Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Space Jam 2’ on HBO Max, in Which LeBron James is Buried in References to a Particular Movie Studio’s Many Properties

Twenty-five years in the making, Space Jam: A New Legacy — back on HBO Max after debuting on the service in July of 2021 — regurgitates the conceptual blither-blather of 1996’s pop fave Space Jam, subbing then-GOAT Michael Jordan with now-GOAT LeBron James, and here is where we step out of the ever-thorny forever-GOAT comparison conversation. Intact, however is the ageless appeal of Looney Tuners like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, who team with LeBron to play a ridiculous form of basketball against an evil algorithm. So some things change and some things stay the same; now let’s see which way this standalone sequel teeters.

SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: The movie opens in 1998 in Akron, Ohio, but now that I’ve seen the whole movie, this part doesn’t seem all that important. Only 100 more minutes to go! In the present day, LeBron James (LeBron James) is a superstar basketball player with one son, Darius (Ceyair J. Wright), who digs the game and another, Dom (Cedric Joe), who doesn’t dig it as much. In fact, Dom would rather attend a conference for video game designers than go to basketball camp, and his pops just can’t wrap his head around it.

Meanwhile, in Burbank, some suits at a particular showbiz studio call LeBron James (LeBron James) for a meeting. So LeBron James (LeBron James) dons some particular sports gear of a particular brand, Dom tagging along in some shoes from same particular brand, and stops by the office. Two of the suits are played by recognizable talents making cameos, and I won’t reveal them lest it be sort of a spoiler, and from here on out, I will follow suit with regards to the subsequent barrage of similar cameos. Anyway, they want LeBron James (LeBron James) to cross over to all their branded properties, which include specific superhero groups, specific cartoon properties, specific magician characters and more. But LeBron James (LeBron James) wants to focus on basketball, so he turns down the deal.

But! On their way out, LeBron James (LeBron James) and Dom get sidetracked and sucked into the particular showbiz studio’s gigantic megaservers by a conniving artificial intelligence dubbed Al G. Rhythm — GET IT? — and he’s played by Don Cheadle, who I thought was owned by a different specific branded superhero group, which just tells us that Don Cheadle is a badass who does what Don Cheadle wants, and if Don Cheadle wants to cash a paycheck for Space Jam 2 and be damn great in No Sudden Move all in the space of a month, more power to him.

At this point, you’re probably wondering where the heck Bugs and Daffy and their pals are. Like all the particular showbiz studio’s properties, they live in the megaserver. While Al G. Rhythm cons young Dom by praising the sweet basketball video game he developed and also giving him a particular name brand red licorice candy to carry so we can see the logo, LeBron James (LeBron James) crash lands — making a hole in the ground in the precise shape of a particular sports-gear brand’s logo — near Bugs Bunny’s hole-house. Of course, Al challenges LeBron James (LeBron James) to a basketball match against his team of ringers, prompting LeBron James (LeBron James) and Bugs to track down the other Looney Tunes characters, who’ve been slumming it in many of the particular showbiz studio’s properties, even the ones that young viewers shouldn’t watch, like the one with all the killing and sex and dragons, and the superviolent one about the post-apocalyptic car chase in the desert, and the cartoon one where the kid and his grandfather travel through space and time trying not to be horrible people. Truth is, LeBron James (LeBron James) wanted some other, bigger, stronger characters from the particular showbiz studio’s properties, but Bugs is persuasive. That, and Bugs has been in this situation before, and knows exactly how it’s gonna turn out as long as he follows the formula. NO SPOILERS THO!

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Besides the first Space Jam and the dozens and dozens of movies from the particular showbiz studio’s properties that are referenced? None. It reminds me of no other movies.

Performance Worth Watching: “Athletes acting — it never goes well,” quips LeBron James (LeBron James), reminding us that he actually wasn’t half-bad in Trainwreck. And is this a good place to say that Daffy Duck kinda gets dicked in terms of screen time here? It’s as good a place as any, I guess.

Memorable Dialogue: “A computer dude stole my son and I have to play basketball to get him back.” — LeBron James (LeBron James) renders the whole first 40 minutes of the movie expendable

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: I will name one and only one of the particular showbiz studio’s properties because of his notable absence, and that’s Godzilla; I imagine he’s not present in Space Jam 2, despite his recent giant ape co-star’s appearance, because his contract doesn’t allow him to. I’m sure it’s lawyer-this and IP-rights-that, you know, boring stuff. But it’s fair game for everyone/thing else owned by the particular showbiz studio, and one can only come to the conclusion that the onslaught of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it referential gags is employed to distract us from the indefatigable truth that this is the exact same plot as the first Space Jam. Except, you know, this one is for a new generation, which OBVIOUSLY needs to be exposed to the particular showbiz studio’s properties!

I understand that by not naming names, I may actually entice you to watch Space Jam: A New Legacy so you can catch all the cameos for yourself, but I’d also like to point out that many people on the internet will inevitably publish lists compiling them so you don’t have to sit through all 115 minutes of the movie. This is just a way of saying I’m ultimately ambivalent about the film, which gives us a few decent laughs, is animated with an inspired and colorful blend of 2D verve and 3D pop. It may also entertain your six-year-old, and just might persuade that six-year-old to fire up more classic Looney Tunes shorts instead of watching YouTubers shriek like speared baboons while playing Minecraft. But the movie sure seems cynical too, an explosion of self-promotion that only betrays its lack of creativity and originality.

Our Call: SKIP IT. I cannot recommend Space Jam: A New Legacy in good conscience, but I also understand the pull of pop-cultural nostalgia for the people of a certain vintage who watched the original movie. So you’re gonna STREAM IT, and I won’t care all that much, and if you read this far, you know what type of calculated marketing morass you’re getting into. POSTSCRIPT: I take back the “it-reminds-me-of-no-other-movies” comment; it actually reminds me quite a bit of The Lego Batman Movie, which also had the gall to tie in many of the particular showbiz studio’s properties, but didn’t make that the near-entirety of the point of the movie — and was much, much funnier. As ever, making us laugh goes a long way.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba.

Stream Space Jam: A New Legacy on HBO Max