Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)

I get it now, I really get it, and I can only apologise to the people I have seen sharing their disappointment of Space Jam: A New Legacy online. Because I replied to a lot of them with a jokey comment about the first film being no classic work of art. It's fun, because what kind of film featuring some Looney Tunes action could possibly not be fun, but it's also a film that holds up best in the recesses of your nostalgia. Maybe the same will be said one day about this film, but I doubt it.

The very basic plot concerns LeBron James and his son, Dom (Cedric Jones), being sucked into a main server by a Warner Brothers algorithm, Al G. Rhythm (Don Cheadle). Al wants to create a team around Dom that will take on his father at basketball, and that will be the Goon Squad. Meanwhile, LeBron ends up enlisting help from the Looney Tunes. And the scene is set for a basketball game that plays by videogame rules, with power-ups and special score boosts available, while a crowd of characters from various Warner Brothers properties look on. Not exactly the ones we know and love though. You see Batman, Robin, Pennywise, The Penguin, an agent from The Matrix, and many more. But they're the versions you'd get if you hired people from a look-a-like agency.

There are too many people involved in the writing of this mess to make it worth my time to name them all, which saves me time and spares their embarrassment, but director Malcolm D. Lee is responsible for trying to mix all the ingredients into one enjoyable bit of junk food. So you get the star power at the centre of it all (LeBron, his acting skills and charisma far below his basketball skills), you get a decent mix of musical score and one or two new pop songs, and you have the Looney Tunes doing their thing, which is the absolute highlight.

Another highlight is Cheadle, who has a whale of a time in the role of the villain. He and Jones are the only human stars who get a chance to have some decent moments onscreen. Otherwise, the real stars here are Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig (who drops a cringe-inducing rap at one point), and the rest of the animated gang. Which is a plus.

Some people are saying that people are missing the point if they don’t realise that this is aimed squarely at younger viewers. Unfortunately, that isn’t true. Warner Brothers is trying to entertain younger viewers AND cash in on the nostalgic love for the original that many movie fans of my age may have. That leaves it stretching too far for almost every gag. A reworking of the opening of The Matrix? Having both The Iron Giant and King Kong in the audience? A Back To The Future reference? Throw in that Pennywise inclusion, as well as characters from the likes of Game Of Thrones and other more adult-oriented properties, and it is clear that WB just wanted to throw absolutely everything into the mix, giving themselves a family flick with a crossover appeal to those who enjoyed the overstuffed set-pieces in Ready Player One. The only main difference, and big problem, is that Ready Player One was a story about someone sharing his nostalgic love for ‘80s pop culture. This isn’t, yet it plays out as if it is.

I had a few chuckles while waiting for the predictable finale, anything with Bugs and Daffy will at least slightly amuse me, but this is a massive disappointment. Not that I was expecting a masterpiece, but I didn’t have expect it to be so completely unnecessary. Bonus point for one of the most fun cameos I have seen in a while though, even if it was obvious as soon as it started being built up.

4/10

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Ani-MAY-tion: Smallfoot (2018)

Built around a very fun central idea, Smallfoot is an unassuming and entertaining animated feature that makes good use of a decent voice cast (even James Corden suits his role) and a mix of comedic mishaps, nice songs, and the life lessons you usually get from this kind of fare.

Channing Tatum plays Migo, a yeti living happily in with lots of other yetis in their mountaintop community. Everything is done a certain way, according to rules written on various stones, including someone being launched head-first at a gong to start the sun rising (the current holder of this position is Dorgle, Migo's father, and Migo is keen to take over the role). But things change when Migo ends up falling down the mountain and spotting a strange, legendary, creature. A smallfoot (Percy, voiced by James Corden). In a reversal of the way these things are normally done, Migo tries to convince the others of what he saw, and then sets out to get proof.

Do children still hear much about yetis nowadays? I know I was obsessed with these things as a child but it feels as if cryptozoology isn't the fertile ground it used to be. People are so used to not trusting anything put in front of them nowadays because they're all very much aware of camera glitches and photoshop trickery. Years ago we may have had Harry & The Hendersons but nowadays it seems that unknown animals are mostly used in a wide and varied selection of horror movies. Yetis aren't cool, if you'll pardon the expression, and Smallfoot is more endearing because of that.

The more I think about Smallfoot, the more I like it. It would be easy to sneer at it, to dismiss it as a film exactly the same as many others you may have already seen, and enjoyed. But what separates it from many of the other animated releases from recent years is a refreshing feeling that it is wanting to tell a story with humour and heart without necessarily also attempting to be cool and trendy. Yes, there are a couple of scenes making use of modern technology (and Percy is a human who is hoping to fake a yeti sighting in order to boost the ratings for his TV show) but the core message of the film seems to reject the potential misrepresentations and misunderstandings that electronic communication can throw up in favour of just connecting with one another and trying to show that our common traits are much larger in number than our differences.

Based on a work by Sergio Pablos, this is the second animated feature from Karey Kirkpatrick (Over The Hedge is fun, and let's not mention the one live-action film in between, which is an Eddie Murphy vehicle far from his best), who is joined by Jason Reisig (making his debut in a co-director capacity). Kirkpatrick also co-wrote the screenplay with Clare Sera so I will praise both of them for the tone of the film. The visuals are nice and imaginative, especially when showing the daily lives of the yetis, and the pacing is perfect, with the few songs throughout playing long enough to be catchy without going on and on to the point of overstaying their welcome.

Tatum is very good in the lead role, Corden equally so, and there's a solid selection of supporting cast members. Zendaya and Common are two of the main ones, with the latter being a character responsible for maintaining practices that are designed to keep the yetis safe from harm, but you also get Danny DeVito, LeBron James, Gina Rodriguez, and Yara Shahidi.

As far removed from childhood as I am, I'm going to have to buy this soon. And I'll look forward to rewatching it. I may even sing along with the songs. Even if I do sound . . . abominable.

8/10

You can buy it here.
Americans can buy it here.