Malcolm D. Lee directs Space Jam: A New Legacy or Space jam 2, a 2021 American live-action/animated sports comedy film that serves as a standalone sequel to Space Jam (1996). The film follows the famous basketball player LeBron James and his basketball Looney Tunes team that must win a basketball game against overpowered digital cartoons and the evil AI-G to save James’ son from a deceptive artificial intelligence in a shared Warner Bros. virtual space multiverse.
It’s the first time the Looney Tunes characters have been included in a theatrical release since Looney Tunes: Back in Action, which was released back in 2003. The movie is a melting pot of live-action, classic hand-drawn animation, and 3D CGI effects. The famous basketball player LeBron James appears in the film as a fictionalized version of himself, with other well-known Bollywood actors.
Space Jam 2: A New Legacy debuted in Los Angeles on July 12, 2021, and aired in theatres and HBO Max for one month following its cinema release in the United States on July 16, 2021.
This movie has made $94 million worldwide and has gotten largely poor reviews from reviewers, who believe it is ruined by studio product placement and lacks the unique and self-referential comedy of the original space jam.
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Plot
LeBron James, a basketball player, wants both of his kids, Darius and Dom, to follow in his footsteps. Dom’s endeavors with Darius are progressive, but he aspires to be a video game creator instead. While LeBron begins to show interest in Dom’s arcade basketball game, Dom discovers a bug after completing a certain move that leads his character to be deleted, much to his dismay. Later, LeBron is called to Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, to explore a movie contract; LeBron declines the notion, while Dom expresses interest in the studio’s software, notably Al-G Rhythm, a cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI).
Holding Dom hostage, he commands LeBron to build a basketball team composed solely of imaginary characters owned by Warner Bros. to play against its team, promising him that his son would only be released if LeBron’s team win. After that, AI-G sends James across the virtual world to Tune World. Elsewhere, Al-G uses Dom’s resentment and anger towards his father to help him improve and enhance himself and his skills, something that he plans to use against LeBron in their basketball match.
The two teams inevitably fight, and Bugs Bunny sacrifices himself so that his teammates can win. After LeBron’s team wins the match, they return to the human world, where he tells his sons that no matter what career path they choose, they have their father’s support.
Reviews
Is Hollywood finally noticing racism?
When it comes to the most groundbreaking films of the 1990s, Space Jam may not be the most apparent choice. The 1996 Warner Bros. film was a sequel to a 1992 Super Bowl Nike commercial in which Jordan appeared alongside Bugs Bunny. It imagines what Jordan may have done between his retirement from the NBA in 1993 and his amazing comeback two years later with the aid of the entire crew of Looney Tunes cartoon characters.
It was joyously ridiculous and meant to make the mind boggle, combining animation and real action from characters like Jordan, Bill Murray, and Wayne Knight from Seinfeld. Despite the fun, it also provided something more significant — a watershed moment for black portrayal in the film. Not only was there a black protagonist in this big-budget Hollywood cartoon, but Jordan was a black celebrity, an idol, and an all-American family man. Its progressiveness may not have been its primary goal, and Jordan’s acting was not a leap. Still, it was groundbreaking in the context of Hollywood animated family pictures, which have a history of both racial erasure and racist stereotype.
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A sequel to Space Jam is already in the works, and it will take place in a somewhat different setting. Space Jam: A New Legacy or Space Jam 2, which was released throughout the world this week, is a loud, boisterous remake of the original, starring another basketball superstar, LeBron James, as well as both animated and CGI versions of the Looney Toons gang. This time, though, the film boasts a black director (Malcolm D Lee replaces Joe Pytka), a black producer (Ryan Coogler of Black Panther fame), and an almost all-black live-action ensemble.
Without giving too much away, the result is a sequel that deftly tackles race. Meanwhile, it portrays James’ protagonist in a more nuanced light than Jordan’s determined athlete. He is revealed to be a closet “nerd” who lamented suppressing his childhood joy for Gameboys and Harry Potter. At the same time, his relationship with his son, Dom, is crucial to the dreamlike storyline, as the two are swallowed into Warner Bros. server farms and must play a basketball match to fight the evil Al-G Rhythm, who now controls the Warner Bros’ virtual world.
The first Space Jam seemed like a lone pioneer in the mid-1990s; nevertheless, its sequel Space Jam 2 is part of age in Hollywood animation that shows indications of transition. More new films include people of color, and the racist clichés of some of the genre’s most well-known old films are being addressed — to the point that some streaming services now include warnings.
