Space Jam: A New Legacy

SPOILER ALERT

WARNING

This review will mention ongoing politics, including those concerning Cancel Culture. Read at your own risk.

With its stylistic meshing of animation and live-action, the collaboration between Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes, and a surprisingly robust soundtrack, Space Jam was one of the go-to movies among children around my age group back in the 1990s. Of course, much later, rewatching it as an adult, I did catch plenty of things about it that kept it from being an all-time great movie. For example, the plot was a mess, and the new Looney Tunes character, Lola Bunny, was regrettably underdeveloped. Nevertheless, it still held a special place in my heart for all it accomplished to great success, on top of being my first introduction to the Looney Tunes for both my brother and me.

Little would I have guessed that a sequel to this particular movie, subtitled A New Legacy, would have made its entrance onto the court.

Centering this time on Lakers player LeBron James instead of Michael Jordan, the movie starred him as a still-active basketball player who lived a regular life in Los Angeles with his family. However, he had a more complicated relationship with his son, Dom, who was more into video games than basketball. Then, one day, a personified computer program named Al-G Rhythm was growing jealous of online celebrities, for he felt they were stealing his thunder. So, from within the Warner Bros. software, where he resided, he sent out a fabricated email to LeBron James and his son, inviting them to meet up with the Warner Bros. executives, who actually believed every word of that email, as they pitched an interactive feature where the consumers can engage in their favorite movies and shows, called the Warner 3000. LeBron politely, then insistently, turned down that offer, while Dom expressed interest in its interactive features, which greatly pleased Al-G Rhythm. So, on their way out, and in the middle of a fight they had, Al-G Rhythm hijacked the system and had it where the elevator in which they went would have gone down and plummeted them to the Warner Bros. lot’s bottommost room, where all its supercomputers resided. After exploring the room, Dom found himself kidnapped by Al-G, and soon, LeBron caught up to them both and demanded that he let his son go. Al-G suggested that LeBron would have had to engage with Al-G in a basketball match to do that. When he refused, Al-G had his 3D sidekick, Pete, send him down to the rejects, that being in Tune World, within a vast digital space called the Warner Bros. Serververse, within which dwelled worlds themed to the classic designated franchises from within the WB library. You name it, The Wizard of Oz, Game of Thrones, Casablanca, Harry Potter, The Matrix, the whole shebang. Soon, Lebron James found himself inside the somehow barren Tune World – and as an animated cartoon version of himself, no less – until he went face to face to face with Bugs Bunny, who told him that Al-G banished all his friends from Tune World to all corners of the Serververse. And once LeBron told him of his dilemmas and why he was here, they both hatched a plan to assemble all the scattered Looney Tune characters and form a legitimate basketball team to win and rescue Dom.

Meanwhile, while still being held hostage by Al-G, Dom was manipulated by Al-G into believing that LeBron did not want the best in him and tempted him to bring his video game creation to life and, in the process, stole it from under his nose. He also sent out a digital notification to many people who had a cellphone about the forthcoming basketball match between the two. Once they all got the message, they were suddenly sucked into the Serververse through it. Once they were settled, alongside all the WB characters from across the Serververse, they were to witness the ultimate basketball game that would have determined the fate of LeBron, Dom, and even of the Looney Tunes themselves.

