After the massive success of the original ‘Space Jam’ film back in 1996, rumors started flying around about a sequel. There was a “spiritual” sequel ‘Loony Toons: Back In Action’ in 2003 but it wasn’t a proper sequel to the much-loved basketball film. As a result, ‘Space Jam 2’ went into production hell for nearly 20 years.
It eventually saw the light of day in 2021 after several delays and starred current basketball star LeBron James.
The story starts off with young LeBron in basketball practice. He wants to play basketball but also loves to play games on his GameBoy. After a failed practice session, LeBron’s coach convinces him to practice more at basketball and LeBron gives up his GameBoy and gaming days.
During the present day, LeBron wishes for his two sons Darius and Dominic to become basketball icons like him. However his younger son Dominic doesn’t want to do that; he’s very good at computer games and knows it. LeBron isn’t happy but his wife begs him to respect Dom’s wish of being a video game designer.
LeBron eventually shows a slight interest in Dom’s new game; a basketball themed game. However there’s a glitch much to the poor boy’s chagrin; there’s a specific move that causes a character to be deleted from the game.
Soon LeBron and his family are invited to the Warner Bros studios where the company is trying to convince him to sign a new film making technology contract that lets LeBron “star” as a AI in various Warner Bros properties including ‘A Game of Thrones’ and ‘Harry Potter’. Dom is all up for it but LeBron isn’t; he wants Dom to focus on basketball and not gaming.
After a fallout between father and son, Dom eventually leaves the room but is lured into the basement. LeBron follows him…and sees his son disappear.
I was finally able to watch ‘Space Jam 2’ the other day after waiting to see it and then getting hesitant about watching it; ‘Space Jam 2’ didn’t register favourably with critics or fans and they made some changes to some Loony Toons characters that angered a lot of fans such as myself.
As one who’s a huge fan of the original 1996 ‘Space Jam’ film this had been on my ‘To Watch List’ for a while. Sadly, it was a massive disappointment when I eventually sat down to watch it.
The acting was very off in it unless it was coming from the younger stars. The soundtrack was very bland and not as iconic as the original 1996 ‘Space Jam’ soundtrack (however, I’ll give them props for having 2Unlimited’s ‘Get Ready For This’ back in).
The only positive thing I can say about it is the animation. Especially for the hand-drawn animated parts.
Sadly, I believe that the only reason why this failed is most likely the fact that not many of this current generation might not be very familiar with the Loony Toons franchise in general despite the original ‘Space Jam’ film being very frequently shown on TV on Saturday afternoons in the UK.
If you’re a fan of the original ‘Space Jam’ film, please don’t waist your time on this very poor and stale imitation of a sequel.
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