Space Jam: A New Legacy

1="I find it disconcerting at times that many folks seem more interested in crossovers, cameos, references & post-credit scenes than they do the actual story & characters of a specific film. When making a film I spend 99.9% of my time thinking about the story and character & 1% of the rest."

- James Gunn
 * -|2="The truth is that LeBron ain't Michael, the new version of Bugs Bunny looked like one of those fluffy dolls you buy at an airport gift shop to bring your kid when your business trip has taken too long. I've worked with three people that have this magical quality that they affect people no matter what; they see them and some light goes on, Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson, and Madonna. All three have this quality where people connect immediately without understanding anything about them. And nobody else has that quality. LeBron is a fantastic basketball player, he's a top-20 basketball player of all time. He is not Michael. Maybe they should call it something else. They should not call it Space Jam 2, or whatever. It should be another movie. It's not Space Jam. Space Jam is Michael Jordan. No matter how much LeBron wants to be a great player — and he is a great player — he's not Michael Jordan. There will never be another Michael Jordan."

- Joe Pytka
 * -|3="So enjoy the film equivalent of a genetic mistake begging to be put out of its misery, with a villain who embodies a creatively bankrupt movie studio staffed by incompetent executives, some of the greatest 2D animated characters of all time transformed into CGI freaks against their will, and a hero who laments how corporations force IPs to cross over for cash, then does exactly that. But who cares? It's just a dumb kid's movie; as long as they have that "Come On and Slam!" song in there, we'll call it even. (shows the movie's soundtrack, with "Space Jam" not listed) Come on! Slam! Or no one will feel welcome at your jam!"

- Honest Trailers
 * -|4="Warner Bros. has become so stubborn recently in barely giving the characters of their own movie the spotlight they truly deserve — Nobody came to Scoob! for a Hanna-Barbera crossover, nobody came to Tom & Jerry to see an unlikeable bitch dealing with wedding drama, and nobody came to Space Jam 2 wanting to see family drama!"

- Yoshi Player
 * -|5="Almost entirely worthless. The experience of Space Jam: A New Legacy feels like you put HBO Max on shuffle and it played every piece of media on the streaming service for exactly ten seconds and then switched to the next thing. And honestly, doing that would still be a better evening spent than watching this soulless exercise in content management. A New Legacy takes Warner Bros IP out of context and scrambles it for the purpose of constructing a mashup commercial. Often it feels like a spreadsheet or a checklist given life as a motion picture. This isn't exactly a surprise, considering that Space Jam operated in a similar fashion, just on a much smaller scale, but it's weirdly directionless, failing to actually do something with the branding in a way that The Lego Movie or even Ready Player One provided."

- SilentDawn
 * -|6="Warner Bros. depicting itself as a soulless collection of IP controlled by an evil algorithm is really one of all-time cinematic self-owns. And the film as a whole is so feeble and unfunny it makes Space Jam look like 2001: A Space Odyssey. My advice: Watch a few of HBO Max’s new Looney Tunes Cartoons instead. Any random short has at least five times as many laughs as this entire two-hour feature. Plus, the animation is better!"

- Matt Singer

Space Jam: A New Legacy (also known as Space Jam 2) is a 2021 American live-action/animated science-fiction sports comedy film produced by Warner Animation Group, SpringHill Entertainment, and Proximity Media and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, based off the Looney Tunes cartoons. The film is directed by Malcolm D. Lee from a screenplay by Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier, Keenan Coogler, Terence Nance, Jesse Gordon, and Celeste Ballard. It serves as a standalone sequel to mh:greatestmovies:Space Jam and is the first theatrically released film to feature and star the Looney Tunes characters since mh:greatestmovies:Looney Tunes: Back in Action in 2003. The film stars basketball player LeBron James as a fictional version of himself; Don Cheadle, Khris Davis, Sonequa Martin-Green, and Cedric Joe star in live-action roles, while Jeff Bergman, Eric Bauza, and Zendaya headline the Looney Tunes voice cast.

Plot
When LeBron James and his young son Dom are trapped in a digital space by a rogue A.I., LeBron must get them home safe by leading Bugs, Lola Bunny, and the whole gang of notoriously undisciplined Looney Tunes to victory over the A.I.'s digitized champions on the court: a powered-up roster of professional basketball stars as you've never seen them before. It's Tunes Squad versus Goons Squad in the highest-stakes challenge of his life, that will redefine LeBron's bond with his son and shine a light on the power of being yourself.