Before I launch into my thoughts on the movie, let me share a personal bit of history with you. When I first heard of Space Jam getting a sequel, one that was going to star LeBron James, I was shocked by this announcement but still interested to see how this would have worked. The first Space Jam, though not perfect, was still a charming film. And once I saw from the sneak previews that Space Jam: A New Legacy was going to feature 2D animation once again, my anticipation for this movie went over the roof. I couldn’t have waited to see how well they did this movie. Unfortunately, all the enthusiasm I ever felt for this movie, as well as all the hopes I ever had of it being good? They were demolished when I caught the news of Warner Bros. kicking out Pepe le Pew from all the future Looney Tunes projects, starting with this movie. And the only reason they did that was because they gave in to the standards of a New York Times journalist named Charles M. Blow, who wrote that Pepe le Few embodied “rape culture.” From that point on, I looked at Warner Bros. like they just didn’t have their heads screwed on. The idea that they would have kowtowed to the most outrageous, nonsensical demands their customers would ever have dished out in the name of some political ploy or social movement felt beyond stupid and detrimental to the legacy of the Looney Tunes. Besides, the Looney Tunes made a name for themselves for establishing their unique brands of humor to mainstream audiences everywhere. And now, Pepe le Pew was blacklisted just for establishing that same kind of humor, even if it would have resulted in female characters being the butt of the joke as a means to an end. For that reason, I legitimately debated whether I could and should go to see the movie or not. After all, I understood that boycotting someone who did something wrong could set some things straight with them in the hopes that it would help them learn from their mistakes. But until then, and after much deliberation, I ultimately decided to see this movie, not because I was hoping for the best, but because I wanted to see how much it could’ve bombed without Pepe le Pew in sight. I came in prepared for anything; I went to see it in theaters with my curiosity at its all-time high and my expectations at their all-time low.

As soon as I saw the movie from beginning to end...well, let’s say that just like the first film, it had plenty of good elements, but was pretty guilty of some bad aspects, too.

I will start by saying that I think a better title for this movie should have been “Cyberspace Jam.” Everything that happened in this movie, as far as LeBron James and his collaboration with the Looney Tunes over basketball was concerned, all took place within a digital landscape. And not just any digital landscape, but one that was located within the supercomputers of the WB studios.

Speaking of which, I ought to point out the good facets of the movie first. In the first film, I always found it strange that the Looney Tunes’ world happened to be located underneath North Carolina, of all places. That just felt out of the ordinary, even for the film. Here, LeBron got intertwined with the Looney Tunes because they existed within the digital realms of the Warner Bros. supercomputers, which made a lot more sense. It wouldn’t have made sense if the Looney Tunes existed as if it was normal, because then, how would that have been possible? But by having them be digital characters within a digital world composed of many different worlds themed to classic movies and shows from Warner Bros., suddenly, their existence felt a lot more justified. Also, you remember how taken aback I was by the Jordans’ misplaced modesty when they met the Looney Tunes in the flesh? And how they just reacted to that as if it was a normal thing for them? Well, here, when the Jameses, especially LeBron, came face to face with Looney Tunes in person, they appropriately reacted as if they were kids in a candy store. If I was ever in a position where I saw some of my animated icons in person, I would’ve been about as giddy and nervous as LeBron was when he met Bugs Bunny and the other Looney Tunes.

This leads me to discuss a particular topic that I bet many of us were looking forward to the most about this movie: the animation.

In an age where there are so many 3D animated movies out and about, it was just a breath of fresh air to see 2D hand-drawn animation make a comeback once LeBron went into Tune World. The 2D hand-drawn animation felt as rich, colorful, lively, energetic, and pristine as we would’ve asked for in a movie that starred the Looney Tunes characters. And unlike Michael Jordan, who just remained in his live-action self throughout the last film, LeBron James became as 2D-animated as everyone else, and he looked nicely transitioned here, especially when he was subject to the classic cartoon physics himself. This was terrific, too, because while 3D animation is nice and all, it all depends on how well the type of animation compliments the story being told. And the story of the Looney Tunes felt enhanced in all the right ways thanks to the 2D hand-drawn animation.

And just like the last film, the Looney Tunes still looked as fresh, alive, and real as they can be even when they ventured into live-action terrain. Whenever the characters remained in 2D animated forms – I’ll talk about their, um, other animated appearances soon - they still maintained the genuine sensibility of their cartoony appearances and physics. The animators did as terrific a job with the Looney Tunes characters as they did with LeBron James.

