Space Jam: A New Legacy is a 115-minute sports comedy directed by Malcolm D. Lee, a sequel to the original Space Jam, combining live action and animation, and starring LeBron James as a fictional version of himself. It has six credited writers. It is a film about a rogue artificial intelligence that traps a father and son inside a studio’s server, and it is, without much exaggeration, a film about a studio admiring its own catalogue.
Trailer, via Warner Bros..
The Setup
LeBron and his young son Dom, played by Cedric Joe, are pulled into a digital space by an A.I. called Al G. Rhythm, played by Don Cheadle. To get home, LeBron has to lead Bugs Bunny, Lola Bunny and the rest of the Looney Tunes to victory on the court against the A.I.’s digitized champions. Tunes versus Goons, as the film puts it. The tagline is “Welcome to the Jam!” and it is doing a lot of work.
The Cast
James is a game presence and a limited actor, and the film asks him to carry emotional scenes about fatherhood that he cannot. Cheadle is having fun as the villain and is the only performer who seems to know what kind of film he is in. Jeff Bergman voices Bugs, Sylvester and Yosemite Sam, Eric Bauza voices Daffy, Porky, Foghorn Leghorn and Elmer Fudd, Zendaya voices Lola, and Gabriel Iglesias voices Speedy Gonzales. Anthony Davis and Damian Lillard appear as digitized versions of themselves. The voice cast is excellent. The script gives them nothing.
The Catalogue
The film’s central idea is that the digital world is made of the studio’s properties, and it spends an astonishing amount of its runtime touring them. Characters from decades of films and shows fill the stands for the big game, and the camera lingers on them the way a shareholder report lingers on a chart. It is not a joke. It is inventory.
The Game
The basketball, when it finally arrives, is a cartoon in the worst sense: rules invented on the spot, stakes announced rather than felt, and a visual style that mixes animation and live action without ever deciding which it wants to be.
What Works
The animated Tunes in their classic 2D form, briefly, before the film converts them to 3D. Cheadle. A few of Bauza’s line readings. That is close to the whole list.
Where It Falls Short
Everywhere else. The father-and-son story is a formula the film recites. The humor is references. The runtime is far too long for a children’s film with this little in it. And the whole enterprise has the feel of a product designed to promote a streaming service, which is what it was.
The Verdict
Space Jam: A New Legacy is a corporate film about corporate ownership, starring a great athlete and a hundred trademarks. The original was a commercial too, but it had the decency to be a short one.
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