Space Jam: A New Legacy is a fam-friendly film glittered with references from almost every notable Warner Brothers (WB) property alongside the (obvious) Lebron James-associated branding (Nike, his own LJ logo).

James’ acting performance was what was to be expected of a non-actor athlete with a few IMDb credits of self-portrayal in films. 🙃🙃 It was a good directing decision to have the middle chunk of the film rely on the athlete’s transformation into a classic 2-D animation of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/WB cartoons. Bron-Bron is at his best as a voiceover actor.

Physical comedic performances are hard enough when you’re watching humans act alongside each other, so I could imagine Bron portraying himself throughout the entire film trying to keep up with green screen balls and sticks. 😖😖😖

The self-deprecating and breaking-the-fourth-wall jokes mostly hit, but were a bit repetitive and unoriginal.

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The likes:

♥️ The introduction is set in 1998, and Pras’ “Ghetto Superstar” plays in the background. Lovely. And the discussion between Lebron and his friend about the transition from the ol’ school grey block Game Boy to the Color joint. Ahhh, what a time…. 😌 ♥️ 😌

♥️ Intro credits scene highlighting Bron’s career was great! A nice ode to the original.

♥️ Find me a film that Wood Harris has acted in over the past decade where he hasn’t yelled or coached. My man’s ain’t had chill vocal chords since he played Avon. 😆😆 What a legend.

♥️ Don “Keeps the Baggeth” Cheadle is a versatile actor, and was one of the only reasons I stayed until the end of the film.

♥️ Don “Been Grinding My Whole Life” Cheadle has an animating personality, and was the perfect choice as a villain. He floats between comedy and drama effortlessly.

♥️ Don “Kung Fu Kenny” Cheadle needs to be in more things. I like seeing him collect bags of money for performances that seem to be “light work” for him.

♥️ Don “Appeared in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ for 90 seconds and received an Emmy nomination” Cheadle was the best thing about this film.

♥️ The score was cool. I enjoyed the updated Looney Tunes theme! Shouts to Kris Bowers—he be knowin’. 🎼🎶🎵🎶

♥️ The Warner 3000 computer server scenes were gorge. Loved the orange/turquoise/purple-y color palette. 🎨

♥️  The wardrobe was great! They could’ve made Cheadle look clownish, but they really elevated his character’s persona with the metallic denim coords. It worked! The James’ fashions were trendy, and I loved it! Their ensembles were well-coordinated without feeling too match-y. Good mix of textures for the group.

♥️ I was not expecting the “Michael _ Jordan” joke during the halftime locker room speech. (And I probably should have given Ryan Coogler is one of the film’s producer.) That was pretty cute!

♥️  Fave moment of the film: grabbing Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner during “Mad Max: Fury Road” was the best recruitment!! Genius!

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The dislikes:

🥴 Screenplay was boring. 😒😖🥴 There was hardly any suspense, and the conclusion was predictable.

🥴 Def reminded me of “Coming 2 America” in how they stuff in every opportunity to showcase a WB or Bron-associated something or another. This film felt like a marketing and advertising experience. (And it probably worked because I really want a Toon Squad jersey just for the hell of it. It’s cute.)

🥴 I really could not stand the voice actor for Bugs Bunny. The tone and cadence were off.

🥴 The halftime motivational speech was anticlimactic and dated! It nearly mimicked the one from the first film’s big game.

🥴 The soundtrack. NOT ONE MEMORABLE BANGER. UGH!!

🥴 The Sarah Silverman and Steven Yeun cameos were definitely diversity hires, bruh. Because what was the point? I was surprised to see them and hoped they’d pop up again, but nah…just there to fill seats.

🥴 There were no quotables. I took nothing from this film that I can see myself reciting for decades. For example, when Marvin the Martian was introduced in this film, my immediate thought was him referring to Jordan as “Sir Altitude” in the original film. WHERE WAS THIS FILM’S “PRECISELY, SIR ALTITUDE.” moment!!!

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Comparing to the original film:

One is an apple. And one is a jalapeño. Technically, they’re both fruits. But they are different, phenotypically and at their cores. They both stand alone, but one is a bit more enjoyable than the other.

LJ and MJ are neck and neck on the acting tip—neither are thespians, and I wasn’t expecting them to be.

Space Jam: A New Legacy is cute, clean, corny fun! But it’s not for me, and I didn’t need to watch the entire film to know how it would end.