And, I ought to give the movie some credit. Unlike the last film, where the focus was mainly on the Looney Tunes – Michael Jordan’s story felt more like a side thing before he engaged with the Looney Tunes – this movie tried to lend some more substance to LeBron James’ side of the story as well as to the Looney Tunes’ side of the story. And even though LeBron James’ dilemmas and his side of the story may have outshined those of the Looney Tunes, I can’t help but feel like this movie achieved a more noticeable balance between the two, and they both complimented each other just right. Which reminds me, the story on Lebron’s side showed some merit. While living an everyday life in Los Angeles, he struggled to connect with his son, who became more distanced from his father because of his tendencies to pressure his basketball pursuits onto him. This was demonstrated best when Dom told LeBron:

You never let me do what I want to do. You never let me just do me.

And this dilemma would soon have tied into the eventual basketball game not just because this game was all about rescuing him but because Dom also had a hand in the game. What he did was he constructed the digital avatars of the players that formed the Goon Squad, the Tune Squad’s opponents, out of the digitized versions of the animals and basketball players Dom had in his arsenal. And, if that’s not enough, when LeBron’s family went out looking for Dom and LeBron, they got notifications on their phones notifying them about the basketball match. In which case, when they saw it, they became teleported into the Serververse to watch Lebron James and Dom, both on opposing teams, duking it out for the big win. So now it was not just the characters from the Serververse being around to witness it, but LeBron’s family, too. It all felt adequately tied together.

Speaking of which, though LeBron’s family in this movie was also fictionalized, and I don’t know very much about what his family was like in real life, it also felt nice to see his family given some proper fictional transition in this movie. For instance, LeBron James had three children in this movie, like in real life, and Dom was a fictional version of his real-life son, Bryce James. I don’t know what Michael Jordan’s family life was like in real life, either, but something about this portrayal made Michael Jordan’s fictional family in the last film look fabricated.

The acting felt pretty decent throughout the movie, too. Dom Cheadle felt like he was living it and owning it as Al-G Rhythm, giving his character a lively personality infused with a sneaky ego who wanted to gain fame and recognition by any means necessary. His expressions, his movements, his reactions, his intimidation, it helped out in good chunks. Even though I thought Cedric Joe felt a bit stilted as Dom, LeBron’s son, he still did an excellent job of giving him some youthful complexions and a slight struggle with himself whenever he was questioned about his relationship with his father, and especially about video gaming.

And LeBron James? Even though I wouldn’t say that this role would make an acting star out of him, I must say, he still had plenty of good moments as his fictionalized self. He gave his character some inner conflicts of his own, just like Joe, and his inflections seemed to suggest that he was struggling to figure out what the right thing would’ve been to do, whether they concerned his son or his fellow Looney Tunes. And whenever he was not in a serious mood, he had some moments where he allowed his character to act a little goofy, fun, and confident, as if he was reliving a part of his childhood long gone. It felt less like Michael Jordan as his fictional self and more like Will Smith from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. While it was still nothing to write home about, his good bits shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Here’s another reason why. In his day, Michael Jordan starred in a series of commercials starring him and the Looney Tunes before they got their big break in Space Jam. That sort of helped Jordan, for all his standardness as an actor, still give off some believable chemistry with the Looney Tunes characters. Likewise, Lebron James, who may never have collaborated with the Looney Tunes before, laid out a decent relationship with the Looney Tunes, especially once they caught on to each other’s dilemmas.

The voice acting from the Looney Tunes also felt terrific. The voice actors still lent the characters their identifiable natures that we all knew so well from them. Even when they had to gear themselves up for something as foreign to them as basketball, their likenesses remained intact throughout the movie. Something else I should note about the voice cast is that instead of either Kate Soucie or Kristen Wiig doing the voice of Lola Bunny in this movie, that was instead covered by Zendaya, of all people. And, I respect her for what she contributed to her character. She gave Lola a sense of cuteness but also a determined and confident vibe in her tone. Much like Kate Soucie, she was the most memorable part of Lola’s characterization in this movie.

