Space Jam

Let's face it! I'm forty-four years young and I have been forever in love with the Looney Tunes forever. I have very fond memories of running across the house at my grandmothers when I heard the introduction to any Looney Tune cartoon so that I would not miss one moment of the laughter.

So, when I heard that the Looney Tunes and Michael Jordan were going to be teamed together to be a part of a cartoon - live action movie, I just had to go to the theater and see this in person. Needless to say, I received my money's worth as both of my children and I had a blast.

The Story

Space Jam is a movie that attempts to give the story of how Michael Jordan left the NBA to have his short lived baseball career. At the same time as Michael decides to give baseball a whirl, some aliens from Moron Mountain, an alien amusement park, are sent here to earth to capture and bring back the Looney Tunes to perform at the park.

These aliens are very small and very cunningly Bugs Bunny finds a way to trick them into participating in a basketball game, figuring that because they are taller than the aliens that the Looney Tunes would probably win. However, what the Looney Tunes do not realize is that the aliens have the power to capture the talent from some of the NBA players and become huge monsters that the Looney Tune characters refer to as the Monstars.

Realizing that they are outclassed, Bugs decides to capture Michael Jordan to help them with the basketball game by pulling him through a golf hole. Michael agrees to help the Looney Tunes and eventually the deal becomes even more aggressive as Michael realizes that the only way that he can save his NBA player friends is to make a deal with the aliens that if the Looney Tunes lose, that Michael will go to Moron Mountain and stay there.

This sets up a fantastic basketball game starring Michael Jordan that is very well orchestrated and unique. However, the Monstars decide to play dirty and it looks like all may be lost. Will Michael be forced to go to Moron Mountain forever? Or will he and the Looney Tunes prevail?

What I Love About Space Jam?

I love the story of Space Jam. All of us have wondered why Michael Jordan left the NBA and what made him come back, and Space Jam provides a very cute and humorous story that explains it in probably a more entertaining fashion than the truth. I've always loved Michael Jordan as a player and a person and the truth be known, I would rather vote for HIM for president than many other people.

In addition, I naturally love the Looney Tunes. They are draw three dimensional within Space Jam and this gives a different perspective of my all time loved characters. They appear to be more real in this aspect and believable in interacting with the humans in the film.

Finally, I love the music of Space Jam. All of the music is very captivating with its inspirational themes or incredibly addictive beat. We purchased the soundtrack shortly after viewing the movie for the first time and listen to it often.

Problems With Space Jam

One of the problems with Space Jam is that there are scenes where it is quite evident Michael Jordan isn't paying direct "attention" to the Looney Tune character. He isn't viewing them eye to eye and this detracts from the scenes a bit. It is those instances that you realize that the believability factor of Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes being in the same place isn't possible. I believe the director should have recognized these scenes and reshot them.

The only other problem that I have with this movie is that it seems to me that role that Bill Murray plays is rather idiotic. Bill is supposed to be playing himself in this film and when the NBA players have lost their talent, he is trying to persuade Larry Bird and Michael Jordan that HE has the talent to be in the NBA. I realize this is a set up for his future appearance in Looney Tune Land participating in the ultimate game with the Looney Tune characters, but it seems to me that this part of the story is not really that developed nor believable. It would have been more understandable if Larry Bird would have shown up in Looney Tune Land to help Michael Jordan than Bill Murray.

Conclusion

Regardless of that, I have to say that Space Jam is one of my favorite movies of all time. My tape now is mostly worn out and I intend to replace it eventually with a DVD version of this movie to keep in my limited collection.

It is great all around entertainment for children as well as adults and I highly recommend it.