Space Jam: A New Legacy is set 25 years after the first movie, but instead of Michael Jordan, we get LeBron James taking center stage and the results hardly make the playoffs.
James plays a fictionalized version of himself and his hope is to have his sons follow in his footsteps playing basketball. However, his younger son Dom (Cedric Joe) is much more interested in creating video games and LeBron thinks he’s wasting his time.
LeBron gets an invite to Warner Bros. to star in a movie that he rejects, but Dom expresses interest in the studio’s A.I. which is dominated by a program called Al-G Rhythm (Don Cheadle).
Al-G Rhythm wants to be recognized by the world and he figures his best shot is to kidnap both LeBron and his son and place them in a virtual basketball game where, if LeBron wins, they can both return home. If not, they’re stuck in the program forever. How original.
Inside Warner’s A.I., LeBron gets introduced to the Looney Tunes characters including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Lola Bunny, and the rest of the gang as they prepare to help LeBron win the game. As for his son, Al-G Rhythm does everything in his power to manipulate Dom and convince him to join his team.
This is a Warner Bros. movie and I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the cornucopia of intellectual properties on display. I don’t think there’s been this much shameless product placement in a movie in years.
Inside the Warners A.I. they occupy, we get to see virtually (no pun intended) every property and franchise under WB’s belt. Everything from Batman to Harry Potter to The Matrix gets a not-so-subtle Easter egg.
In the climax with the big game between LeBron’s Toon Squad vs. Al-G Rhythm’s Goon Squad, not only do those franchises appear, but we also get King Kong, The Iron Giant, Pennywise from It, The Mask and even the Droogs from A Clockwork Orange pop up.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with Space Jam: A New Legacy except for the aforementioned chronic overload of product placement. My issue with the film is that it’s too manic in its pacing and the story doesn’t hold our attention because we know deep down it’s predictable.
LeBron does have a few moments of charisma, but he’s bogged down by a silly script and wooden dialogue. Plus, during the big game, there are so many convoluted machinations that we don’t understand why they’re thrown in and they add nothing to the story.
Speaking of that big game, you know a movie is in trouble when you’re a lot more interested in finding and counting the number of other characters from other Warner properties than the game itself. Sorry, but this movie is like a video game that flashes game over real quick and it hardly makes a slam dunk.
Grade: C
(Rated PG for some cartoon violence and some language.)
