic’ at the beginning of the film feels the same as the toxic near the end.  No difference in toxicity feels like no progress of character, and you could easily see LeBron’s character revert again after the end of the film.

The Review – Space Jam: A New Legacy

Fun Summer Movie

Overall, a film that’s a fun summer blockbuster, meant to be watched multiple times to fully absorb all that flies off the screen at the audience.

The animation is high quality, both the hand drawn and the CGI.  Much care was taken in the animation process and the execution of the virtual, digital world.

The homage to Hook’s plot line is well executed.  LeBron’s journey assembling the tune squad, training them to play as a team, then leading them in the “Serververse Classic”, counters well with Al G. ‘s manipulation of Dom as a pseudo father figure giving him the kind of attention LeBron failed to provide.  The corollary between LeBron and Robin Williams’ “Peter Banning”, and Al G. and Dustin Hoffman‘s “Captain Hook” is well executed.

All Of Warner Brothers IP on display

The Warner Brothers IP is on full display throughout, as well.  Going as far back as Casablanca and The Wizard of Oz, to the Matrix and Game Of Thrones; Bugs and company make all kinds of hilarious cameos, including Foghorn Leghorn in a bizarre, yet prescient Game Of Thrones nod.  The callbacks and cameos alone deserve a second watching, as it’s virtually impossible to absorb all of them the first time through.

Not a perfect film, but a lot of fun.  A well executed family story, amidst a rather frenetic and expensive Warner Brothers infomercial.  Highly visual and chaotic, but not distracting from the core story.

Worth taking the family to a matinee in theaters, and/or watching from home on HBO Max.  But, the visuals alone merit a viewing on the big screen.  Just grit your teeth through LeBron’s inconsistent and wooden acting, and you’ll have a good time.

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Additional Information

Space Jam: A New Legacy

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