Why It's Not A Jam

 * 1) To get Bugs Bunny out of his rabbit hole, much like mh:greatestmovies:Ralph Breaks the Internet, the biggest problem with the film and the main reason for why it failed, is that it mostly serves as a way for Warner Bros. to self-promote their properties rather than being a real movie with an actual story or plot. This self promoting lasts for the entire movie minus about 15 or so minutes.
 * 2) The film has been in development hell for 25 years after the original film, which is way too late and long to do a sequel. Sequels usually come out 2 to 5 years after the original (or up to 10, and that's pushing it) and anything after that time is considered too late, through it may argue that some 20+ year sequels did work well, like Blade Runner 2049 (which Warner also distributed) where it was released in 2017, 35 years after the first movie in 1982. However, there is a recent trend in Hollywood where 20+ years too late sequels are becoming more common.
 * 3) The premise of the film is about how LeBron must help the Looney Tunes to play and beat Al-G Rhythm in a climactic basketball game to get his son, Dom, back only because LeBron said Al's algorithm was bad is rather very dumb and generic.
 * 4) The movie makes LeBron unlikable to his son, manipulating him to be an athlete instead of what he wants to be which is a video game creator, Which is annoying to the audience. Since LeBron is unlikeable to his son, he also does treat Bugs like garbage due to him using the Looney Tunes characters for LeBron's basketball team instead of characters LeBron wanted like Superman and The Iron Giant.
 * 5) There are lots of unnecessary filler moments in this movie, especially with dozens of very pointless subplots that come out of nowhere.
 * 6) There is also another bigger problem with the Looney Tunes characters themselves (despite not being flanderized, at least): They don't have a real motivation or a reason to join the Tune Squad and win the big game.
 * 7) Just like Son of the Mask, it's humor isn't all that hilarious, and it lacks the first film's quirky and self-heartedness humor. Instead, a lot of the jokes are just fart jokes and immature toilet humor instead, which is very disappointing because this is Looney Tunes we are talking about, and it's known for its good humor.
 * 8) There are lots of rather pointless moments throughout the movie, like several intervals in the different Warner Bros worlds and a rap battle with Porky, in which case, this movie tries way too hard to be hip and cool with the kids, which is odd.
 * 9) The idea of using media, like many of Warner’s characters and worlds that don't have anything to do with the Looney Tunes-related could be somewhat confusing for some viewers. It feels like it is trying to be like Kingdom Hearts and Super Smash Bros. except the properties used in Kingdom Hearts and Super Smash Bros. still go well together: Kingdom Hearts uses various Final Fantasy and Disney characters and still has a magical feel that's often associated with them, while Super Smash Bros. mostly uses fantasy-based video game characters in it's fighter roster. Even Warner's new Multiverse game, that was released after this, did a better job than this movie.
 * 10) The movie tries way too hard to shove as many pop culture references into our throats at the last minute, as it could, which ends up being very unoriginal and feels like a rehash of films such as mh:greatestmovies:Ready Player One, Tron and its sequel, mh:greatestmovies:Ralph Breaks the Internet, mh:greatestmovies:The Lego Movie, and even The Emoji Movie to some extent.
 * 11) The cameos during the climactic basketball game end up being quite distracting to the viewer that they can pay more attention to the characters in the background than in the basketball game.
 * 12) False advertising: The trailers for the film depicted the Tunes as mostly CGI, but in the film itself, they are mostly 2D animated. The reason for this is that Warner was most likely concerned about how audiences wouldn't be interested in seeing 2D animation in a family film anymore.
 * 13) The film literally can't even decide for its target audience whatsoever, as it overuses the word "hell" and "damn" (to secure a PG-rated and avoid the G rating), but has the Looney Tunes characters on it (which are mostly marketed towards children nowadays), since it feels more like a teenager or an adult film.
 * 14) The soundtrack, while good, contains most of the rap music that was way out-of-place and too generic for unfitting for certain scenes.
 * 15) If you look closely at the second trailer for the film, you clearly see the scene where the Tunes Squad wins the game for the final round and returned back to 2D animated form, which just spoils the ending, minus Bugs' fake death.
 * 16) It never explains how Bugs came back to life in the ending after he had a fake-out death sequence when he sacrificed himself to save his friends. Also, it never explains how his friends had teleported to the real world with him in the end credits. However, it was actually revealed that he survived because as a fictional character, he can't actually die and stay dead, unlike Al-G Rhythm and the Goon Squad.
 * 17) In the second half of the movie, during the start of climactic basketball gaming, there is so much CGI and special effects in the movie that it may look like they spent almost their entire $150 million budget on it.
 * 18) What would've insulted the fans further is that they removed most of the credits of the animators and the artists from the closing credits. For example, Vailskibum claimed in one of his videos that an artist for the film, Dave Alvarez (who also draws many Looney Tunes comic books currently), was completely removed from the credits, despite that he did plenty of work on the movie's character designs and backgrounds. Even Alvarez himself admitted that he and his kids are mad about this.
