Space Jam
Year: 1996
Director: Joe Pytka
Starring: Danny DeVito, Michael Jordan, Wayne Knight & Billy West
Runtime: 88 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 30/11/21
Director: Joe Pytka
Starring: Danny DeVito, Michael Jordan, Wayne Knight & Billy West
Runtime: 88 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 30/11/21
Despite being a self-confessed cinephile, and someone who is always giving film advice and recommendations out to friends, it’s often surprising to people as to how many classic family films I haven’t seen. Mostly it boils down to me not having them on VHS when I was a child, and not having access to movie channels on TV that showed them. I’m also at the point now where most of these films are aimed at children with little to offer to adult audiences, so I won’t really get anything from watching them. But every now and again I’ll dip my toe into these older family films and see what all the fuss was about. Due to the release of Space Jam: A New Legacy, I thought it was about time to finally watch Space Jam, a film that has had such an enduring legacy amongst my age group that even twenty-five years later people are still saying it’s one of the best kids films ever made. But is that just the rose-tinted nostalgia glasses talking?
Following his retirement from the NBA in 1993, Michael Jordan had a brief stint playing baseball, one that was nowhere near as successful as his basketball career in which he is still remembered today as one of the greatest players of all time.
Meanwhile, in space, the amusement park Moron Mountain is falling on hard times and the greedy park owner Swackhammer (Danny DeVito) demands that his assistants find him a new attraction. His alien minions descend upon Earth in search of the Loony Tunes, the ragtag band of lovable yet totally insane cartoon characters. Upon finding them, Bugs Bunny (Billy West) settles with the aliens that they will come peacefully if the aliens beat them at a game of basketball. The aliens, stupid yet cunning, steal the talent of some major NBA stars and transform into the Monstars basketball team. Out of options, the Tunes kidnap Michael Jordan and beg him to help them win, or else they’ll be forced to live the rest of their immortal lives in slavery.
Following his retirement from the NBA in 1993, Michael Jordan had a brief stint playing baseball, one that was nowhere near as successful as his basketball career in which he is still remembered today as one of the greatest players of all time.
Meanwhile, in space, the amusement park Moron Mountain is falling on hard times and the greedy park owner Swackhammer (Danny DeVito) demands that his assistants find him a new attraction. His alien minions descend upon Earth in search of the Loony Tunes, the ragtag band of lovable yet totally insane cartoon characters. Upon finding them, Bugs Bunny (Billy West) settles with the aliens that they will come peacefully if the aliens beat them at a game of basketball. The aliens, stupid yet cunning, steal the talent of some major NBA stars and transform into the Monstars basketball team. Out of options, the Tunes kidnap Michael Jordan and beg him to help them win, or else they’ll be forced to live the rest of their immortal lives in slavery.
I always knew Space Jam as that one movie where Michael Jordan plays basketball with the Loony Tunes, and upon watching the film I can confirm I will always remember Space Jam as that one movie where Michael Jordan plays basketball with the Loony Tunes. There’s not a lot else to it and there’s really no other reason you’d want to watch the film other than to see Jordan, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck all on screen together shooting some hoops.
You also wouldn’t want to see it for anything else because what little else is there isn’t very good.
My time with Space Jam can be boiled down into one sentiment: when the Looney Tunes are on screen, it’s a good film. Not only is it a good film, but its arguably got some of the best jokes the cartoon series has ever had. Putting the Tunes into the real world to interact with real people and objects is a recipe for success if I ever saw one, but the whole concept of Space Jam is just so weird to me. It’s easy to see that the pitch for Space Jam came from a 1992 Nike Air commercial where Jordan starred alongside Bugs, and that then escalated itself into a full-blown movie once Warner Bros. saw how much it had revitalised the image of Looney Tunes.
The portions of the film where the crazy cartoons aren’t on screen is unfortunately very dull and practically lifeless. Maybe it’s because I’m not into the 1990’s basketball scene, but the film concerns itself so much on people pressuring Jordan to return to basketball, and then once he’s with the cartoons, it focuses on five other NBA basketball players as they try to come to terms with their talent being gone. It’s not funny, none of them can act, and it feels like the film is simply stalling for time because the budget wouldn’t stretch far enough to have the cartoons in the film for more than forty minutes.
You also wouldn’t want to see it for anything else because what little else is there isn’t very good.
My time with Space Jam can be boiled down into one sentiment: when the Looney Tunes are on screen, it’s a good film. Not only is it a good film, but its arguably got some of the best jokes the cartoon series has ever had. Putting the Tunes into the real world to interact with real people and objects is a recipe for success if I ever saw one, but the whole concept of Space Jam is just so weird to me. It’s easy to see that the pitch for Space Jam came from a 1992 Nike Air commercial where Jordan starred alongside Bugs, and that then escalated itself into a full-blown movie once Warner Bros. saw how much it had revitalised the image of Looney Tunes.
The portions of the film where the crazy cartoons aren’t on screen is unfortunately very dull and practically lifeless. Maybe it’s because I’m not into the 1990’s basketball scene, but the film concerns itself so much on people pressuring Jordan to return to basketball, and then once he’s with the cartoons, it focuses on five other NBA basketball players as they try to come to terms with their talent being gone. It’s not funny, none of them can act, and it feels like the film is simply stalling for time because the budget wouldn’t stretch far enough to have the cartoons in the film for more than forty minutes.
The blending of live-action and animation is very impressive though, and (at least visually) considerably better than what was achieved with Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The scene with Bugs and Daffy in Jordan’s home looks great and is the most visually stunning part of the film with the character models and lighting look fantastic on them. But for the most part we get Jordan in a cartoon environment, which is also visually impressive and only hampered by the fact that Jordan isn’t a good actor anyway, and it’s literally just him in a completely green-screened environment which is a difficult job for any actor.
It’s never as seamless as it was with Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but director Robert Zemeckis worked a miracle on that film in tandem with the outstanding acting talent of Bob Hoskins and Christopher Lloyd. But despite being a bit clunkier than Roger Rabbit, Space Jam is still a highly impressive technical achievement to this day…even with the extremely dated CGI that thankfully is used sparingly.
Space Jam is absolutely a film for kids. There’s not much there for adults to appreciate at all, especially if you’re an adult watching it for the first time. Had I seen the film when I was younger then I’m sure I’d be much more favourable to it now, but as it stands Space Jam is at its best when it’s just being a Loony Tunes cartoon…and at that point I might as well just watch Loony Tunes instead. It’s got a few good gags, and the technology involved is impressive, but it’s not enough to make me want to go back to it any time soon.
It’s never as seamless as it was with Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but director Robert Zemeckis worked a miracle on that film in tandem with the outstanding acting talent of Bob Hoskins and Christopher Lloyd. But despite being a bit clunkier than Roger Rabbit, Space Jam is still a highly impressive technical achievement to this day…even with the extremely dated CGI that thankfully is used sparingly.
Space Jam is absolutely a film for kids. There’s not much there for adults to appreciate at all, especially if you’re an adult watching it for the first time. Had I seen the film when I was younger then I’m sure I’d be much more favourable to it now, but as it stands Space Jam is at its best when it’s just being a Loony Tunes cartoon…and at that point I might as well just watch Loony Tunes instead. It’s got a few good gags, and the technology involved is impressive, but it’s not enough to make me want to go back to it any time soon.