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Space Jam 2: A new Legacy
2021
U
Director: Malcolm D. Lee
Starring: Lebron James, Don Cheadle, Cedric Joe, Khris Davis, Sonequa Martin – Grace, Jeff Bergman, Zendaya, Gabriel Iglesias, Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Bob Bergen, Fred Tatasciore etc
Space Jam 2: A new legacy is about a rogue artificial intelligence who kidnaps the son of the famed basketball player Lebron James. Who then has to work with Bugs Bunny and the rest of the looney tunes to win a basketball game in order to get his son back. I absolutely hated this film with a passion, and it was nothing more than an embarrassing cash grab from Warner brothers.
My first of the few positives would be the nostalgia, the fun opening scene. The basketball elements and decent character background. The film did manage to achieve brief moments of nostalgia for me. Whether it was the basketball scenes reminiscent of the original, the soundtrack or just seeing the looney tunes back in action, it did manage to have some nostalgic moments that entertained me. I also thought the opening scene was fun and provided some decent character background. The film worked at its best when it focused on the characters and the basketball without all of the other bells and whistles. It was nice to get some background into LeBron’s character and how he interacted with his basketball coach as a kid, it set up what he would be like with his own son in the present well.
Now for my first few negatives. The set up was very generic, as well as the villain. The script and dialogue were terrible, as well as the performances and warner brothers using the film as promotion. The set up was so incredibly basic and predictable. Having the worn trope of having a son who doesn’t feel accepted by his father for not wanting to do the same thing as him has been used so many times beforehand and didn’t kick the film off in a good way at all. The villain was also incredibly generic. Think of the most simple motivations and reasoning behind a character’s actions and that’s what you had here, not even the charms of Don Cheadle could stop the poor writing behind this. The script and dialogue were also unfortunately very bad. It was forced, corny and never felt realistic. The dialogue was awkwardly executed, and you could tell even the actors were struggling to deliver the lines well, the script was simple and poorly constructed, it felt like no effort was put into making it even serviceable and it really effected the film. I do also have to say the performances were not very good. LeBron James seems like a likeable person, but his performance was terrible here. He delivered his lines in a forced and awkward manner and it all felt clunky and robotic, with no chemistry with the rest of the cast. I also thought this was just promotion for Warner Brothers. This didn’t really feel like a space jam film. It felt like egotistical and desperate promotion of Warner Brothers IP. With no effort to even cover it up. Going as far as having some scenes within the studios really shows where the studio had there priorities with this film.
My final few positives would be the animation, the voice cast and character designs, as well as the fun scenes with the looney tunes. I thought the animation here for the looney tunes was excellent, due to improved CGI and just more attention to detail the designs of Bugs bunny and co were drastically improved and it was interesting to see them so well designed. I also thought the cinematography here was great. It was largely used as a distraction, but the film bounced off the screen with its fun and creative worlds and futuristic visuals that were a visual delight. I also thought the voice cast was excellent, it was great to hear all of the original cast return in there glory, with a great new addition with Zendaya who bought Lola Bunny to life in a much better representation of her character then the original. I also thought the character designs for the looney tunes opposing teams were fun. Combining famous basketball players with different animals was a fun idea, they looked great and posed a good threat to the main plot point and the team. Finally, there was also a lot of fun scenes with recruiting the looney tunes. Despite Warner Brothers using the film as promotion, the scenes involving the looney tunes being trapped in different brands were admittedly very entertaining to watch and some of the best parts of the film.
My next few negatives would be corny tone and humour. The rushed pacing, as well as the repetitive conflict and odd character decisions. This film rushed over so many things, any form of development or important scene introduced was just rushed over, never giving the audience time for any of it to connect or sink in, so therefore I just didn’t care about the characters, I also thought the humour was terrible, I understand it’s a family film. But the humour was incredibly forced, awkward and just fell flat. It was incredibly corny and was just trying too hard to be cool or funny and it just came across as cringy. I also thought the conflict here was extremely repetitive, having the son not feel accepted by Lebron was fine and it was clear his passion wasn’t in basketball. But when the same lines and repetitive reasoning for the conflict was used so often without any form of development or just more to it, it just stayed in the same place and therefore it got tedious and repetitive. Plus, the son made some very questionable character decisions, the film made it come across like he hated his dad, without enough development between there relationship, so the son actually came across as naïve and extremely unlikeable, with illogical and harsh decisions throughout that made me even more disconnected to the relationships.
My final few negatives would be the slow pacing in the second half, the lack of stakes or development to the plot. The awful 3D design of the looney tunes. And the messy final act. The film was easily thirty minutes too long, with a messy and clunky final act that dragged on for too long. The final basketball match was forty minutes long that’s almost half the movie, and it didn’t fly by it dragged along almost to the point of it being unwatchable. I also thought there was a complete lack of development or stakes to the plot. I never once considered the villain to be a threat or thought that there was a slight chance of the team actually losing, it was just predictably and simply laid out. With no development to the characters or further explanation into the villain. Finally, I thought the 3D designs for the looney tunes were terrible, I seriously don’t understand why the creative team behind the film decided having 3D designs instead of 2D would work in the final act, because it didn’t. Everyone looked poorly made and the designs were frankly off-putting and worked better with the original 2D designs. This didn’t need to be changed and was a poorly executed creative decision.
