Space Jam

Rating: 3/10 (17 March 2020)

Space Jam is a film directed by Joe Pytka that stars Michael Jordan, Wayne Knight and the Looney tunes in which the Monstars challenge the Looney Tunes to a game of basketball who in turn recruit the now retired Michael Jordan for help. Space Jam is something of a cult classic is most film circles and while I can see the appeal it has at least from a pop culture standpoint, I can't see that appeal from a filmmaking standpoint. The plot doesn't really have character development beyond Michael Jordan at least as characters mature through their issues really just because the script says they do. Speaking of the script, it is littered with repetitive dialogue, product placement and one-dimensional and obnoxious characters both human and animated. I really feel that these Looney Tunes work better in a quick 15 minute or half an hour show because their humor doesn't wear out in that time frame the way it does over the length of a film. Now on a more positive note, I have to say that I do enjoy the music in the film and when the tunes are at their looniest the animation is stellar but even the animation led itself to some pretty awful editing during the third act. The third and first acts of this film felt incredibly short as well as the second act dragged on and on and while this film was an hour and a half long it felt like two hours and fifteen minutes. If you enjoyed this film, I understand why as there are elements of appeal that exist here and even I can't deny that but I also can't deny that this film had plenty of problems and while I didn't go into this film expecting it to be a masterpiece or a game changer, I expected it to be at least decent and entertaining and for me, it was inconsistent and forgettable.