"Space Jam: A New Legacy" Film Review

"Space Jam: A New Legacy" Film Review

Rating: 4/5

By: Nathaniel Simpson

    Over twenty years after we watched Michael Jordan play a basketball game with the Looney Tunes, they are now back and ready to ball again, this time with NBA superstar Lebron James in this over-packed sequel. After having his son kidnapped by an evil Warner Bros. Algorithm (Don Cheadle), he is sucked into the Looney Tunes world and forced to go head to head with Al-G Rhythm's all-star basketball team. 

    The film has the same heart as the original and is possibly more fun. The modern graphics and styling of the movie keeps the audience entertained throughout. The use of James as the star also helped boost the hype for this film as both kids and adults alike will be flocking to the theater (or their couch if they rather watch on HBO Max) to watch this action-packed film. 

    Like the first film, this movie has a hard time getting started, and it seems as if the scenes leading up to the Looney Tunes' appearance takes a while to get where they are going. Also like the predecessor, once the classic cartoon characters are involved, it livens the film and keeps the audience very entertained. 

    However, it honestly seems like a shameless Warner Bros. advertisement throughout the whole film. The studio takes all of its properties and smushes them all together throughout the two hour film. It honestly seemed like a bit much at times, but it was also very entertaining to see all of these classic characters involved in one huge movie together. 

    Another problem I had with this film is the character of Lebron's kidnapped son, Dom (Cedric Joe). He wants to show his dad that he is worthy of his praise after being convinced by the villain to take his side. If you want to have a child be the villain in the movie, at least make it a good performance. Joe just seemed very annoying and whiny to me throughout the whole film, and it didn't strike me as a very good secondary antagonist. 

    Even though this film does face many problems, I think all can be forgiven by the excellently choreographed and CGI-filled basketball game that fills up the second half of the movie. I was continuously entertained throughout the whole game, and it never felt slow or boring. It's hard to pick which of the two films is the better one since each are unique and special in their own ways, but I think this is a pretty good follow-up to a smash hit many years earlier.