 * 19) The unnecessary slow pacing is bad and seems weak and sloppy that it makes the movie hard to follow at times, with the runtime at 115 minutes. Making the movie feel boring at times.
 * 20) While the CGI looks decent on some of the Looney Tunes, it looks really off on Porky and Lola. Porky looks like he's made from Play-Doh and Lola falls through the uncanny valley, the latter looking really uncanny on even a few pieces of official merchandise. Also some of the facial expressions that Bugs makes look weird in CGI like when he says "Yikes" or when Bugs starts crying.
 * 21) There are plenty of continuity errors. For example, when LeBron and Dom drop into the Warner 3000 Serververse, LeBron asks him if he's okay, and he says, "I'm fine, Dad.", but his lips never move.
 * 22) Depending on your view, the movie is inconsistent at times. For example, in the first movie, Jordan stayed live-action when he was in the animated world, but for the sequel, LeBron was 2D animated for half of the movie, which really felt unnecessary, although it was somewhat justified, since it was from Warner 3000 Serververse.
 * 23) While the visual effects are decent, it does have flaws. For example; the spectators in the climactic game have been said to resemble cosplayers on the green screen. Their flailing and stilted movements don’t help in the slightest.
 * 24) Awful direction by Malcolm D. Lee, who also directed Scary Movie 5.
 * 25) Subpar production values for the most part.
 * 26) Lots of plot holes.
 * 27) Continuing the topic of CGI, even if the Tunes are not involved with the CGI. Sometimes it also looks uncanny when Al-G mocks LeBron during a conversation with Dom, Pete showing his crooked teeth, or when Al-G transforms just to become tall enough for the basketball game.
 * 28) Besides all the Warner references, there is still some blatant product placement such as the original Game Boy in the cold opening of the movie, which is LeBron's flashback. Even others such as Nike, the three different brands of headphones and all of the social media references found throughout the movie.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) It does provide a great moral about not letting distractions prevent you from doing your best. The same can be said about how "it's my way or the highway" idea is a bad idea.
 * 2) Cheadle's performance as AL-G Rhythm was really good.
 * 3) All of the Tunes (except Lola) were perfectly cast and their voice actors do a great job voicing them, since they are still likable and are not flanderized, despite their campiness, and flaws throughout.
 * 4) The idea of a real-life basketball player going playing basketball with the Looney Tunes to save them is still a unique idea.
 * 5) * In fact, it might've even improved upon the original's plot of the strong Looney Tunes enlisting Michael Jordan's help to defeat a big threat, by making it the other way around.
 * 6) Similar to Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), the CGI and traditional animation for the Looney Tunes are both very decent (exceptions apply).
 * 7) The new Tune Squad and Goon Squad jersey designs do look good.
 * 8) The Warner 3000 Serververse is an interesting virtual realm despite the poor execution.
 * 9) Despite the flaws, the cinematography is gorgeous and well done for a Warner Animation Group film.
 * 10) Speaking of WINAJ#24, the visual effects are still decent and can shine in certain parts of the film.
 * 11) Sometimes, the pop culture references can work in this movie's favor (well, when and if you can see what’s going on).
 * 12) There are some good moments such as Bugs mimicking Elmer by transforming into Big Chungus (despite seemingly being there to meme pander) and the Nerdlucks making a cameo appearance as "Goon Squad" supporters (despite the animation being reused footage).
 * 13) The film and Warner Animation Group apologized on Twitter for not crediting some animators, and thanked most of the artists who worked on the film, especially Alvarez.
 * 14) *And since this is a Looney Tunes movie, there are a few funny moments (despite most of the humor being off for Looney Tunes standards) such as the scene when the Tunes start training for basketball.
 * 15) It brought back Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam’s guns as an improvement over the temporary ban in Looney Tunes Cartoons.
 * 16) After two films of being interrupted during saying the line, Porky finally gets his chance to say "That's all, folks!" at the end of the credits.
 * 17) There are some funny lines such as “What in the matrix hell?”, "It's been 25 years, I thought he aged gracefully", "Witness Me" and “Son of a glitch”.
 * 18) The credits show the Tunes being placed on various live-action pictures which is a nice touch, despite the social media product placement.
 * 19) Good soundtrack with some legit bops like notably We Win, Control The World, See Me Fly, Just For Me, Mercy, My Guy, and The Best. Even though most of the soundtrack is reliant on rap music.
 * 20) Say what you want, but the scene where Bugs sacrifices himself in the basketball game was rather emotional. His brief moment of death is pretty heartbreaking to those who grew up with Looney Tunes complete with Bugs using Porky's signature "That's all, folks!" before passing away.
 * 21) Despite LeBron being unlikable as mentioned above, he does get some character development and doesn't treat Dom or The Tunes like rubbish by the end of the film.
 * 22) * He was also expected to be unlikable at first and that was something that movie was starting with.
 * 23) At first, this movie was expected to be good in something so it created a lot of cool merchandise.