And even though I wish this was employed more throughout the movie, there were a few instances where the Looney Tunes used self-referential humor to call us back to the first Space Jam through their sly commentary. For one thing, when asked by LeBron James about engaging in a basketball match with him, Bugs replied and said to the audience:

Sounds awfully familiar.

And when Lebron and Bugs found Lola in Themyscira training to be an Amazon, after extending the invitation to her to join them in their basketball tournament, she replied:

Been there, done that!

But I think the cleverest one occurred during the Tune Squad’s halftime break. When they were down on their luck because of them getting creamed by the Goon Squad, Sylvester said he found Michael Jordan, which got them and LeBron James excited. But it turned out it was Michael B. Jordan, the actor, instead. So, when they realized their mistake, they quickly dismissed him. These were the most prominent known examples I know of from the movie, and I wish there were more of those like that in the film. They would have helped it out a great deal.

Even though the intention behind this was a mixed bag - I’ll explain why soon - I will admit, it did feel pretty cool to watch all the characters from a variety of WB’s classic movies and TV shows. They ranged from the DC superheroes to The Iron Giant, to Pennywise the Dancing Clown, to the Animaniacs, to freakin’ Rick and Morty. Watching all those characters gathered together in one place made the movie feel more epic in scope, and the personal stakes at hand feel a tad more urgent.

But now, as I said, this movie was also guilty of a few missteps along the road. So, let’s dive into that next, shall we?

As cool as it was to see all the established characters from Warner Bros. gathering together in one place, it still felt weird because of how this all occurred within the Warner Bros. Serververse. Not to mention how, for that reason, they may have diverted the attention more than once from LeBron James, the Looney Tunes, and their struggles. Though I will admit, the movie also did a nice job of having the characters be obviously there, but never in your face about it; it helped the film maintain its focus on the lead characters. Still, this also tied into a big problem I noticed many other people express about this movie. Much like how the last Space Jam felt like a feature-length Air Jordan commercial, this movie felt more like a feature-length commercial for either Warner Bros. or HBO Max. I mean, look at it this way: it’s about a basketball player trying to rescue his son and help the Looney Tunes as they were accompanied by all these established characters and worlds from all across the Warner Bros. Serververse. That can be prone to draw some criticism from those who would argue that it is nothing more than a massive marketing ploy meant to glorify in Warner Bros.’ image. Even the last Space Jam at least kept its focus on basketball thanks to its origins, whereas here, its widespread WB associations retrospectively outweighed its focus on basketball from time to time, so I can see where they’re coming from.

And before I forget, I should mention the worlds located within the Serververse, too. It felt like seeing Moron Mountain, except it’s multiplied by the number of established Warner Bros. franchises located throughout the Serververse. Now, aesthetically, these worlds and how they functioned looked cool, but at the same time, they reminded me too much of the worlds from Kingdom Hearts.

The characterizations left something to be desired, too. LeBron James, for instance, was relaxing and trying to spend time with his family but was also struggling with trying to connect with his son because basketball was all he ever thought of. Okay. That just felt pretty standard, and while it wasn’t as uneventful as what Michael Jordan went through in the last Space Jam, they still could have used some more dynamics to keep him engaging outside of family dilemmas. His son, Dom, had a chance to leave an impression as a sympathetic character, but outside of being invested in video games, making video games, and quarreling with his father over following his dreams, he just fell short of leaving a lasting impression in the movie.

And the villain, Al-G Rhythm, was an interesting case. At the beginning of the movie, he felt like an outcast because he wanted to be seen as an online icon, probably on par with LeBron James. So, by kidnapping his son and challenging him to a game of basketball, he felt more and more like he just wanted to go off against LeBron James just out of spite, outside of him being repulsed by LeBron’s rejection of the Warner 3000. As the movie went on, I started to forget his ultimate goal in the grand scheme of things, and I had to remind myself of how he wanted to be seen as someone spectacular. Of course, that didn’t add up because, by the time he sucked anyone who saw his “father vs. son” ad on their phones into the Serververse, that meant that he got himself the added recognition he wanted from those who were present to witness the Ultimate Game. It felt flimsier and more unfocused than Swackhammer’s goal, which, unusual as it was, still had some substance to it.

