Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageSpace Jam (1996)
Director: Joe Pytka
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
As a cynical exercise in franchise exploitation this live-action/animated feature takes some beating; as a film, its target audience appears to be child fans of the cartoon characters' live-action co-star, basketball player Michael Jordan. Realising he doesn't get a penny from the spin-off toys owned by Jordan's kids, Bugs Bunny considers getting a better agent. To revive his ailing Moron Mountain theme park, Swackhammer dispatches his minions, the Nerdlucks, to Looney Tunes Land, to kidnap Bugs, Daffy Duck, Wile E Coyote, et al. To save their skins, the Looney Tunes challenge their would-be abductors to a game of basketball, whereupon the Nerdlucks transform themselves into their fearsome alter egos, the Monstars, before siphoning off the ball-playing skills from a bunch of NBA stars. To even up the odds, Bugs and Co kidnap Jordan and beg him to lick them into shape for the big game. The set plays are transparently simple, the execution sloppy and the ending signposted days in advance. Visually, it's a mess: the attempts to blend 2- and 3-D animation with live-action and computer-generated images produce scenes that are fuzzier than the storyline.Author: NF
Cast & crew
Director: Joe Pytka
Producer: Ivan Reitman, Joe Medjuck, Daniel Goldberg
Cast: Michael Jordan, Wayne Knight, Theresa Randle, Manner 'Mooky' Washington, Larry Bird, Bill Murray, Charles Barkley full cast
Duration: 87 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now