Space Jam: A New Legacy The film opened on July 16th at theaters and HBO Max. It is directed by Malcolm D. Lee who also directed the comedy, Girls Trip (2017). There is extensive writing credits; the story is by Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier, Keenan Coogler, and Terence Nance, all of whom co-wrote the screenplay. The screenplay is also credited to Jesse Gordon and Celeste Ballard. The film begins with a nice family moment, mother is leaving her young son, LeBron(Stephen Kankole) to play basketball, and she has to leave. We get Akron, Ohio, 1998. He is at the stands, his Looney Tunes backpack is next to him, when he is met by his friend Malik (Jalyn Hall). He gives LeBron his Nintendo GameBoy since he just got the latest version. LeBron plays a Looney Tunes game and doesn’t hear his coach (Wood Harris) call for him until he shakes him out his game play! He is subbed in and the crowd is excited as the clock runs down. LeBron has the ball and shoots, the ball bounces off the rim!
After the game, coach says LeBron was not focused, which he should do before even getting to the court. He throws his Game Boy into the trash. We get photos of LeBron as we see him up to his selection to the Cleveland Cavaliers. His game play is given some cartoon flashes. Then his move to the Miami Heat and finally to the L.A. Lakers. We get to his stylish basketball court at his house in L.A., his young son, Dom (Cedric Joe), is playing a basketball handheld game while is older brother, Darius (Ceyair J. Wright), is on the court. Dom has made his own video game! He takes the basketball, gets to the hoop, but throws a weak shot. LeBron doesn’t accept that they were just playing, not serious, and he shows his son the video game. He tries to talk with Dom while Darius gestures in imitation of his father next to him. LeBron calls for the ball which a machine sends him and gives it to Dom to practice a move. The basketball bounces off his foot. Darius shows him how it’s done calling for the ball. He says he practices all day and gets the machine to send a ball that hits his head!
LeBron says Dom has basketball camp and his son leaves, just disappointed, not great parenting. His wife, Kamiyah (Sonequea Martin-Green) with her daughter calls them in for dinner. Later, we see family photos, it is night when Kamiyah wants LeBron not to push basketball on Dom. She wants him to say something about making his own video game. We move to the morning, the Warner Bros. Studio water tower, and then into the digital world of the Warner Bros. Serververse. AI G. Rhythm (Don Cheadle) is cycling through LeBron’s game play and has found the person for his launch. His digital sidekick, Pete, murmurs. AI wants to break out of the Serververse. He wants to combine his Warner 3000 with LeBron James, AI sends the globe up a tube, it becomes an e-mail on the computer of a Warner Bros. Executive (Sarah Silverman). At the James house, Dom is working on scanning a tarantula into his game. He gets an e-mail for an invitation to the E3 game design camp. LeBron joins him and Dom shows him the game. He starts playing his move, starting with the step back, but then his game icon freezes!
Dom checks his computer, but the system crashes! Back-ups. He has lost his character and needs to rebuild him. LeBron tries to cheer up his son and wants him to come to Warner Bros. At the Warner Bros. lot, everywhere watches the algorthrim, AI G. Rhythm introduced the Warner 3000. He is cartoony and upbeat. Al G says that LeBron can be scanned and put into any game. The Game LeBron faces Batman as Mr. Freeze. Then, AI puts him in Game of Thrones and Harry Potter. Dom likes it as does the Warner Bros. Executive and her fellow executive (Steven Yuen). LeBron is uncertain and the executives suddenly agree with him. Dom is still excited about the algorthrim and also mentions the game design camp. LeBron wants him to go to basketball camp. Dom walks out and LeBron catches up to him, they go into an elevator that takes them to the Warner 3000. Al G opens the door for Dom. LeBron calls out for Dom and then sees him walk up some steps and disappear in a flash. LeBron is taken into the Serververse Tron-style and finally catches up to Dom who is impressed at being digitized. The Wizard of Oz-face of Al G which turns into a more human-like Don Cheadle in a silver jacket.
He introduces himself as King Al G Rhythm and suddenly Dom is missing. Al G wants LeBron to play some basketball. If he wins, LeBron can walk out with Dom and will stay in the Serververse forever. He has Pete send LeBron to the rejects in the Tune World. LeBron falls past worlds of Westeros, Casablanca, Harry Potter, and Wizard of Oz. He drops through a Looney Tunes tunnel and smacks down into a desert, Wiley E. Coyote-style. Lebron makes a crater in the shape of the Nike logo, funny. He finds that he has turned into a cartoon and that Looney Tunes World is empty. LeBron is surprised at the appearance of Bugs Bunny (Jeff Bergman). He takes LeBron on a mad cap trip through Tune World and at a saloon tells him Al G took away all of his friends. At the Serververse, Al G knows all about Dom. Back at the saucer, LeBron puts together his team, Bugs takes him to DC World where in the BunnyMobile, LeBron finds out that he is Robin. A runaway train is going to be rescued by…Super Duck (Eric Bauza). Actually, it is Superman and the rest of the Justice League, they see the destruction caused by the train and don’t join LeBron’s team. It is fun to see the Looney Tunes character in various movies. We of course get Porky Pig, Speedy Gonzales (Gabriel Iglesias), and in Themyiscara, Wonder Woman (Rosario Dawson) tests Lola Bunny (Zendaya). They have to go against Al G's team the Goon Squad given some basketball players skills who were scanned by Dom for his game. Some fun moments, LeBron plays along with the Looney Tunes antics, some references to the first film, and the film has good heart.
Four Basketballs out of Five!
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