Reception
Just like the first film, Space Jam: A New Legacy wasn't well-received by critics, who criticized its screenplay, excessive amount of product placement by the studio and lacking the original film's quirky and self-referential humor. However though, unlike the original film, the audience reactions were more mixed, and the animation, visual effects and acting were well received, with some fans claimed its a great installment to the first film, others dismissed that its an unwanted, bad and very disappointing installment. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 25% based on 220 reviews with an average rating of 4.5/10.

Joe Pytka, the director of the original Space Jam, expressed his hatred towards the film upon its release. Among his complaints, Pytka compared LeBron James to Michael Jordan, who was arguably the most famous celebrity when the first film was released in comparison to James, criticized the story for not tying up emotionally to LeBron's life, felt the first film's cast and soundtrack were superior to the ones of A New Legacy and saw Bugs' role in the film as "heartbreaking". Pytka had earlier criticized Warner’s decision to make a Space Jam sequel in 2016 back when Justin Lin was attached to direct, dismissing the notion as "ridiculous" despite working with LeBron and Steph Curry, feeling that neither of them were a "transcendent figure" like Jordan.

Angry Joe gave this movie a 2/10 and added this one in his "Top 10 Worst Movies Of 2021" video.

Penguinz0 (formerly known as Cr1TiKaL) gave this movie a 25% on his moist meter video and even added this one in his "The Worst 5 Movies Of 2021" video and claims that the movie feels watching a "one long advertisement" due to the amount of product placements found.

As of October 7, 2021, Space Jam: A New Legacy has grossed $70.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $92.3 million in international territories, totaling the worldwide gross to $162.8 million.

At the 42nd Golden Raspberry Awards, Space Jam: A New Legacy won at Worst Actor for James, Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel, and Worst Screen Combo for James and "any Warner cartoon character (or Time-Warner product) he dribbles on". It was nominated for Worst Picture (becoming the second prominently animated film to be nominated since The Emoji Movie), but lost to Diana: The Musical.

Trailers
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Reviews
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Trivia

 * Don Cheadle was a fan of Michael A. Jordan, the original film, and the Looney Tunes cartoons, so he accepted the role once it was pitched to him.
 * The film includes both traditional and CG animation, making it the first film from Warner Animation Group to incorporate the former.
 * Zendaya, who voiced Lola Bunny, also portrayed Rocky in Disney Channel’s 2010-2013 series mh:terribletvshows:Shake it Up, K.C. Cooper in Disney Channel’s 2015-2018 series mh:besttvshows:K.C. Undercover, MJ from Spider-Man MCU series, Anne Wheeler from The Greatest Showman and Chani from Dune, MJ being her best-known role, and likely the reason she was hired to voice Lola in the first place. Not to mention that this is her 2nd Warner Animation Group movie since mh:greatestmovies:Smallfoot (2018).
 * As soon as the trailer dropped, comparisons to Ready Player One (the film even had the Iron Giant showing up), Ralph Breaks the Internet, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Kingdom Hearts were inevitable, even The Emoji Movie to some extent.
 * Space Jam: A New Legacy holds the new current record of Warner Animation Group's longest film, with a 115-minute runtime, beating the previous record-holder The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part with a 107-minute runtime. In addition, the film is 27 minutes longer than the first Space Jam.
 * Zendaya was called up by Ryan Coogler to voice Lola in the film, an offer she accepted because of her interest in working with Coogler and being a fan of the original film, in addition to her family's history with basketball.

Comments
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