SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY, US, 2021 (Cartoons and basketball). Starring LeBron James, Don Cheadle, Cedric Joe, Khris Davis, Ernie Johnson, Lil Rel Howery – and Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Lola Bunny, Roadrunner, Wiley E. Coyote T, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Granny… Directed by Malcolm D. Lee. 115 minutes. Rated PG (Mild themes, animated violence and coarse language)
Once upon a time, in 1996 to be precise, young audiences around the world were exhilarated by a basketball film featuring then hero, Michael Jordan, in a basketball match – with a team made up of the well-known and beloved characters from Loony Tunes. And, in succeeding years, it was watched over and over again, fostering wonderful childhood memories. Children who were 10 at the time of the film’s release are now in their mid-30s. What will they think of a new, more elaborate retelling of this story? And, will the now 10-year-olds treasure this version in the way that their parents did?
This is an exuberant show. It runs for almost two hours, 30 minutes or so more than the original. And, the basketball star for the present is LeBron James (who has had an extra career beyond sport in movie and television production). There is a joke throughout the basketball match when some of the Toons call for Michael Jordan and popular actor, Michael B. Jordan turns up (and is rejected). We see the young LeBron being urged by his basketball father to concentrate, give himself to the game.
And then, in the present, LeBron has his own family, pressurising his young son, Dom (Cedric Joe), to go to basketball camp, somewhat severe in his discipline, overlooking Dom’s talent in creating, at age 12, his own computer game, and wanting to go to a camp for digital experts. LeBron’s wife urges him to be a more caring and understanding father.
Off they go to Warner Brothers, Burbank, and go into the digital archives. Little do they know (though we do), that there is a dastardly character there, Al G. Rythm, yes algorithm, played with some sinister chuckles by Don Cheadle, who feels that his digital talents have been overlooked and who wants to achieve some kind of immortality, controlling the super service at Warners, and eliminating the Loony Tunes characters!
Long story short, most of the action is a basketball match, much as the first film, all in the digital world, LeBron sometimes himself, sometimes an animated character, having the Toons in his team, against Al G. Rythm’s giants and monsters – and, fans behind him from so many of the Warner Brothers films such as Robin Hood, The Mask, Batman and Robin, a cameo by King Kong (and a rather wild-looking nun). Al G. Rythm has invited Dom into his team – and the only way LeBron can get him back is to defeat Al G’s team.
Parents and children will enjoy all the shenanigans of the familiar characters, led, of course, by a lively Bugs Bunny, with Elmer Fudd, Wiley E. Coyote, Road Runner, the little pig – and Lola Bunny, voiced by Zendaya. And, there is also Granny, fond of a cocktail but, when she goes into action twirling on her walking frame, look out.
Moments of defeat and triumph, some cheating on the part of the enemy, morale-boosting talks, and, of course, Dom appreciating his father, his father coming to appreciate his son – and, urging him to be himself and taking him to a weekend camp, not the basketball but the digital.
So, sports action, sports heroes, plenty to entertain younger audiences from the digital age, and, even after all these decades, the Loony Tunes still making us laugh.
Universal
Released 8 July 2021