#25 Space Jam

The Movie: Space Jam 1996. Written by Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Timothy Harris, and Herschel Weingrod Directed by Joe Pytka Staring: Michael Jordan, and Wayne Knight

Everyone I know loves Space Jam. I've literally never met a person who, when asked, says that they dislike this movie. What's not to like? There's a ton of fun 90's music, the cartoons are fun (if not wholly different than the original masterpieces) and Michael Jordan is surprisingly good at holding it all together. 

Man, you guys are going to hate me after this one.

I bet a lot of you are surprised by this choice, not seeing Space Jam as a bad movie. Well it was really panned in it's day, (famously by one of the greatest Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies cartoonists of the time, Chuck Jones) and it still holds a 35 on rotten tomatoes. That's the same as Grease 2. It counts as a bad movie.

So with that nastiness out of the way lets talk about this, nostalgia can be a very dangerous thing guys. Space Jam has a lot of things going for it, but think about the plot for a second and try to tell me it's not the ramblings of a madman.

On a planet named Moron Mountain a very Danny Devitoish alien sends his underlings to enslave the Looney Tunes. They land in the Looney Tunes' world and threaten them with guns. Bugs Bunny  tricks the aliens (who happen to be short) into playing basketball for their freedom. Thinking they have won, the toons forget about this threat. But the aliens then steal the basketball powers from four great basketball players (And also Muggsy Bogues) and become the MONSTARS. The Toons then get Michael Jordan (who has, like in real life, quit basketball to play minor league baseball very badly) to come and save the day. and he does.

It's a movie that knows how seriously you should take it (exactly 0 percent) and that's a good thing. It has a lot of charm, and whimsy. But that's not what the Looney Tunes were about. Bugs Bunny is not in character in this film, nor is Porky or Will E. they're all just shadows of the cartoons they were, as if by some radical (The militant kind, but also the wacky nineties kind) new mandate they have to appeal to young children first and foremost. The Looney Tunes were great because they didn't talk down to kids. They didn't say things like "NICE BUTT" to a bad guy they pantsed, because they knew the pants-ing was funny enough on it's own. They trusted their audience to watch an entire cartoon without dialogue, or a avant garde peice where Daffy is in a weird hellscape made by Bugs, or a straight opera where Bugs and Elmer are tragic lovers. And for that their audience was supposed to know when an imposter stepped forth. They're more than fun and dumb, they're some of the greatest american entertainment, and it's sad to see it reduced to this. (Fun though it may be)

TLDR The Looney Tunes are very important to me, and the characters in this movie are not them

Should you watch this movie?.... DUH! YES! Hard yes. I'm not stupid. Even if I think it's over rated I know a special film when I see it. This movie is awesome, and you should watch it a million times.

Where can I watch this movie? Amazon

Recommendation: It's going to be a short one today, Allison recommended to me Not your Father's Root Beer, and we got some for the house. It's super yummy and it tastes exactly like the best root beer you've ever had (alcoholic or no) Go out and get some!