Hey guys and welcome to the Jam! Yeah that’s right everybody, because I want to, I’m going to be reviewing both Looney Tunes theatrical features (Space Jam and Looney Tunes: Back in Action) in the lead up to my review of Space Jam: A New Legacy (which boy do I have some unpopular thoughts on… let’s leave it at that for now). But focusing on Space Jam for a second it is one of those movies that while not exactly beloved by critics at the time, still ended up being a childhood touchstone for many kids in the 90s and it was a hit at the time thanks to the popularity of both the Tunes and Michael Jordan. Honestly it’s not hard to see why as while I have my issues with it I still find it to be a fun watch and this is coming from someone who didn’t really grow up watching it all that much. Now that it’s game time, let’s get our Hanes on, lace up our Nikes, grab our Wheaties and Gatorade, and pick up a Big Mac on our way to the ball park as we re visit one of the most 90s pieces of media there is!
After an opening scene showing Michael Jordan sharing his dream of playing for the NBA, we go through a rocking montage showing off just how far he has come since he was little and then cut to him announcing his retirement from basketball and his desire to pursue baseball, just like his father. Meanwhile up in space, we are introduced to Moron Mountain, a struggling amusement park owned by the greedy Mr. Swackhammer who finds out about the Looney Tunes and wants them as attractions to help his business (quite the tone shift). Thus, he sends his underlings, the Nerdlucks, to Earth so that they can take the Tunes as prisoners, but the Tunes decide to challenge them to a basketball game due to their small size meaning they would never win the game. However, the Nerdlucks decide to learn more about the sport and in the process suck all of the power out of famous basketball players such as Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Shawn Bradley, Muggsy Bogues, and Larry Johnson in order to gain their talents and become these huge, muscular beings referred to as the Monstars! Now faced with a legitimate challenge, The Tunes led by Bugs Bunny decide to abduct Michael Jordan and convince him to aid their team, The Tune Squad, in a basketball game that will determine the fate of the Tunes as we know them!
Keep in mind as a point of reference, I did not grow up watching this film all that much (in fact I only saw it once when I was younger) so I am not of the audience that treats this a childhood touchstone. That being said I still enjoy watching it despite the fact that I do think it is very flawed. First of all the movie was made to capitalize on the insane popularity Michael Jordan had in the 90s and because the ads Jordan starred in alongside Bugs Bunny were extremely popular. It thus ends up feeling both like a movie made to worship him and state how awesome he is and as a feature length commercial for him and his brand as well as the film’s sponsors with a plot that is really thin and not much in terms of messaging beyond pretty basic teamwork themes. I also find how the Looney Tunes fit into the story is awkwardly done as Jordan doesn’t seem to share much of a connection with them in the film beyond just seeing them on TV with his kids as his storyline regarding him retiring from basketball and struggling at baseball not really tying with the Tune’s storyline that much. Plus the movie can get extremely corny at times especially in the live action segments leaning heavily into corny dialogue and farce to get laughs across. At the same time though there is still a charm the movie maintains as it absolutely knows what it is and is just content with delivering a silly fun time. It never overstays it’s welcome, as it has a brisk pace that makes it fly by nicely and it gets especially entertaining whenever the Tunes are front and center with the climax easily being the highlight as we see them engage in their shenanigans in the basketball game with the Monstars. I also do find it amusing how it ties into Michael Jordan’s career in how it deals with his brief stint in baseball as it makes it feel like a fun time capsule to that point in sport history (I guess the Tunes inspired to get him back into basketball after all). So yeah an hour a forty minute commercial it is, but a pretty darn entertaining one no less!
