'Space Jam: A New Legacy' Movie Review

SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY focuses on NBA player LeBron James, who ventures into the Warner Bros. Studios “Serververse” to save his son from the clutches of a villain, where he gets help from Looney Tunes characters, including Bugs Bunny. SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY has a strong moral, pro-family worldview and one pro-capitalist comment, with a light Romantic undertone of pursuing one’s dream and some comical slapstick violence, but it has many laugh-out-loud moments and is wholesome and worthwhile family entertainment.

The movie begins with a young LeBron James on the basketball court. To LeBron’s regret, they lose, and his coach gives him a lecture about how if applied with rigor, LeBron’s basketball talents could change the trajectory of his family’s future, since he’s so good. To do this, LeBron has to put down his Nintendo game and give the game his full attention.

Cut to present day. LeBron and his family live in Los Angeles where he plays for the NBA on the Lakers. His two sons are very different from one another. One loves basketball, the other, Dom, cares more about digital innovations and even created his own video game. LeBron challenges Dom to spend more time on basketball and less time with digital tech.

LeBron takes Dom to Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, Calif. to sit in on a meeting about some big movie deal on the horizon. During the meeting, a computer character named Al G. Rhythm (or algorithm in the tech world) shows LeBron the possibilities of inserting LeBron into dozens of movies using new technology. However, Dom scoffs at the idea and tells his father point-blank that he’s not going to a basketball camp. Soon after, Dom and LeBron get sucked into the so-called “Serververse” with Al G. Rhythm.

In this digital universe, Al. G. Rhythm says that to get Dom back from the Serververse, LeBron has to put together a basketball team and win a game to set things straight. Next, LeBron does a deep dive into the Serververse, landing him next to the one and only Bugs Bunny.

Will Bugs and his cast of famous toons help LeBron get his son back?

SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY is a sweet, funny modern take on the 1995 movie, SPACE JAM, starring Michael Jordan. The movie has some CGI intertwined with live action, the script clearly explains the need for both, highlighting technological innovations in cinema, especially since the first SPACE JAM. It’s also incredibly self-reflexive, poking some fun at movie moguls at a big Hollywood studio that might make some older viewers chuckle. Other Warner Bros. projects like THE MATRIX, KING KONG and THE WIZARD OF OZ, for example, help set the stage of the Looney Tunes who add some nostalgia to the mix.

SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY has a strong moral worldview with a light Romantic undertone of pursuing one’s dream. The movie stresses rescuing one’s family and encouraging the next generation to strive for excellence. SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY has many laugh-out-loud moments that basketball and movie fans alike will appreciate, not to mention great CGI. Parents of younger children should bear in mind there’s some slapstick comedy violence, but SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY is worthwhile, wholesome, playful family entertainment.