Great Combo Of Basketball And Animation

Rating: 10/10 (29 March 2013)

Space Jam is a family live-action and animated sports comedy film that features Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes characters.In the movie, Jordan must help the Looney Tunes gang with a basketball game against a group of outer space creatures whose plan, if they win, is to kidnap the Looney Tunes and take them to a failing intergalactic amusement park as the latest attraction.Also starring Academy Award-nominee Bill Murray and Wayne Knight. It was directed by Joe Pytka with Tony Cervone and Bruce W. Smith directing the animation.
After Jordan announces his retirement from the game, he follows in his father's footsteps and turns to a career in baseball. Meanwhile, a group of criminal aliens called 'The Nerdlucks', led by their boss Mister Swackhammer plot to capture the Looney Tunes characters, who really exist in a secret animated world called Tune Land, and make them their newest attractions at Moron Mountain, a failing amusement park. Swackhammer believes enslaving the Tunes in this way will bring in more customers and save Moron Mountain from foreclosure. They arrive in Tune Land, and, seeing how short the aliens are, the Tunes, aided by a new arrival named Lola Bunny, bargain for their freedom by challenging the Nerdlucks to a basketball game. Preparing to cheat in the game, the Nerdlucks return to Earth and steal the Talent of Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson, Charles Barkley, Muggsy Bogues, and Shawn Bradley, who are rendered incapable of playing basketball as a result. The Nerdlucks use the stolen Talent to transform into gigantic creatures that the Looney Tunes are unable to defeat, re-naming themselves the Monstars in the process. To help them win, the Tunes choose and recruit Michael, and he reluctantly agrees after the Monstars squash him into the shape of a basketball and bounce him around like one. At the game's climax, The TuneSquad are down by one, and it is up to Michael to score the winning point. Extending his arm to superhuman lengths with the power of toon physics, Michael makes the basket and wins the game. He helps the Monstars realize that they're bigger than Mister Swackhammer, who confronts them for losing. Fed up with their abusive boss, the Monstars tie him up and send him to the moon. At Michael's request, they return the stolen Talent to the other players by transferring them to a basketball. This reverts the Monstars back to the tiny Nerdlucks. Refusing to return to Moron Mountain to endure humiliation from their former boss, the Nerdlucks decide to stay with the Looney Tunes, who only agree if the Nerdlucks can prove themselves to be 'Looney', which they arguably complete on the spot. Afterwards, Michael returns to Earth in the Nerdlucks' spaceship, where he makes a dramatic appearance at a baseball game to the cheers of the audience, despite being late. The next day, Michael gives the stolen Talent back to the NBA players, who immediately regain their lost skills. He is later prompted by his rivals to return to the NBA, mirroring his real-life comeback in 1996.
Simpler and cruder in terms of story and technique, this is still a great deal of fun, confirming that Jordan is every bit as mythological a creature as Daffy Duck or Yosemite Sam. Cute, rambunctious, generally amusing rather than outright funny, this clever mix of live action, highlighted by the unequaled skills of basketball superstar Michael Jordan, and animated Looney Tunes antics is a must-see for adults, kids, teenagers, women, men, boys, girls, old folks, young folks, Jordan fans, Bill Murray fans, Wayne Knight fans and every Looney Tunes lover who wants to revel in Bugs Bunny and his pals at their looney tuniest. A great combination of basketball and animation.