Space Jam 2 is a cinematic masterpiece
An analysis of the high camp of “Space Jam: A New Legacy”'
What is there to say about “Space Jam: A New Legacy” (2021)? Directed by Malcolm Lee, "A New Legacy" acts as a sequel, but more fittingly a universe expansion, of 1996"s original "Space Jam." LeBron James steps up to take the role originally filled by Michael Jordan of an NBA superstar drafted to play basketball with the cast of the Looney Tunes. However, with a 4.4 on IMDb and a 25% on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s clear to see that "A New Legacy" might not have been a slam dunk.
I can’t pretend there aren’t problems with this movie. The plot is simple to understand, but character motives are redundant. LeBron James turns away from his teen son because he can’t accept that he has more than one hobby and enjoys making video games. Don Cheadle, of "Ocean’s Eleven" and "Hotel Rwanda", plays the personification of a computer algorithm, written by someone who seemingly hasn’t touched a computer in 20 years. The dialogue is written stiffly, and jokes often fall flat. Much of the movie is references that will be stale and outdated within two years. In Warner Brothers’ enthusiasm to flex their properties, the movie feels crowded and lost. All of these critiques are completely valid. I would even go so far as to say that I agree with them.
And yet.
"Space Jam: A New Legacy" has stuck with me more than any other movie of 2021. With almost no others can I recite the plot beat for beat, and with the same enthusiasm. I watched "A New Legacy" for the first time right as the first semester ended, just as winter break was about to begin. Of course, this meant that The Wheel had wrapped up publication until 2022, and I couldn"t commit my feverish thoughts to an article. “Wait,” I told myself. “Wait until you come back for spring. You’ll most likely forget all about it.”
I didn’t.
"A New Legacy" haunted me day and night. My thoughts were consumed with the sheer number of background cameos that this B-list movie contains. Pennywise is at the basketball game. Batman and Robin are at the basketball game. The Wicked Witch of the West and her flying monkeys are explicitly there to watch LeBron and the Looney Tunes play against Don Cheadle’s elite squad of NBA stars superimposed into inhuman bodies. “You don’t understand,” I’d say to my friends, “Bugs Bunny has to face his own innate selfishness, and his fear that his friends—along with the world—will move on without him.”
Photo credits: People Magazine
Nobody understands "Space Jam: A New Legacy '' like I do. LeBron’s estrangement from his son over video games, and his son finding understanding and mentorship from Don Cheadle’s Al G. Rhythm (yes that’s the character’s actual name) can be understood as commentary on fatherhood, and what it means to be a Black father in America. LeBron’s childhood trauma where his basketball coach throws his Gameboy in the trash so he can focus on training— yes, it could be heavy handed and poorly written foreshadowing, but it can be seen as so much more. Obviously, "A New Legacy '' is portraying the impact of how we pass our own traumas down to our children, which is why LeBron won’t let his son go to video game camp. A true "New Legacy'' scholar could spend years unpacking the rich layers of this movie. LeBron can rebuild his relationship with his son by learning to accept the Looney Tunes for who they are, but what real world parallel was director Malcolm Lee attempting to draw? How can we heal our own children—our own traumas? The answers could be in "Space Jam: A New Legacy", if only the world knows how to look.
Furthermore, I would go so far as to say that "A New Legacy" is actually high camp (otherwise known as ‘appealing because of its bad taste and ironic value). Everyone on Rotten Tomatoes just doesn’t appreciate this movie for what it is, and don’t know how to watch such an avant garde film. By creating a sidekick character for Don Cheadle who only exists to be cute and vacant, "A New Legacy" is actually mocking the degeneration of children’s movies from the days of its predecessor. We’ve been watching this movie wrong from the beginning- it’s not ‘bad’, or ‘a cash grab’, or ‘a weak attempt at appealing to nostalgia’, it’s camp. This movie’s satire of itself is so perfect, only I am able to watch it for the masterpiece it is. The horrible, uncanny valley that occurs when the Looney Tunes are modeled in 3D animation? Satire. LeBron acting like he’s reading from a teleprompter in every scene? Camp. The writers having no idea what an algorithm is or what one does? Social commentary. Everyone else is just unable to understand the true artistry of “Space Jam: A New Legacy”, the new “Citizen Kane”.