I also ought to mention the Goon Squad because they all looked like neatly designed, threatening opponents for LeBron James and the Tune Squad to play against. It was even more fascinating when you find out that Dom created these avatars under the guidance of Al-G, who wanted to sway him into doing his bidding. For me, a part of me wished that these characters had more personality to them. It might be just me missing the small but noticeable characterizations from the Nerdlucks/Monstars, but if these characters, regardless if they were flashy avatars of Dom’s own making, were established with some more defining characteristics to each of them, maybe then we could have had someone who posed as significant a threat to them as the Monsters did, with some more personal stakes to go with them, also.

Believe it or not, even though the voice acting from them felt as on point as in the last film, the Looney Tunes characters never felt like they had as much of a chance to leave a big impression, also like they did in the previous movie. I think it was because part of it had to be sacrificed to make room for Lebron James’ development in the film, which was welcome, and whenever the Looney Tunes characters did their thing, the impressions they left behind were small but significant. But whenever I looked back on the Looney Tunes in this movie, I can’t help but feel like they were sidelined a bit.

Also, while this isn’t necessarily a big gripe on my end, they never stayed in their 2D hand-drawn forms throughout the movie. At one point, Al-G Rhythm came along to mess with the Looney Tunes and LeBron James, and one of the things he did was turn the Looney Tunes characters into 3D caricatures of themselves. Now, in general, I didn’t find them that bad in their 3D appearances; they maintained their cartoony physics and identities, nonetheless. But much like Spongebob Squarepants, while their 3D makeovers were anything but cheap, it just wasn’t the same as seeing them in their hand-drawn forms. Whenever I saw them in 2D animation, it felt genuine. Whenever I saw them in 3D animation, it was a bit distracting.

And another thing, the audience that was composed of the WB characters included live-action and animated characters, and all the animated characters appeared in 3D animation, just like the Looney Tunes during the Ultimate Game. But at one point, the Nerdlucks from the last Space Sam made an appearance in the crowd, and not only were they still in their 2D animated forms, but bafflingly, they appeared in reused stock animation from the last film.

Why?

If this movie wanted to use 2D hand-drawn animation to make something new, couldn’t they have used it on the Nerdlucks, too? In fact, how about all the characters that appeared in 2D hand-drawn animation first? Because the 3D animation application from 2D affected only the Looney Tunes, couldn’t the 2D animators have gone all out in animating the crowd characters that made their debut in 2D and maintained their authenticity this way? That would’ve made more sense. And before we forget, in the first film, after they lost the Ultimate Game, the Nerdlucks/Monstars ultimately had enough of Mr. Swackhammer’s overbearing attitude to a point where they turned on him and sided with the Looney Tunes. However, in this film, through their reused animation, they seemed like they were cheering for the Goon Squad instead. Why’s that?

One other thing I was curious to see from this film is how it decided to portray Lola Bunny. In the first Space Jam, she was just a lovely cartoon rabbit who was talented at basketball and posed as the foxy player for the Tune Squad, and that’s it. However, in The Looney Tunes Show, she was an eccentric, giddy rabbit with the uncomfortable hots on Bugs. So that made me want to see what this interpretation of Lola Bunny would have been like. Would she have been one or the other? Would she have been a mix of both?

Well, sadly, she’s neither of these. As she was, she just demonstrated her basketball talents like in the last film and was usually the most determined of the Looney Tunes, with her doing most of the rallying to help her fellow companions back on their feet. I remembered sensing some feminist vibes out of her, even though it did help her feel a touch more compelling than how she was in the last Space Jam. But if I had to look at this Lola Bunny alone and compare her to the other Looney Tunes characters, she still would’ve had a ways to go to be on par with the other characters in Tune World. She was still standard and still felt like a missed opportunity, even more so than in the last film.

