In 1996, the original Space Jam "had something", so to speak. Seeing Michael Jordan on the big screen interacting with the Looney Tunes was a first-of-its-kind sort of experience, and despite the ridiculous concept it worked perfectly. Sadly, this long-await sequel captures absolutely none of that magic or fun.
For a very basic overview, Space Jam: A New Legacy sees Warner Brother's sentient artificial intelligence Al G. Rhythm (Don Cheadle) hatch a plan inside the "server-verse" to finally get the recognition he feels he deserves. Central to that mission? Abducting LeBron James and family to play in a high-stakes basketball game that pits father against son. Along the way, James must root out the old Looney gang for the epic court contest.
I will readily admit that nostalgia for the original got me into the theater to see this sequel. Absolutely no doubt about that. However, I will not concede that the same nostalgia is preventing me from giving this one a better rating than 3/10. "A New Legacy" is just a bad movie, plain and simple, for numerous reasons...
-Whereas Michael Jordan just had to show up and be himself in the original, here LeBron James is given the emotional heavy-lifting tasks. Predictably, it does not go well. He cannot believably convey a single emotion.
-A lot of people are criticizing the decision to showcase so many WB properties (Harry Potter, Superman, Batman, Matrix, Game of Thrones, etc.) in this film. That didn't so much bother me, and I actually enjoyed the concept of a tongue-in-cheek poking fun at those topics. But it all comes crashing down when the finished product looks suspiciously like an algorithm-created property that the plot was trying to skewer!
-The "Looney Tunes playing basketball" concept is no longer new (by virtue of the '96 effort), and nothing is done to spruce that avenue up whatsoever. Same old gags just replayed again. Also, the way we interact with athletes is so different now that James simply cannot command the cultural cache that MJ once did. Just having him physically present isn't enough like it may have been in the mid-90s.
Overall, "Space Jam: A New Legacy" is a clunker, no two ways around it. It isn't the worst film I've ever seen (it got me to chuckle a few times), but it is almost completely devoid of any real emotion or fun, in stark contrast to its predecessor that is still considered one of the most fun films ever made.
