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LeBron James and Bugs Bunny in the basketball film: Why “Space Jam 2” is unbearable – culture

© Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

July 15, 2021, 11:22 pm

Hannes Soltau

A quarter of a century after the first part, basketball star LeBron James has to dribble through “Space Jam: A New Legacy”. As a spectator you suffer too.

It’s tough being the son of a superstar. Even more so if you don’t want to follow in the footsteps of basketball icon LeBron James. The latter prefers to harass Junior Dom (Cedric Joe) on the court with throwing exercises instead of paying tribute to his skills as a video game developer. But then a malicious Artificial Intelligence (Don Cheadle) kidnaps the offspring into the digital matrix “Serververse”. The only possibility of liberation is – of course – the triumph against a team of digitally refurbished NBA champions, the “Goon Squad”. Sounds strangely familiar?

A quarter of a century ago, Michael “Air” Jordan competed in “Space Jam” with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Piggy Dick in an epic basketball game against alien villains. Planned sequels to the cult film with golf star Tiger Woods or skater legend Tony Hawk burst. Now NBA champion LeBron James can bring the all-star Looney Tunes team back to life in “Space Jam: A New Legacy”.

Hanebueche history, flat gag fireworks

The fact that his son, of all people, leads the opposing team is just one of the many absurd twists and turns in an outrageous story about the predictable father-son rapprochement on the field. While the merging of cartoon characters and real actors strained viewing habits as early as 1996, director Malcolm D. Lee turns the madness much further. His mix of cartoon, computer animation and film recordings is an impressive, but difficult to digest picture frenzy. The chaotic hunts through overloaded digital worlds and the flat gag fireworks that never want to tear off are quickly exhausted.

For 115 minutes you think you are in the wet dream of a Warner Bros. product manager, because the “Serververse” is crammed with all the film characters in the history of the studio. Fred and Wilma Flintstone find themselves in the audience next to the clown Pennywise from “It”, the Night King from Game of Thrones cheers with the Droogs from “Clockwork Orange”, King Kong and the giant from space give themselves fist bumps. Bored parents can at least count the heroes of their childhood in the cinema while they hold hands with their overwhelmed children.

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