And you know what else I thought felt standard in this movie? The songs. The songs in the first film were one of its most significant surprise breakthroughs. The amount of effort put into them was far beyond what I would have expected from a movie like Space Jam, but they helped lend the film some of its emotional footing. Here, the songs either didn’t affect the film in any way or just felt like the more standard songs you could easily hear on the radio to while away the hours. For example, See Me Fly by Chance the Rapper played over the opening credits montage of LeBron James’ life and career with some big beats and energetic vocals. But it didn’t work for me because it lacked the rhythmic gravitas of Quad City DJs’ “Space Jam Theme,” the passionate yearning of R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly,” and even the proud, confident crescendos of Seal’s “Fly Like an Eagle.” Such crucial musical components as these that I worshipped from the first film were nowhere to be spotted in the songs I heard from this movie. Even the Space Jam Theme itself was never used here. Yes, really. It just didn’t make sense for it NOT to be used in a direct follow-up to Space Jam.

One particular instance of music in the movie I found weird was when the Tune Squad and Goon Squad continued to duke each other out in the court and one of the Time Squad’s weapons that scored them basketball points was - get a load of this - a rap number by Porky Pig.

Uh, what? Not only did it feel bizarre seeing the Looney Tunes in ghetto outfits and performing currently-trending music, but it felt out of nowhere, and it barely contributed to the story outside of scoring them basketball points. Even though they never even touched a ball during that number!

At this point, the music and songs of Frozen II felt more masterfully crafted than this.

The basketball match between the Tune Squad and the Goon Squad had many good moments to it; it felt as wacky and over-the-top as you’d expect from the Looney Tunes playing basketball. But hear the end of the game, when Al-G started to lose his cool more and more, he began to take some desperate measures and cheat to score some extra points for himself and the Goon Squad. Except, I didn’t remember his underhanded tactics feeling any more outrageous or out of bounds than what both the Tune Squad and the Goon Squad did in the court, like with Porky’s rap, obviously enough. So, what made this any different?

But of course, there is one big problem I have with this movie, and it’s that not all of the Looney Tunes Characters were brought over into the film.

For starters, Lebron and Bugs had to grab some of the estranged fellow Looney Tunes characters one by one until they were all reunited. It included the Road Runner and Wile. E. Coyote, both in Mad Max: Fury Road, Yosemite Sam in Casablanca, and Granny and Speedy Gonzales, both in the Matrix. So, Lebron and Bugs got about, like, 12 or 15 of the big-name Looney Tune characters together for the big game. But that leaves just one big question: what about everybody else?

At the Ultimate Game from the first Space Jam, the audience participants were composed of nothing but every single one of the characters who appeared in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts of the 20th century. It made sense since this all occurred in a Looney Tunes world, anyway.

So, if Al-G said he banished all the Looney Tunes characters and condemned them as rejects, then did he mean everyone? Where could they have ended up? What about the Looney Tunes characters who weren’t picked up by LeBron or Bugs? Did Al-G permanently delete them?

Besides Pepe le Pew – and I think we all know who’s to blame for his disappearance – I can think of a few famous Looney Tunes characters who didn’t appear here. They included Penelope Pussycat, Michigan J. Frog, George P. Dog, Ralph Wolf, Sam Sheepdog, Beaky Buzzard, Witch Hazel, and countless other characters from the shorts who could easily have had a chance to leave a noticeable impression here. A good portion of them may have made a brief appearance as they boarded the rocket that Al-G would’ve used to take them across the Serververse, but that was the only time I saw them in this movie. And, I know that the last Looney Tunes film, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, also didn’t have all the Looney Tunes characters gathered together in one film, but I can’t think of any other Looney Tunes film or special besides that one that also didn’t bring all the characters together in one place, least of all any of the main characters.

