The recent release of the Space Jam 2 trailer has had the internet buzzing with reactions to Lebron James's assumption of Michael Jordan's iconic role, as well as the new, slick styled animation used to generate the Looney Tunes and other WarnerBrothers related characters. Immediately following the trailer's release, viewers took to Twitter to point out the many easter eggs crammed into the two-minute and thirty-eight second preview. The familiar faces featured in the trailer, including Fred Flinstone, Marvin the Martian, and even Alex from A Clockwork Orange, drew viewer comparisons between the film and Ready Player One.
In 2018, Ernest Cline's 80's pop-culture riddled bestseller Ready Player One was adapted to the big-screen by famed director, Steven Spielberg. The movie, much like the book, features a slew of 80's themed references, from notable cultural contributions such as the Atari game simulator to niche pop-culture creations such as Jack Slater III, a fake action movie franchise that appears inside real Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie The Last Action Hero. While the novel received widespread adoration for its use of 80's nostalgia, both ardent fans of the novel and fresh-eyed audiences alike were disappointed by the movie's lack of narrative arc. Judging from the trailer, it seems as though Space Jam 2 might suffer the same faults as Ready Player One, with little story to string together its series of cameos.
The trailer for Space Jam 2 begins on a similar note as the original movie, with family friction heating up between a world-famous basketball player (in this case Lebron James), and his tweenage son (Dom, played by Cedric Joe). While the original Space Jam builds off of Michael Jordan's real-life attempts to switch sports mid-career, leading to frustration and tension in his home life, Space Jam 2 begins with Dom pushing back against his father's attempts to get his son to pursue basketball as a career path.
From then on, the trailer takes a sharp left turn into Tune territory, as Dom is unexpectedly sucked into a Matrix-like portal on a mysterious floor in the Warner Brothers building. It is then up to James to retrieve his son from the movie's reigning villain, Al G Rhythm (Don Cheadle). In order to retrieve Dom, James must assemble a team of cartoon critters to take on the Goon Squad- a series of animated opponents who serve as this film's incarnation of the Monstars-Â in a game of basketball.
In a review of Ready Player One on RogerEbert.com, Christy Lemire described the novel's narrative along the lines of: "Here's a thing you know from your youth. And: Here's another thing. And: Here's an obscure thing that only elite few of you will get, which will make you feel super-smart." This appears to be the case in Space Jam 2 as well.
To be fair, the movie is faced with a difficult task. Succeeding the adoration of Space Jam (the original), Space Jam 2 must not only pay tribute to its cinematic predecessor, but also create an exciting and engaging new storyline. The trailer appears to do this in part, with the conflict between James and his son serving as the movie's central narrative. However, the remainder of the film appears to be a series of Warner Bros. cameos and a visual exploration of the greater Space Jam universe.
Unlike the original Space Jam, Space Jam 2 is not limited to Tune Town and the Monstars, but extends to the entire Warner Brothers franchise. While the prospect of spotting a favorite movie character is somewhat exciting, it does not make for an engaging film. Warner Bros. desire to highlight the broader cinematic universe rather than prioritize a fresh storyline reads as more of an advertisement for their other films than a credit to Space Jam 2.
This also makes for some odd inclusions in what is ostensibly a film for younger audiences. For example, the aforementioned characters from A Clockwork Orange. There they are in the background, cheering on a basketball game between cartoon characters. Meanwhile, anyone with any sort of film literacy knows the numerous atrocities they have committed.
Part of what makes the original Space Jam so unique and timeless is its use of real-life pop-culture moments such as Michael Jordan's baseball career, combined with the kitschiness and absurdism of the Loony Tunes animation, to create an unusual underdog narrative. Space Jam piggy-backs off of the cultural significance that the Chicago Bulls held in the 1990s by equating their athletic prowess with the supernatural capabilities of animated characters, lending the unlikely pairing between Jordan and the Tunes a strange sense of authenticity. As a result, what could seem like a random sequence of events targeted at children becomes an entertaining movie for the whole family.
It is too early to say whether or not Space Jam 2 will live up to its predecessor, or whether it will go the way of Ready Player One. Audiences can only hope that the movie ascends its easter eggs to create a story as silly and timeless as the original.