One other aspect I appreciate about the movie is that being a animation hybrid it does spend a good chunk of it’s time in the animated world of the Tunes and it is pretty well done for the most part. When looking at the world of the Tunes that is at the center of the Earth (just roll with it) it looks like a place where the Looney Tunes would live in, very cartoonish and colorful, even if the locations themselves aren’t really anything too special like some woods, a gym, a basketball stadium, etc. However it is the Tunes themselves that truly shine as the animators gave it their all animating these classic characters by imbuing them with a lot of zany energy in their movements that allow them to perform a bunch of fun gags. This is most apparent in the climatic basketball game where the Monstars and Tune Squad beat each other up in the most entertaining ways possible just to score some points. When it comes to the melding of the live action elements with the animation it is done pretty well. While not perfect as there are times where it can look a bit awkward, the humans that come to Tune World do blend in well enough and the one time Bugs and Daffy go to the human world they fit in with live action environment nicely. Sure some of the special effects can look really dated like when the Monstars roll Michael Jordan into a ball and dunk him or Stan getting squashed flat on the floor, but they still get a good laugh out of me because of how ridiculous they look. Heck there are even parts in the pretty standardly directed live action stuff where things can come alive like whenever there is some sort of montage like in the opening credits set to the hype inducing main theme of the movie. Speaking of which the soundtrack for this movie is pretty fire with so many memorable tunes to jam out to like the aforementioned theme, Fly Like an Eagle by Seal, and I Believe I Can Fly by R. Kelly which manage to just add more spice to the proceedings as a whole.
Given that he is among the greatest basketball players of all time, it would make sense why Warner Bros. would want to cash in on that popularity in the 90s by having him star in this movie. However while nothing can take away his accomplishments on the field, this film does show that acting was not one of his greatest specialties. Throughout the feature he always seems to have the same calm expression and weirdly takes the whole getting sucked into the world of the Looney Tunes situation pretty well judging by his calm reaction. Plus Michael doesn’t really go through much of a character arc beyond the whole struggling at baseball plot thread that isn’t really taken in any interesting direction as again this is largely a showcase for him. That being said while he isn’t exactly the best thespian, he actually does work fairly well as a straight man to all the crazy antics and there is a certain novelty in seeing him in a movie like this. Same goes for the rest of the basketball players who cameo here as they seem to be enjoying themselves and get some funny moments with one of the film’s biggest highlights being seeing how not having their skills affects them (Barkley in particular gets some of the biggest laughs in these scenes). The rest of the human cast doesn’t really stand out save for Wayne Knight who brings his usual delightful energy to Jordan’s assistant, Stan Pollack, and Bill Murray (not Dan Ackroyd) who cameos as himself because why not. The real stars of course are the Tunes who are always a treat to see with the likes of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Wile E. Coyote, and many more getting a moment or two to shine. I’m also surprised at just how many high profile voice actors this movie had like Billy West, Dee Bradley Baker, Bob Bergen, and Bill Farmer voicing the various characters and I think they all did a solid job capturing the vocals of these iconic characters. This was also the movie that introduced Lola Bunny (Kath Soucie) to the franchise and funny memes aside, she really isn’t that interesting of a character here serving only as “the girl” of the group and as a love interest to Bugs (luckily she would go on to be improved in other things like The Looney Tunes Show). Finally, there are the villains Mr. Swankhammer (Danny Devito) and the Monstars with the former, aside from DeVito’s fun performance, not being much besides your typical greedy businessman who wants to make a fortune while the latter characters make for a fun and memorable team with each having their personalities and their dim wittedness at times gets some fun laughs. Could they have ended the movie sooner if they had just realized that they were bigger than Swankhammer once they got the powers? Sure, but where’s the fun in that?
Yes I know I have a lot of problems with this movie. It is very much a feature length commercial that mainly serves to showcase how awesome Michael Jordan is with corny dialogue, a thin story, some dated effects, and a not so great lead performance form a great athlete. Still, I get a lot of enjoyment from it as the stuff involving the Tunes is a lot of fun, the climax is great, the animation is solid for it’s time, and even the corny stuff has a certain charm to it that makes me laugh. It’s not hard to see why people have such a fondness for it and it being such a product of the 90s just makes it into an interesting time capsule. Granted I can see why die hard Looney Tunes fans may not like it as there are some moments that do go against who they are as characters and again I acknowledge the problems it has. That being said it sure as heck is a slam dunk in terms of entertainment value that flies through the sky and runs through that open door (okay I’ll stop… in a moment). If you just want something fun to laugh at with some friends this absolutely does the trick especially if your all fans of MJ and basketball. So that about wraps it up for Space Jam! As for the next big screen movie starring the Tunes, that one didn’t quite have the same success, but it is one that has grown a good sized following and for good reason! Join me next time as I take on Looney Tunes: Back in action, until then… That’s all folks!
Rating: B
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