La Ron S. Readus
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LeBron James and Bugs Bunny Should've Been FRENEMIES! (VIDEO SCRIPT)
🕑 Added 2021-07-23 20:01:00 +0000 UTCYou know what I’m thankful for? Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler realizing that we didn’t need a Quad City DJ’s reference in this movie. Thank you. (Pause before the song starts playing) GOD DAMN IT!
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Readers, if I were to summarize Space Jam: A New Legacy, I’d call it...cute.
I’m not going to lie and say that the integration of the other intellectual properties at Warner Brothers wasn’t a bit of a cringefest
I’m not going to lie and say that LeBron James knows how to act.
Hell, I’m not even gonna lie and say that the song Kirk Franklin made for the movie matches the same energy as “I Believe I Can Fly.” THAT’S NOT ME SAYING I WANTED R-KELLY BACK FOR THIS. IT’S JUST ME STATING FACTS.
But what I WILL say is that I knew what I was initially getting into when I watched this, after being a fan of the 1996 original starring Michael Jordan.
/And despite the second point I made regarding LeBron, one of the things I actually really appreciate about A New Legacy was the story it tried to tell regarding the importance of family./
This is also the first Space Jam movie that advertised Bugs Bunny being a secondary character and it actually FEELS like it when you watch the movie.
I say that, because while the first Space Jam was definitely more along the line of Michael Jordan helping the Looney Tunes out of a bad situation...
/A New Legacy felt more along the lines of LeBron and Bugs having development arcs surrounding the plot of the movie that were both related to and played off of each other./
However, and I can’t believe I’m about to actually say this out loud, I feel that in the case of said concept involving LeBron James and Bugs Bunny, the movie could’ve done a whole lot more with it.
Especially when you realize that Space Jam: A New Legacy actually had the pieces of the puzzle in their proper places in order to pull it off, but pulled back on the reins at the last minute
Why would they pull back on the reins, you might ask? Well that’s an easy question to answer.
Because if they didn’t pull back on the reins and just let the B-plot in question regarding LeBron and Bugs’s dynamic go as it was initially intended, LeBron and Bugs would’ve spent the first half of the film HATING each other
/However, it was IN that decision to make them not clash, that the movie missed its biggest opportunity to appropriately supply the two with the reasons why they develop the way that they do in the movie in the first place. And I’m going to explain how that could’ve gone down./
Now before I continue, I have to warn you all that this video will contain spoilers for Space Jam: A New Legacy. So if you haven’t seen it either in theaters or on the $15 monthly plan on HBO Max yet and want to avoid spoilers, I advise you do so before you continue watching this video. Cool? Cool.
So in order to understand why I believe there should’ve been a conflict between LeBron and Bugs, we have to actually examine both of their states of minds when they first meet each other, and how the movie sets them up to reform the Tune Squad
And because not only is it only fair, but his mindset is also the driving factor of the movie in general, we should start with the film’s live-action star LeBron James, played by...Le-LeBron James.
/More specifically, LeBron’s disconnect with his son Dom./
LeBron’s development arc with Dom reminded me a lot of Peter’s arc with his son from Steven Spielberg’s Hook.
/Father loses sight of what’s important to his son, son’s animosity toward the father is amplified by the manipulation of an outside malevolent force, son is turned against the father as a result, and the father has to realize the error of his ways and show it to his son in order to fully get him back from the clutches of said malevolent force./
In the case of A New Legacy, it's the disconnect between Dom’s want to be a videogame designer and LeBron wanting to instill the amount of discipline and dedication to basketball he was forced to undergo once Dom decided to show an interest in the sport.
/Because of this, he sees Dom’s interests in anything but basketball as a distraction, because that’s what he was forced to do as a kid in order to succeed./
/So when he and Dom are trapped in the Warner Brothers server thanks to Al G. Rhythm and he’s forced to form a basketball team of Looney Tunes -- a group of individuals who are pretty much the living embodiment of everything that goes against the structure, dedication and discipline he implemented on himself and forces on Dom -- not only is his entire worldview and upbringing challenged immediately, but he also starts to immediately force it on them against their will./
And while that stepping stone is necessary in both the progression of the story and in LeBron’s own development regarding allowing the Looney Tunes to be themselves and play into their strengths -- thus allowing LeBron to learn the moral of the story...
/The truth of the matter is that bringing back the Tune Squad wouldn’t have been the only option for him forming a team to compete against Al’s own if it wasn’t for my boy Bugs Bunny./
When LeBron meets Bugs, he’s the only one left in Tune World after Al talked everyone else to go and see what the other worlds in the Serververse had to offer. And by the time he was able to talk Bugs into helping him, James had less than 24 hours to form his ideal team.
/The thing is, LeBron never promised that he would bring back the Tunes when he asked Bugs for help. He specifically only asked Bugs. And because of that, the movie alludes to something that it never really follows through with; Bugs’ ulterior motives to helping motives in order to bring his friends back./
Remember, Readers. The only thing we learn and that Bugs shares with LeBron was that Al talked them all off of Tune World to explore the Serververse. And the only thing LeBron asks of Bugs is to join his basketball team against Al and help him recruit others around the Serververse in order to join it.
