Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.0

Space Jam: A New Legacy 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Kobe Bryant couldn't even have saved this.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III October 6, 2021

Space Jam: A New Legacy is the unnecessary reboot of a 1996 film that kinda didn't need to exist either. Both fuse pro basketball with cartoon mayhem, as the original fed off the success of video games like NBA Jam and carried a meta story that took its cues from star Michael Jordan's brief detour into baseball. The formula somehow worked in spite of itself, serving up a harmless blend of live action and hand-drawn animation that instantly recalled earlier films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In comparison, this reboot -- which stars Lebron James as himself, working alongside a fictional version of his family -- feels like a soulless commercial for the studio and its properties. Basically, it's a an even less self-aware version of Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One which, for the record, also blew chunks.

After a quick flashback to his early basketball years in 1998, our story follows King James as he struggles to bond with his youngest son Dominic (Cedric Joe), an aspiring video game developer who doesn't want to follow in dad's size 15 footsteps. During a friendly game of his son's unfinished game "Dom Ball", LeBron accidentally triggers a glitch that ruins about a day's worth of work. Hoping to make it up to his son, he takes Dom along to Warner Bros. the next day for a pitch meeting about "Warner 3000", new technology that could seamlessly integrate the star into any number of their successful properties. LeBron really doesn't like the idea but, during their exit, Dom stumbles into WB's massive server room and literally gets "lost in the machine" with dad in close pursuit. It's really a trap set by Warner 3000's self-aware artificial intelligence, Al G. Rhythm (Don Cheadle), who gives LeBron one chance to save his son -- a not-so-friendly game of five-on-five basketball -- and sends him off to Tune World for a few teammates.

The story's more complicated than that, obviously, with LeBron's arrival in newly-abandoned Tune World leading to a whirlwind tour of adjacent WB properties and their respective characters; named or referenced franchises include Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Mad Max, The Matrix, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, King Kong, The Iron Giant, Rick and Morty, Austin Powers, Mortal Kombat and the entire goddamn DC Universe. (And no, I'm not hyperlinking all of those to their respective reviews, because then I'd be guilty of the same thing.) If you include cameos and other Easter eggs, it'd be in the hundreds... maybe thousands. This overbearing product placement, while occasionally played for laughs, gives the whole production a bitter aftertaste that all but sinks the ship. Say what you will about the original -- I mean, the story revolved around aliens using NBA legends as slave labor for their theme parks, and it struggled to fill 88 minutes -- but this is such a bloated, tasteless, hollow effort that it's hard to even stomach at times.

Does it at least look good? Sure, if you squint. The animation quality still pales in comparison to the 1996 version... although to its credit Space Jam Legacy has fun with different formats, serving up almost every possible combination of live-action, flat 2D, style flourishes (like the vintage comic book tone of the Wonder Woman segment), and furry CGI, livening things up further with flashy arcade-like special effects during the game itself. It's all a bit headache-inducing within the scattershot flow of the movie itself, but in hindsight is probably the main (only?) highlight of an otherwise forgettable affair. This is also the only real bright spot in Warner Bros.' new 4K combo pack (also available as a stand-alone Blu-ray), which serves up a solid A/V presentation that at least brings all the big-screen visuals home.

Space Jam: A New Legacy 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Although listed as a 2K upscale, the insanely colorful NBA Jam: A New Legacy looks mighty impressive in 4K, boasting a very thick and stable image that freely hops between live action and various animated formats. All are handled well with striking fine detail, clean edges, noticeable textures, excellent color saturation, and attractive use of HDR during the film's most visually overloaded moments (especially within the WB server and video game scenarios). Colors pop nicely against dark backgrounds, even during otherwise dull moments like a reaction shot in a darkened theater. Although it's squeezed onto a BD-66 rather than a full triple-layer disc, it's compressed nicely and doesn't suffer from any noticeable banding, compression artifacts, or other digital eyesores. Some of its brightest colors are prone to bleeding, but A New Legacy's visual design is so overloaded that it's honestly hard to tell if that's part of the show. Either way, it's an impressive disc that easily beats the Blu-ray and is almost worth a look on those merits alone.

For my thoughts on the Blu-ray's 1080p transfer (which what this review's screenshots were sourced from), please see my separate review of that release.

Space Jam: A New Legacy 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Dolby Atmos audio is also a standout, serving up a rim-rattling atmosphere that takes almost every opportunity to fill surround and height channels with the sounds of the Warner universe. Big action scenes and room-filling echoes dominate the side and rear channels, with arena-sized crowd reactions and the film's most expansive locales filling out the top portion. Discrete and panning effects pop up regularly, although much of its sound design is either front-heavy with spills into the rear or aggressively immersive, filling the "sonic bubble" with details from several angles at once. The original score Kris Bowers (as well as the soundtrack, which pales in comparison to the original) likewise gets top priority when it arrives. Dialogue remains clean and clear, although it rarely syncs up cleanly with 'toon characters; it's not a problem with the disc but the actual animation itself, which isn't exactly fluid in terms of mouth movements. But overall, this is a solid effort that, like the visuals, takes the "all-in" approach for better or worse.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the main feature and all applicable extras.

Space Jam: A New Legacy 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc release ships in a standard dual-hubbed keepcase with colorful cover art, a matching slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption code. The extras listed below can all be found on the included Blu-ray disc.

• Behind The Scenes - Four slickly-produced featurettes with director Malcolm D. Lee, producer Ryan Coogler, VFX supervisor Grady Coffer, makeup department head Howard Berger, producer Maverick Carter, music supervisor Kier Lehman, several members of the cast (LeBron James, Sonequa Martin-Green, and Anthony Davis), and others talking about the production experience, from development all the way to post-production. Lots of on-set footage is shown, as are a number of visual effects in various stages of completion.

• First Quarter: Game On (7:36)
• Second Quarter: Teamwork (7:49)
• Third Quarter: Out of This World (8:09)
• Fourth Quarter: The Looniest (7:08)

• Deleted Scenes (7:38 total) - Five short clips, some with incomplete visual effects or presented in storyboard form. All are presented in 1080p/SDR with lossy Dolby Digital (192kbps) 2.0 audio.

• Next Level (4:08)
• In Cleveland (0:44)
• Timeout (0:50)
• Are You With Us? (0:32)
• No More Secrets (0:44)

Space Jam: A New Legacy 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's safe to say I didn't particularly like Space Jam: A New Legacy, more so for its stomach-turning amount of product placement than fundamental issues like pacing and performances. While most sequels unavoidably pale in comparison to the original, 1996's Space Jam wasn't exactly a high bar to clear and this once doesn't even come close to reaching those modest heights. There's just very little charm and heart here, with most of its story going through the motions or doing very little to justify its existence. (And that Porky Pig rap might just be the worst 60 seconds of the decade.) Nonetheless, Warner Bros.' 4K edition carries the torch with a good-to-great home video release, including a rock-solid A/V presentation and a handful of decent extras that fans should enjoy. Definitely not a blind buy, though.