Blast from the past! Space Jam A New Legacy brought forth the newest basketball legend with a ton of flashbacks, dozens of easter eggs, and a whole lot of laughs; toon style!
**WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ‘SPACE JAM A NEW LEGACY’**
Naturally, I avoided these trailers because I was excited to watch this new adaptation of the classic Space Jam, although admittedly I was a little hesitant to view this one, simply because as always, you can’t compare the modern version to the original. In the 1995 movie, there were several messages embedded in the film: don’t listen to negative influences on your life, you have more strength in yourself than you realize, and help can come from the most unlikely of places. But ‘Space Jam A New Legacy’ came with one unifying message for the whole family.
Parents do so much to help their children, guide them, give them advice, teach them, but sometimes push their children to be a miniature version of themselves. Often projecting their own hopes and dreams through them. In ‘Space Jam A New Legacy’, NBA Legend LeBron James pushes his son to lose the videogame he considers as “distractions” and unlock the basketball potential he had. Even though it was clear his son Dom (played by Cedric Joe) was more of a techie who loves creating and playing video games. Confiding in his older brother that he wanted to go to a coder camp instead of the basketball camp that his father wanted him to go to.
After the father/son duo went to a Warner Brothers studio meeting to make LeBron James king of the studio via the videogame world. There was a clear difference of reaction from them both and that made the ruler of that world; A.l. G. Rhythm (played by Don Cheadle), the digital algorithm controlling ideas for the studio, very angry for knocking his idea down. So angry in fact that he wanted to challenge James and finally come out of the shadows. He kidnapped both of them and thus the games began.
After being sent to Tune Town, James quite literally crashed into Bugs Bunny (voiced by Jeff Bergman) who he then rallied to gather the classic team and it had a beautiful array of references from previous movies and shows. It had so many easter eggs it almost combated 2018’s Ready Player One. Many laughs and slapstick moments were very Tooney. But once the training began on LeBron’s structure, it showed exactly what he was struggling with, listening to others, what they could offer, and how they should just do them and be themselves.
G. Rhythm had separated Dom from his father and started telling him all he wanted to hear from his own dad. That he could be whatever he wanted to be and that his techie skills merging with the videogame world could be revolutionary. He combined his scans with other basketball players with powers (Anthony Davis “The Brow”, Klay Thompson “Wet-Fire”, Damian Lillard “Chronos”, Diana Taurasi “White Mamba”, and Nneka Ogwumike “Arachnida”) calling themselves the “Goon Squad”. Terrifying players alone even without the additional talent of basketball skills.
Once the game started, it was clear that the rules did not follow the traditional ones of basketball. It was based around the rules of the game Dom had created, not basket points, but style points. And during the first half, the Toon Squad got pulverized because LeBron couldn’t let go of his way of playing the game, even telling the legendary king of laughs Bugs to be less Tooney.
But once that tactic was a no-go, LeBron learned that the toons were trying to play like him and it hit him, he needed the players to be themselves and play their way. And that’s when things got really funny. With that change in attitude, Dom saw that it and that angered G. Rhythm and said some horrible words to the boy. LeBron saw that and had a beautiful moment with his son and encouraged him to do him, be himself, and showed love for him, causing his allegiance to change with his father.
In the last minute of the game, the algorithm himself joined the game and altered his strengths and went toe-to-toe against the basketball star, and even altered the rules to his advantage. But when it came down to it, LeBron found that in order to win, he’d have to lose himself to win.
A glitch in Dom’s game threatened to break the world the algorithm designed, but at the last minute Bugs Bunny took the shot and sacrificed himself to the glitch that brought down the world and freed LeBron, his family, and everyone who watched the game live. Bugs Bunny got what he wanted when he tracked down the rest of the toons, his family back together in their world. Family was a strong theme in the movie, so much more it dominated the Fast and the Furious saga…and even they have a strong sense of family.
The conclusion is, parents yes teach your children, lead them, guide them towards a morally right and good course; but let them be themselves. Allow them to choose whatever passion they deem for themselves and allow them to grow towards it. But also be there for them as their loving family, and even though it may not be something you want for them they need to figure out what fits their life.
I loved ‘Space Jam A New Legacy’, but it doesn’t compare to its predecessor, but it is its own thing and we should allow it to be itself. We should take it for what it is: an awesome movie with beautiful classic cartoons we all grew up with along with its own twists and loveable moments.
‘Space Jam A New Legacy’ is now playing in theaters and streaming exclusively on HBO Max.
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