An Energetic, Enjoyable, Altogether Fun Movie With Great Animation

Rating: 9/10 (25 August 2010)

This may sound pathetic, but of all the films I have seen (and I have seen many), "Space Jam" holds a special place in my heart. It's actually the first film I saw by myself at the movie theaters. I liked it when I was 14, but I always make sure when I write a review that I see a movie more recently. Movies as I remember them are not always what they are.
Fourteen years later, even though Michael Jordan has retired and CGI animation reigns supreme, "Space Jam" still stands up. Critics may label it a kid's movie, but its dialogue is funny and far from intelligence insulting. Plus, I thought the overall story was creative and inventive, although a little weird and out there sometimes. But hey, aren't all Looney Tunes a little weird and out there? Aren't those characteristics what has made them relevant throughout many generations?
I loved the fact that this movie could have been a vanity piece for Michael Jordan, but it wasn't. The temptation must have been there to make a movie similar to Muhammad Ali's mediocre "The Greatest" (1977). After all, Jordan was at the height of his popularity at the time this movie was released, and the Chicago Bulls had just won the NBA Finals that year (with two more championship wins to come).
With the Looney Tunes added into the mix, you get a far more creative premise. I really liked how the movie took place circa 1993-1995, from when Jordan retired from the NBA to his notorious stint playing minor league baseball for the Birmingham Barons (a farm team for the Chicago White Sox) to his triumphant return to the Bulls. I would really like to know how the premise came about to have the Looney Tunes characters persuade Jordan to take up basketball again. It doesn't matter who came up with it or how. It was just weaved into the real life story very creatively.
As random a plot as it is, the Looney Tunes live in a cartoon community underneath the Earth, and puny aliens from a failing intergalactic amusement park called Moron Mountain come to abduct the cartoon characters for their next attraction. These aliens are not very smart, prompting the clever Bugs Bunny to convince them to challenge the Looney Tunes to a basketball game instead of immediately kidnapping them. The aliens agree, except they also apparently have the ability to steal basketball playing ability (or talent) from real NBA players. Each of the five aliens gets into the brains of Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson, Muggsy Bogues, and Shawn Bradley, and steal their talent. Apparently, this also gives the aliens the ability to shape shift and become large monsters, or "MonSTARS", as they are known here.
If you really try to insert logic into this plot, you're going to hate this movie. Looney Tunes cartoons were never logical, so why should this plot be? They were always funny and entertaining, and so is this movie.
Once Michael Jordan enters their cartoon world, it's amazing how well he interacts with the characters. Perhaps the best scene is when Bugs Bunny kisses Jordan, and the reaction from him that follows. Jordan's not a great actor, obviously, but you really forget while you're watching this movie that he is actually in front of a green screen not talking to anyone. This is by far the best live action and animation combination since "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988).
There's really little to fault this movie on. It's funny both in animation and real life. Wayne Knight as pushy publicist Stan Podolak was very funny, and Bill Murray (as himself) was especially hilarious, particularly when he joins the Tune Squad. I still love how Daffy Duck asked him how he got to the cartoon world, and he says (in typical Bill Murray style), "Oh, the producer's a friend of mine. I had one of the teamster's drop me off." It gets me every time.
I highly recommend "Space Jam". It is one of the best kids movies ever made, its story is random, but solid, and its a highly enjoyable film, not to mention a fitting tribute to the Looney Tunes and the NBA glory days of the 1990's. And this movie managed to pull this off without letting product placement or short term endorsements get in the way. That feat is still incredible.