Mr. Movie review: ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ is not a slam dunk

“Space Jam: A New Legacy” stars basketball superstar, Lebron James and other current National Basketball Association players.

The lineup includes Portland Trailblazer, Damian Lillard, Golden State Warrior, Klay Thompson, Los Angeles Laker, Anthony Davis, WNBA star, Diana Taurasi, and others.

The movie also is packed with tons of cameos.

James has a conflict with his son, Dom. The boy is brilliant at video game design and has put together a terrific new online basketball game.

James isn’t paying attention to those skills, doesn’t like — or approve of — video games, and thinks the boy should focus on the real game of basketball.

The parental mistake? He’s just not listening.

Al G. Rhythm is an animated character who lives in the Warner 3000 server-verse. His domain is animated and he’s ready for a digital space breakthrough.

In a meeting with executives, King James disapproves of what will be done with his likeness, and forcefully rejects the plan.

However, Dom is impressed. Sensing he has an ally, and to get revenge, Al G. whisks James and the boy into the server-verse and challenges James to a basketball game on Dom’s court.

If James wins, the boy — who doesn’t know about Al G’s plan — can return the the real world. Lose and Dom stays in the server-verse forever. James nets Bugs Bunny and other Warner Brothers cartoon characters to help with his cause.

King James may be the king of his kind of hardwood, but the kid’s court and his game have much different rules. They don’t make sense to the single-minded James.

The positives first. The effects in “A New Legacy” blend real life with animation and incredible CGI and they are stunning. They — alone — make this a much better movie than Michael Jordan’s 1996 Space Jam.

As an aside, this is a mind-blowing movie experience that would be incredible in 3D.

Another plus is how six writers and director Malcolm D. Lee (“Night School,” “Girls Trip”) fill James’ movie with cartoon and movie characters from dozens of sources. Lee also blends real life movie clips into the mix.

Some are Warner Brothers. Some are not.

Special effects have evolved significantly since Jordan helped Bugs Bunny and the other Looney Tunes characters escape permanent enslavement at a theme park on an alien world.

With some cleverly and creatively done twists, the new movie gets an extra free-throw or two, and a couple of points for effects.

Lee and the writers pack the first two-thirds of the movie with some really funny lines and bits. Some of them will go over the heads of younger viewers but older people will get the jokes and the images. The funniest is a deliberately drawn out Michael Jordan bit that put me on the floor.

That 90-second piece — alone — is worth the price of the ticket.

“Space Jam: A New Legacy” also puts a new wrinkle in the debate over whether Lebron James or Michael Jordan is the best player to ever grace a basketball court. Added to the discussion is which is the best actor?

Or maybe we put it this way, who is the worst actor.

Neither man is very good. In my book, on the basketball court, James is the best player ever. To me, Jordan is more likable than James so Jordan gets the acting edge. What isn’t up for debate is which Space Jam movie is the best.

While story development and script writing for this kind of movie, and the acting by nonactor athletes hasn’t changed much. As noted earlier, special effects have evolved by light years in the 25-years since Jordan’s movie, so James and “Space Jam: A New Legacy” win the best movie trophy.

It’s a slam dunk.

The same can’t be said for the movie. It’s often an airball. Thirty minutes of the film’s nearly two-hours are as unnecessary as a real basketball game’s TV timeout.

Bunches of scenes add nothing positive, nor do they move the plot forward. Add awful acting, an over-baked father-son crisis and predictable lessons in morality, and the movie slows to a crawl.

In the end, “Space Jam: A New Legacy” may top the original, and the effects and some of the humor get positive rating points from me, it still doesn’t get a buzzer-beating win.

▪ Rated PG for mature themes. It’s playing at the Fairchild Cinemas Pasco and Queensgate 12s and at the Fairchild Southgate 10 and the AMC Classic Kennewick 12.

▪ Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5

This story was originally published July 16, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Mr. Movie review: ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ is not a slam dunk."