My Review of "Space Jam: A New Legacy"

Space Jam: A New Legacy is a movie that's been talked about for quite some time. I haven't had the chance to check it out until recently and I can see where everyone is coming from. On one hand we have all of these people that fondly remember the original Space Jam and then we have the new generation that have never seen the original. This movie tries to appeal to everyone but most importantly it appeals to children.

The movie starts out with a young Lebron James. He's starting out as a young kid with a ton of potential and is given a Gameboy from one of his friends. His basketball coach tells him that he needs to get rid of distractions in order to be the best. He obviously heeds his advice and later on becomes one of the best basketball players ever.

Fast forward years later after his NBA championships with three different teams. He has a growing family and now his sons are playing basketball. It's obvious that Lebron wants his kids to be just as successful as him. Taking a page from his past he wants to pass along the lessons he learned to become the best basketball player in the world.

It then looks as though Lebron is reliving his past into his children. One of his sons, Dom doesn't actually want to play basketball at a high level. He's more interested in creating video games. Seeing as Lebron doesn't really see potential outside of basketball he kind of shuns his son's dream of becoming a video game programmer.

Meanwhile in the back of the Warner Brother's computer server there is a program called Al. G. who is devising a plan on becoming popular using Lebron's popularity. He hopes to propel himself into fame by garnering a deal where Lebron becomes digitized by Warner Brother's in video games and movies.

Unfortunately for Al. G., Lebron isn't into the idea so Al. G has other plans in order to lure Lebron into his "Serververse". That includes sucking Lebron and his son Dom into the server to play a high stakes game of digital basketball under Dom's video game.

Through this adventure Lebron meets all of the Looney Tunes in a very fantastical and whimsical way. I really liked the exploration of the Warner Brothers' Serververse. For people that know Warner Brothers licensed properties it's pretty fun. They go and explore the DC universe, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and even the Matrix.

It's funny because I keep forgetting how many licensed properties that Warner Brothers owns. They're pretty big franchises and its really fun how the looney tunes and Lebron interact with them. Unfortunately for me this was a really fast montage that I really wished they'd spend more time with. It was one of the highlights of the movie.

The movie is also a shameless plug to a lot of companies. There's ads for companies like Nintendo and Nike that are absolutely in your face. It's kind of to be expected as it's a family film. Companies are all over this movie because they know kids are going to check it out and that's where the big money is.

Still there is a lot of fun to be had in this movie. Throughout the movie there are a wide assortment of childish jokes and for the most part they kind of work. I like how they play around with a lot of the fun aspects of being a cartoon. Lebron would have to move his hair to his beard and vice versa. They have the usual Looney Tunes schtick that we're all accustomed to as well.

If you're pretty knowledgeable about pop culture you'll get pretty much most of the jokes that they throw at you in this movie. Those that aren't familiar with basketball or movie franchises might want to step away from this movie however. I think you'll enjoy this movie just a little more with knowing the basics.

Overall, I still had a fun time with this movie. That's not saying it was a fantastic movie that I could watch over and over again. If you're curious about the movie I would say it's worth checking out at least just once. I have to give this movie a 6 out of 10. It's more of a movie for young families but people into pop culture and basketball could enjoy it as well.