Overall, Space Jam 2 is mildly entertaining in parts, and it was nice to see the looney tunes back. And will probably be mostly entertaining for young kids. But it was an embarrassing cash grab from Warner Brothers. It was lazy, forced and completely cringy. Another failed sequel to a classic that should have never been made. Warner Brothers, there is a difference between trying and trying too hard and this fell completely flat
Overall rating 27/100
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Before I get into this review, let me be clear that I am not the target audience for this movie. I watched the original a few times as a kid and enjoyed it, but I’ve never felt the need to revisit it as an adult. I also don’t follow basketball very closely - well, apart from the year I jumped on the Raptors bandwagon and they ended up winning the Championship… anyways, clearly not the target audience.
Space Jam: A New Legacy is made for two types of people - young children, and 90’s babies who grew up with the original, looking for a rush of nostalgia. For those demographics, I would say the movie delivers as advertised. From a critical perspective, it kind of sucks. The story and characters are as thin as a 2D cartoon. So many of the classic WB characters are sidelined in order to focus on Lebron and his fictional movie son. Unfortunately their story is predictable and pretty dull. None of the cartoon characters are given story arcs at all, and only act as side characters in a movie that should be about them.
This movie also relies too heavily on references to other WB properties. Whether it’s Game of Thrones, Harry Potter or Batman, you’ll constantly be reminded that you’re watching a Warner Brothers movie. It’s the same kind of thing we saw in Ready Player One, but the difference is that movie used them to enhance its story - not in place of it. I did enjoy spotting the famous movie characters, but it doesn’t make up for a story that’s severely lacking.
Thankfully, the animation and art style are fantastic. This movie looks gorgeous, and the way they handled both the retro and modern looks for these characters was impressive. I wasn’t crazy about the design for the villains, but Bugs Bunny and gang have never looked better.
If you still cherish the original as an adult, this movie may scratch that nostalgic itch. If you’re a basketball fan, you’ll probably enjoy seeing some real life players in animated form. If you’ve got kids, they’ll likely love this as much as you loved the first one when you were their age. For me, this didn’t tick any of those boxes, but like I said - I am not the target audience.
3/10
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Space Jam: A New Legacy is a hot mess. Its story is an excessive cluster of ideas. The concept of an NBA superstar joining forces with the Looney Tunes is already bizarre, but A New Legacy adds elaborate computer elements and a father/son conflict. These devices are individually fine, but A New Legacy lacks focus which undermines emotional investment. It's difficult to care when scenes feel rushed and plotlines are forgotten for extended periods of time. Plus, a cast centered around athletes and pedestrian child actors only exasperates the script's deficiencies. Ultimately, this movie fails to mask its commercial intent.
Meanwhile, A New Legacy has mediocre filmmaking. The camerawork lacks energy despite its cartoonish content, and the visuals are cluttered with effects and merchandising. The editing pace is chaotic, rushing through plot points but milking pointless comedy scenes. The music is occasionally helpful but mostly trivial. Lastly, the production is crowded and overdesigned. The only positives here are the exaggerated sound design and the diverse effects. However, those strengths are limited by insufficient creativity and restraint. In the end, Space Jam: A New Legacy doesn't do much well and is more of an advertisement than entertainment.
Writing: 2/10
Direction: 3/10
Cinematography: 4/10
Acting: 2/10
Editing: 3/10
Sound: 6/10
Score/Soundtrack: 5/10
Production Design: 2/10
Casting: 3/10
Effects: 6/10
Overall Score: 3.6/10
For more of my work: https://guskeller.wixsite.com/moviefilmreviews
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🏀 Voto: 4
Devo ammettere che sono sempre stato un po' restio a far tornare in voga serie tv o film cult che hanno segnato una generazione. Il primo Space Jam con Michael Jordan dal punto di vista grafico non sarà stato sicuramente perfetto ma almeno sapeva farci divertire. Questo Space Jam 2 non riesce a fare nemmeno questo. Partiamo dal presupposto che i dialoghi tra le parti in causa sono del tutto forzati e si nota l’inadeguadezza di Lebron James nell’interpretare la sua parte, al contrario di quanto riesce a fare sul campo da basket. Non come il suo predecessore. Michael aveva quasi un rapporto simbiotico con il set cinematografico. Una delle cose più gratificanti del film é la versione 3D dei Looney Tunes, non più cartonizzati. Un’altro aspetto negativo sono anche le scelte di testo a tratti davvero sensa senso anche per un contesto come questo, forzatamente e volutamente scelte per portare la pellicola a passo con i tempi e piacere a tutti. Chiaramente come nel primo film abbiamo tutta la famiglia Warner Bros al completo, con Bugs Bunny, come sempre a capo della gang. Una cosa che mi ha fatto riflettere, è che nel primo capitolo, quello del 1996, il protagonista era sempre MJ e da contorno vedevamo i vari looney tunes che lo aiutavano nella sua folle avventura nel mondo inesplorato dei cartoon. In New legend, invece, non solo la figura di Bug bunny è molto piú presente, ma si ha come la sensazione che King James passi il testimone al coniglio della Warner Bros mettendosi in secondo piano nella scena più importante del film. La mia conclusione è: come Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Indiana jones, scomodare questi cult per far risorgere un epoca, si rischia quasi sempre di cadere nel banale e commettere errori grossolani.
M.O ☕
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