A hit-and-miss live action/animated crossover

Rating: 6/10 (10 August 2009)

This 1996 live action/animated crossover, starring then-basketball champion Michael Jordan as himself, plus the popular Looney Tunes characters, was obviously a success. I never saw it around that time in the late 90's, but clearly remember the craze, with all the merchandise. I was familiar with the Looney Tunes characters (at least most of them) from old cartoons I had seen. Although I've certainly never been an avid follower of professional basketball (or any sport you see on TV, for that matter), I was also familiar with Jordan, as this was his heyday, and he had a huge reputation. Despite all this, I didn't see "Space Jam" until last night. A few years ago, I saw "Looney Tunes: Back in Action", and remember hating it, but despite my fairly low expectations for its predecessor, this one does have some redeeming qualities.
Michael Jordan announces his retirement from the NBA and switches to professional baseball, but is not very successful with this sport. Meanwhile, on a distant planet, Mr. Swackhammer owns a theme park called Moron Mountain. He is desperate for new attractions for his park, and thinks the Looney Tunes would be great. He sends his minions, five small aliens known as the "Nerdlucks" (Pound, Blanko, Nawt, Bupkus, and Bang) to Looney Tune Land, below the surface of the Earth, to capture the Looney Tunes and force them to act as attractions for Moron Mountain, whether they like it or not! However, Bugs Bunny tricks them into agreeing to a basketball game, which will determine whether Moron Mountain gets them as attractions, or they remain free. Since the Nerdlucks are so small, the Looney Tunes figure they can easily clobber them in the sport, but the clever aliens steal the talent of several NBA players and become the giant Monstars! Knowing this won't be as easy as they thought, the Looney Tunes recruit Michael Jordan for the competition.
For much of the film, it seemed I would only be able to rate it 5/10. I found that the plot was pretty dull, and most of it wasn't that funny (though there are some funny moments early on, such as Bugs Bunny telling the Nerdlucks he hasn't seen Bugs Bunny). I really don't know how to go into details about this, but for me, these were problems that brought the movie down in quality. However, to me it eventually improved, and I started finding it funnier. The cartoon characters in the film can sometimes be funny, and Stan Podolak, Michael Jordan's assistant played by Wayne Knight, can also be quite comical, especially later in the film. (Mind you, despite all the good jokes, there is a major fart joke towards the end, unfortunately.) Also, Jordan doesn't put on that bad a performance, considering the fact that he's not an actor, the film has some nice animation, and the big basketball competition is intense. With these qualities, "Space Jam" certainly isn't classic family fare, but they're enough to make it a mixed blessing. Maybe this movie has more appeal to kids, but adults might enjoy it as well, even if it's basically fluff.