Space Jam is one of those peculiar films that could only have been made in the 1990s. How else can you explain a film that no only stars the basketball star Michael Jordan but also the famous characters from Looney Tunes?
It’s a film that is, depending on your perspective, either an underrated guilty pleasure or a travesty that should be left behind and forgotten. Here are five reasons for each of those perspectives. You be the judge.
Guilty Pleasure: Who Didn’t Love Looney Tunes?
For those growing up in the 1980s, it was a good time to be a fan of Bugs playing basketball?
Not: Half the Lines are Cliches
Unfortunately, this is one of those films that is better in concept than in execution. The writers clearly thought that just having Looney Tunes and Michael Jordan in the same film was enough to draw people to the theaters, but unfortunately this meant that they relied too much on clichés in their writing of dialogue. Though this makes the film fine for children, it makes it a bit of a chore to watch it these days.
Guilty Pleasure:Michael Jordan was a Touchstone
Though he’s faded a bit from the cultural consciousness, in his heyday Michael Jordan was everywhere in popular culture. He was not only a tremendous success in his basketball career, but his face was also everywhere as he landed endorsement deal after endorsement deal.
If you were a kid growing up in that period, you knew that you could always look up to Jordan as someone who accomplished his dreams and inspired everyone.
Not: Are All of those Cameos Pointless?
Let’s face it. While cameos can be fun in a film, they can also become something of a distraction, propping up a narrative that suffers from bad writing (which is definitely an issue with some parts of Space Jam). This film features a truly staggering number of cameos from various basketball players. While the producers probably thought that this added verisimilitude to the film, there are more than a few moments when you find yourself wishing they focused more on the story than on the stunts.
Guilty Pleasure: Bill Murray
It’s a well-known secret in Hollywood that Bill Murray makes anything that he appears in better. That is certainly the case with Space Jam, in which he plays one of Michael Jordan’s friends. It’s not just that Murray has truly on-point comic timing—though that is certainly true—but he just has that intangible quality known as charisma. Though Jordan is the star of the film, there are a few moments where Bill Murray definitely steals the show.
Not: The Trap of Merchandising
One of the necessary evils of contemporary film is the impact of merchandising. It’s hard to shake the feeling that whenever you see a branded item in a film that you’re seeing capitalism at work.
That is definitely the case with Space Jam, which seems as if it is basically a merchandising ploy brought to life in the form of film. As with the cameos, sometimes the merchandising can be more distracting than anything else.
Guilty Pleasure: It Doesn’t Take Anything Seriously
One of the best thing about Space Jam is that it’s just simple, unadulterated fun. Part of the joy of this film is the fact that it doesn’t take anything too seriously, up to and including itself. Given the fact that we’re living in a rather bleak period of time, it’s sometimes nice to go back to an earlier period of filmmaking when films were allowed to be simply fun, without trying to say anything important about the world.
Not: Michael Jordan Is a Bad Actor
Though it might be painful for some people to it, there’s no question that Michael Jordan is just…not a very good actor. While he might have been able to succeed at so many other things, he clearly just didn’t have what it took to be anything other than himself in this film.
There are always dangers to hiring people who aren’t actors to anchor a film, and the fact that Space Jam is so entertaining is something of a miracle.
Guilty Pleasure: The Soundtrack
Everyone knows that a soundtrack can either work along with a film’s narrative or undercut what the film is attempting to achieve; fortunately, this one does the former. Any soundtrack that includes such iconic voices as the Steve Miller Band, Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, and Monica is almost guaranteed to contribute to the success of a film. That was certainly the case with Space Jam’s soundtrack, which actually went onto be a financial success on its own , being certified six times platinum
Not: The Incoherence of the Plot
Unfortunately, the fact that the film doesn’t take itself too seriously also means that the plot is something of an incoherent mess. It just keeps turning back in on itself in meandering circles. While this isn’t the worst problem in the world, it definitely means that you have to pay attention to other aspects of the film—including the animation and the acting—that don’t always stand up to that intense level of scrutiny.