Oh, yeah, here’s something else: before the scandal broke out about Pepe le Pew, there was a sneak preview of Space Jam: A New Legacy that featured LeBron James and Bugs Bunny engaging in an online video chat. That was where I discovered the movie containing 2D hand-drawn animation. But besides these two, it also showed passerby shots of the handful of Looney Tunes characters in Tune Squad outfits, such as Marvin the Martian, even though he never played the game, and even Penelope Pussycat.

Well, now, wait a minute! What became of her? What resulted in her disappearance? Did Al-G have anything to do with it? Or God forbid, might it be that either Warner Bros. or the writers felt uncomfortable including someone closely associated with Pepe le Pew?

But wait! It gets even more confusing! Initially, there was going to be a scene with Pepe le Pew in the movie, and it involved him wooing Griece Santo in the Casablanca world. Then, when he got closer, Griece assaulted him, threatened to file a restraining order on him, and dumped her champagne all over him. Now, on paper, this sounds like yet another attempt to throw in a cinematic MeToo moment, kind of like the Speechless song from the Aladdin remake. But the more I thought about it, this wasn’t that bad an idea.

Not only would it have given the current generation an idea of how immoral sexual harassment can be, but this felt like a decent way to modify Pepe le Pew a wee bit for the modern ages while still maintaining his classic identity. Instead of, you know, tossing him aside and disavowing his existence for doing what some social fanatics claim is quote-unquote “wrong”! This only added another level of futility to Warner Bros.’s attempts to get rid of him from the Looney Tunes franchise. I don’t care if it wouldn’t have pertained to either particular creative visions or crappy social justice trends. I see it as being 100% worthwhile to have many of the more iconic Looney Tunes characters, warts and all, to have some shred of participation where it’s needed! Especially if the project in which this could have occurred happens to be a sequel to something as unsubstantial and flawed, yet high-spirited and dignified, as Space Jam!

Put simply, the exclusion of Pepe le Pew, rather than being a solution on Warner Bros.’ part, instead proved itself to be a colossal embarrassment.

And another thing: if Pepe le Pew still would’ve been in this movie and Al-G didn’t delete him after all, where do you think he would’ve ended up? Especially since it was Yosemite Sam who ended up in Casablanca, and not him? My guess is he would’ve ended up dancing with Gene Kelly in the Serververse’s version of An American in Paris or something.

Oh, man, I can’t think of anything more to say about this movie. This, too, felt looney for both the right and wrong reasons, like the last Space Jam. But the flaws in this movie stuck out like a sore thumb by comparison, mainly because they ranged from nonsensical to inconsistent to hypocritical.

If you feel curious to check this movie out, whether it’s for the fun, colorful visuals, or if it’s out of nostalgic obligation, or if it’s as a means to support 2D hand-drawn animation, then please, be my guest. Those are definitely worth the price of admission. But if you’re honestly going to tell me that this is a righteous new way of looking at the Looney Tunes, it helps elevate sports movies to a whole new level, or that either genre is being put in the right direction, thanks to this film...

Well, as Daffy so aptly put it in the first film:

We gotta get new agents. We’re getting screwed!

A new legacy, indeed.

My Rating: A low C

Additional Thoughts

You know, I found some of the world-building of the worlds themselves to be a bit uneven. For example, in one world, the Casablanca world happens to be split between Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. Actually, on second thought, I found this one pretty witty. I always wondered, would Rick Blaine and Sam Spade have constantly butted heads with each other to see which one was the best movie? Who knows what. Tune World, however, felt more helter-skelter. Even though the many different landscapes on it felt in sync with the classic cartoon shorts, they included a replica of the Eiffel Tower. That would’ve told me that someone French would’ve lived there, such as, you know, Pepe le Pew. But since Pepe wasn’t in this movie, who would’ve lived there instead had Al-G not interfered?

Works Cited

Martinez, J. (2021, March 8). Pepe Le Pew Removed from ‘Space Jam’ Sequel for Reason Unrelated to Recent Controversy. Complex. https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/pepe-le-pew-removed-space-jam-sequel.