/No mentioning of bringing back the Tune Squad, no deal made involving Bugs promising to put together a team of LeBron’s liking in exchange of helping Bugs get his friends back home. Bugs joined LeBron first and foremost with the motive of finding all of his friends and getting them back together while still letting LeBron think that they were going to be recruiting specific characters of his choosing to join the team./
/And we have proof of this when Bugs was trying to remove the projections of all the Looney Tunes he was trying to get back before LeBron could see them while they were on Marvin’s ship en route to DC World./
Now you would imagine that LeBron would realize that Bugs was just using him and his situation in order to get his friends back first and foremost, with the secondary thought of reforming the Tune Squad again would be more than enough to help him.
/Especially by the time they went to find Lola in Themyscira, which apparently ISN’T in DC World for some reason? I still don’t understand why that’s the case./
However, this is never the case.
/LeBron doesn’t call Bugs out. LeBron doesn’t address that none of his pics are present. He doesn’t even address that everyone on the ship are only the Tunes he said were talked off of Tune World. He doesn’t even put up a fight/ (Fine)
And that’s the point I’m trying to get at, Readers. That argument should’ve actually happened.
Right before they went off to recruit Lola, LeBron should’ve put two and two together and realized that Bugs was using him as a means to an end in order to get his friends back.
Knowing that both his son and his freedom is on the line, he should’ve gone off. He should’ve gotten angry. Especially if Bugs’s rebuttal was that the Tune Squad should be more than enough to handle Al considering the last time the Tunes were in this situation.
/And when that’s brought up, that should send LeBron over the edge. Because the Looney Tunes represent the exact opposite of everything he was brought up to believe about his craft, which is why he’s the way he is in the first place./ (This ain’t no game)
But instead of projecting that energy on his son, he projects it on the rest of the Looney Tunes; Bugs specifically.
/And as you can imagine, Bugs doesn’t take too kindly to those words. Especially if they’re partially aimed at his friends./
And now the actions of both LeBron AND Bugs later on in the movie better play off with each other.
/Despite the abilities of the Goon Squad and the power-ups within Dom’s game, LeBron is 100% dedicated to stick within the parameters of real life basketball despite Bugs’s plea within the first half/ (we gotta think outside the box...nothing Looney)
Now imagine how that interaction would’ve gone if the two were already butting heads because of how the Tune Squad was reformed.
Bugs -- while feeling sorry that he tricked LeBron into reforming the Tune Squad as opposed to forming his ideal dream team -- KNOWS what they’re capable of if they cater to their strengths and is trying to get LeBron to see that.
But LeBron is still irritated with Bugs for the way he tricked him into forming a team that doesn’t have the same tunnel vision as he does, and is also dealing with the fact that the lives of himself, his family and thousands of innocent bystanders rest on their shoulders.
If the movie didn’t back out of this type of dynamic between LeBron and Bugs, not only would it have played into why the two of them are the posterboys for this film outside of them being LeBron James and Bugs Bunny, but it would’ve also helped both of their arcs over the course of the movie.
/The Michael Jordan gag during halftime would’ve been the perfect place for Bugs to not only apologize for tricking James and admitting that he just wanted his family back, but in also revealing to LeBron the importance of why Michael allowed him to be themselves actually helped them win against the MonStars all those years ago. And with that forgiveness and allowing Bugs to work his magic, the spark that struck in LeBron’s head regarding allowing Dom to just be himself would’ve been all the more impactful./
/And on Bugs’s side, seeing LeBron willing to approach Dom the way that he did in order to make amends is the final thing that convinces him that he has to be the one to make the glitch play. Not only to help LeBron save himself and his family, but so Bugs can truly save his own./
Allowing this conflict of mistrust that the movie initially stepped back on to be properly fleshed out between LeBron and Bugs, would’ve allowed so many golden opportunities to properly flesh out the development arcs the two of them clearly had in the film.
And I know that one can argue that such depth doesn’t really need to be in a movie about the Looney Tunes playing basketball with the biggest superstar of the current generation.
/But I feel that once they actually decided to tug on my heartstrings and make me believe that my favorite cartoon character was gonna sacrifice his life for the existence of the remaining characters associated with the IP, I think it's safe to say that they could’ve afforded to dive just a tad bit deeper./ (that’s all folks)
No, I’m not even joking; I damn near cried when I saw that shit play out.
But, I digress, Readers. Your homework assignment for the day:
Write in the comment section below what you thought of Space Jam: A New Legacy if you’ve seen it.
Or, if you feel like sharing with the rest of the class, tell me about a movie you’ve seen with 2 or more leads that you believe would’ve helped the development over the course if there was a bit more conflict between them.
Whichever question you decide to answer, I’d LOVE to know your thoughts.
