Review of Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) by Player2-Water — 18 Jul 2021

E-Value: 6.

Acting: 7.

Plot: 5.

The Looney Tunes franchise returns to the big screen after being absent for 25 years after 1996’s Space Jam and 18 years after 2003’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Just like those two movies and this year’s Tom and Jerry, this one is also a live action/animation hybrid movie.

LeBron James (himself) is a well-known and famous basketball player in the NBA who wanted his two sons, Darius and Dom, to follow in his footsteps. Unlike Darius, Dom (Joe) is more interested in video game who wanted to be a video game developer when he grows up.

Meanwhile, a computer A.I. at Warner Bros. studios called Al-G Rhythm (Cheadle) gain an interest in LeBron James due to his popularity. LeBron and his son are invited by the studios to discuss a potential movie deals but he decline the offer because not only he sees himself as a basketball player, he thinks the idea itself is very bad from the start. On the other hand, Dom shown an interest in Al-G Rhythm while also revealed in the process that he is going to E3 Game Design camp instead of basketball camp.

Not happy with LeBron’s rejection, Rhythm lure both him and his son to the basement server room where they got capture and trap in virtual reality. Rhythm challenge LeBron to a basketball game while holding Dom as his captive and if the latter wins, he will set them both free but if Rhythm wins, they will be trap here forever. After that, Rhythm sends him to Tune World where LeBron meets Bugs Bunny (voiced by Jeff Bergman). Together, they assemble a team consisting of the other Looney Tunes characters for the upcoming game.

It has been a long time since I last watch Looney Tunes cartoon shows and movies and I must say that watching this movie really brings back not only the memories of growing up with it, the movie also brings back the fun and nostalgia. LeBron’s acting was pretty good. I did not expect that he can actually act as I only see him as basketball player at first. This movie proved me wrong. Don Cheadle also did great with his performance. His acting is one of the good things about this movie.

As for the Looney Tunes characters, Jeff Bergman along with Eric Bauza, Zendaya, Bob Bergman, Candi Milo and Gabriel Iglesias have done a great in voicing the characters. The characters are exactly like they are supposed to be with little to no changes made to the character. The animation is great as well especially the hand drawn animation. The characters in CGI animation are also great and not too horrible to look at. Other than that, this movie also featured many other Warner Bros. IPs such as DC Universe, Hanna-Barbera, Harry Potter and more. It is pretty fun to spot all those cameos and Easter Eggs while watching.

While I think this movie is fun and nostalgic, the story in this movie is not exactly great. The plot of this movie is rehashed from the first movie. The main characters trapped in a different world, a challenge to a basketball game to win their freedom and a happy ending. It is really nothing new As this movie do featured other IPs, this movie sometimes make you feel like this a product placement movie like how Michael Bay usually done with his movies. As for the humours, some might find the humours a hit while others might find it a miss.

This movie may not be masterpiece but to me, it is still a fun and enjoyable movie to watch especially having grew up watching Looney Tunes. By the way, you do not need to watch the first movie to understand this one. This movie is a standalone sequel with no follow up from the original movie. If you are a fan of Looney Tunes or grew up watching the show, give the movie a chance and if you have kids, watch it together as family.