No shade. Space Jam 2 is dope!! Lemme explain… 

Studio films today are glorified escapism with big, bright, flashy lights. And they always have been. Since the days of Charlton Heston in the epic of Moses, or Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra, right up to the release of the first modern “blockbuster” of Jaws on June 20th, 1975, which literally scared a few generations of people out of the water. 

Ever since then, the entire film industry has shifted to bigger and bigger popcorn. The term “blockbuster” carried MASSIVE weight in the film world, and for society at large. Whether it be a stand-alone or a franchise, studio films were EVENTS that were hyped up for months and months with glitzy marketing campaigns from coast to coast, that millions of people would plan for, weeks and months in advance. Some would even camp-out in line for days, just to get opening night tickets. 

From A-list actors to mega-watt filmmakers, for nearly half a century now, blockbusters shaped how we consumed films. The buzz was palpable and, in many instances, being the first to the theater became a badge of film buff honor. We would often interact with an innocent glee when we spoke to someone who had seen the film EVERYONE had to see.

Jaws (1975)

Consider the following…

In 1996-97, Michael Jordan, back from an early retirement, had just won his fourth championship, on the way to his second three-peat. And one could argue the 1996 Bulls’ championship was the biggest of Jordan’s six rings. MJ was (and still is) one of the most recognizable faces on the planet at that time.

Then the first Space Jam hit theaters on March 11th, 1997, and became a major success, grossing over $230 MILLION worldwide (or just over $390M, adjusted for inflation in today’s). And with its release, sports, pop culture and entertainment were embarking on a journey that most couldn’t have predicted. One that would lead to a literal global economic shift that has influenced billions of people, from Europe to Southeast Asia to Africa to South America.

Flash forward to 2020…

The pandemic hit and everything changed. And while box office revenues had previously steadily increased with surging ticket prices, the signs of cracks in the traditional theatrical model have been growing for years and years, as films have continued to face serious competition from video games and online content.

Along the way comes LeBron James. Who, to literally tens of millions of people worldwide, is a man of the people. A modern day “Ali,” who’s built like an NBA 2K custom designed character at 6′ 8″ and a shredded 250 lbs. Probably the greatest athlete of all-time. With a social media following in the neighborhood of 150 MILLION followers, between Instagram and Twitter alone.

So while many have turned LeBron into a villain (for some of the dumbest reasons), to me, he’s the personification of EVERYTHING we should all aspire to be whether you’re an athlete, a content creator, a parent, or a teacher. He has been under arguably the most scrupulous lens since he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a teenager in high school. Ever since, the man is and has been an absolute pillar of society, investing heavily into the community, while he simultaneously built a nearly perfect sculpted brand of excellence defined by nothing short of hard work, passion, dedication, sacrifice and perseverance.

LeBron James

So why is there so much hate against him and Space Jam 2?

Now. For all his talent, the one gene LeBron wasn’t born with is the “acting” gene. So walking into the “sequel” of Space Jam, I had less than zero expectations because LeBron isn’t Marlon Brando, Daniel Day Lewis, Tom Hardy or DiCaprio. He was OK in Trainwreck though, so I had a liiiittle bit of hope he wasn’t going to be god-awful. And he wasn’t. Far from it actually. So, when we remember that LeBron isn’t a classically trained actor, he delivered as good of a performance as he could’ve, with the script and character he was given. 

Beyond LeBron’s performance, everything technical about the film is literally A+. From the comedic beats to the direction to the animation to the production design to the VFX. 

As for the writing? The development process wasn’t quick or easy (no studio film ever is). There were a lot of creative cooks in the kitchen, and the fact that Warner Bros. didn’t deliver a tasteless fast-food burger, was almost surprising, if not certainly appreciated.

The writing and direction of the comedic beats were sharp and legitimately well done across the board. For anyone who grew up on Bugs Bunny and Looney Tunes, I wondered if those characters would work in today’s environment, or if they would feel stale and regurgitated like so many other reboots and sequels. But the writers absolutely nailed the Looney Tunes characters from the jump. All the way to the final buzzer. They were, arguably, the best part of the film. ESPECIALLY for LeBron, who absolutely crushed his Tune character. His voiceover work, plus the writing, the animation, the direction, score and editing, all fit perfectly together. From deadpan sarcasm to slapstick throwback gags. Rounding them out was a solid performance from Don Cheadle, who could read the phone book and make it entertaining.

Combine all of that with the themes within the story. That is, the story of fatherhood, family, individuality, and the need to grow and be one’s self. Peppered with the subtext of friendship, sacrifice and perseverance. Then add in a smartly designed world that incorporated the entire Warner Bros. library, from The Flintstones to Harry Potter to The Matrix to Game of Thrones to Stephen King’s IT to King Kong. The world itself was a nostalgic amalgamation that TOTALLY worked in the “rules” of the “Warner Bros verse,” where the stakes of the endgame had all of humanity threatened to be stuck in, ironically, a video game.

Sure, Space Jam 2 isn’t free of flaw. Few movies are. But I don’t understand the hate that LeBron has gotten, outside of the fact that he’s the most criticized athlete today. Sometimes people just want to tear others down. Anyone paying attention to the Olympics and the recent struggles Simone Biles has faced, will know that there are just haters out there who can’t wait to see the greats fall from the mountain top. Call it projection.

But if we take a step back, we realize Space Jam 2 is an interesting amalgamation of film, sports, social media and video games. By weaving those elements together, it’s almost a commentary unto itself. One where we’re able to see how the “entertainment industry” has converged, into one singular product, through the medium of film. Not many movies can say as much. And that, by itself, is impressive.

So personally, I can’t help but appreciate the overall quality of the film and everyone who worked tirelessly to create it. Whether you have kids or not, whether you grew up with Bugs Bunny and Looney Tunes or you didn’t, Space Jam delivers on so many levels. It’s simply a fun, big, bright, rollercoaster ride, filled with nostalgia, that’s an excellent escapist summer “blockbuster,” and then some…