3 Stars
Picture the scene if you will; it’s 1996 and Jordan-Mania is rife across the US. Basketball has spread across the globe; even to the far reaches of the UK, a country fore to unaware of its existence in modern culture, kids know teams, they know players, and above all, they know Michael Jordan.
So what do Warner Brothers do to cash in on the fame of the “greatest player of all time”? Why, make an animated movie retelling of his Air-ness’ return to the courts featuring much loved characters from the world of the Looney Tunes of course.
I decided to revisit Space Jam last night for reasons unknown, and I’m quite glad I did. Though not quite the rip-roaring comedy I remember of my youth, it still very much retains its dated charm. Jordan himself manages to pull off a sturdy performance alongside his animated co-stars, putting a lot of faith and believability into the understandably daft plot.
It’s a toss-up for the Cameo Award here. Though Wayne Knight (Jurassic Park, Third Rock From the Sun) puts in a great performance as Jordan’s neurotic publicist, he is overshadowed both by Bill Murray (playing, quite excellently may I add, Bill Murray) and the voice talent of the inimitable Danny DeVito, bringing to life the evil alien who kidnaps our fuzzy heroes.
Although the animation in itself is beautifully rendered, the interaction between real life and cartoon world does leave something to be desired, falling rather short of its ancestor Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
The stealer of both the screen and our hearts, however, is most certainly miss Lola Bunny, who, for this young critic, runs (and dribbles) circles around her predecessor Jessica Rabbit. As a wise prophet once asked, “Did you ever find Bugs Bunny attractive when he put on a dress and played a girl bunny?”
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