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YMMV / Space Jam: A New Legacy

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  • Adorkable: LeBron James' portrayal showcases him as somewhat of a nerd beneath his cool demeanor, with his first reaction to meeting Bugs Bunny being to give him a big hug. He also geeks out a bit when planning his dream team and later is happy to partake in some shenanigans with the Looney Tunes. And when passing by the Harry Potter world he seems really happy to have correctly guessed that he's a Hufflepuff.
  • Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Awesome Art: The 2D animated segments are beautifully drawn, colored and shaded, coming off as a modern digital evolution of the classic Looney Tunes style.
  • Awesome Music:
    • The trailer features an exciting remix of the original theme song by Quad City DJs combined with the melody and tone of Scylla by RL Grime. Too bad neither it nor any version of the original song actually appears in the movie.
    • The second trailer also features a great remix of "Pump Up The Jam" by Technotronic.
  • Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
    • Invoked with Michael B. Jordan's cameo, using exact wording as a gag. Once he leaves, the film goes on like nothing happened.
    • Porky Pig's rapping also counts, being a Bonus Round that doesn't have much barring on the game aside from bonus points. The commentators even lampshade it after the rap.
  • Broken Base: Lola's character rework. Some support it due to the film being a family movie, others think that it's progressive to do so, and others just didn't care. However, there were tons of online arguments, mostly about how announcing it was completely unnecessary, those that thought making her less sexy was a bad attempt at seeming progressive, others who hate that her relationship with Bugs was seemingly nuked, and others who are just pissed that they didn't draw from her later characterization from The Looney Tunes Show. What didn't help is the "Zendaya trailer," where there was a large amount of outrage from voice actors about how Zendaya was the only character to have a "voiced by" subtitle while others remained blank.
  • Captain Obvious Reveal: Mistaking Michael B. Jordan for the Michael Jordan, given how many jokes that have already been made about how similar their names are and the fact his frequent collaborator, Ryan Coogler, is a producer on this. Also doesn't help that Sylvester name-drops Michael Jordan before the reveal; given if he appeared it's highly unlikely that they would've said his name before he's seen.
  • Contested Sequel: Is this a Surprisingly Improved Sequel for fixing flaws from the original (giving more purpose for the characters and offering better acting from the human leads) or a step down for drowning what worked in the original with excessive Sequel Escalation?
  • Evil Is Cool: Al-G Rhythm and the Goon Squad.
  • Fan Nickname:
    • Ready, Player, Space Jam! due to this being similar to Ready Player One and its massive use of franchises after seeing the trailer and the number of characters who make up the crowd during the basketball game. Both even use The Iron Giant.
    • Super Warner Bros. became one due to similarities with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
  • Fan-Preferred Cut Content: Pepe Le Pew and, due to association with him, Penelope Pussycat, being cut from the final movie was met with disappointment by some fans, especially for those who seen what they would’ve done with him: to teach him about consent and the importance of it.
  • Fandom Rivalry: The pre-existing rivalry between Michael Jordan fans and LeBron James fans inevitably spilled over into a debate over which Space Jam film is better and which star gave the best performance.
  • Ham and Cheese: Don Cheadle's role is to get up on a green screen and overact at computer-generated characters, and he has a lot of fun with it. It's almost comparable to Steve Martin as the Acme chairman from Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
  • Harsher in Hindsight:
    • Al-G Rhythm's villainous plot — to insert LeBron's likeness into numerous Warner Bros. films, with or without his consent — gained a bit of uncomfortable Reality Subtext when, the very same weekend as A New Legacy's opening, the documentary Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain became embroiled in controversy after it was revealed the filmmakers digitally fabricated audio of Anthony Bourdain without the permission of his estate. The fact that Roadrunner was co-produced by WarnerMedia subsidiaries CNN Films and HBO Max didn't help.
    • And Al-G Rhythm showing he wants to erase the Looney Tunes from existence came off as relevant one year later as amid Warner's merger with Discovery, plenty of animated projects were removed from HBO Max, including The Looney Tunes Show and Looney Tunes: Back in Action. And even worse, a few cartoons in production were downright canceled so they could be written off for tax returns.
      • This comes to a head in November 2023, Zaslav plans on deleting all of the remaining Looney Tunes shorts, as well as anything in the franchise not in production so the company can be able to save money for tax cuts.
  • He Really Can Act:
    • LeBron James is quite better at emoting than Michael Jordan was. His reconciliation with his son in particular is surprisingly well-acted.
    • Jeff Bergman is no slouch either, as he gives a surprisingly poignant performance as Bugs Bunny, particularly during his Disney Death near the end of the movie.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • Surprising as the appearance of Rick and Morty was, this wouldn't be the last time they would be part of a crossover with LeBron James and Looney Tunes characters.
    • In a twisted sort of way, Bugs' statement of "I'm a toon, doc! I can survive anything!" despite being deleted after performing the glitched move became this after it was revealed that, according to screenwriter Samy Burch, conversations about the release of Coyote vs. Acme are still ongoing and that, according to a Warner Bros. spokesperson, it's still being shopped to other studios despite earlier reports of Warner Bros. rejecting offers that couldn't match their price.
  • Ho Yay: They were already people shipping Wile E. Coyote with Road Runner, but the scene were both of them do a Security Cling, only increases the potential of this ship.
  • Just Here for Godzilla:
    • Fans of Animaniacs tuned in for a glimpse of Yakko, Wakko & Dot making a cameo, especially in the wake of their revival. This ended up expanding to Hanna-Barbera fans as well once it was revealed that some of their characters would make an appearance, especially in a Looney Tunes property.
    • Fans of Rick and Morty expressed similar sentiments upon learning of their cameo... in a PG-rated movie, no less!
    • Others have watched the film purely for its 2D-animated segments and for the return of the Looney Tunes to the big screen after almost 20 years. Much like the original, most viewers agree the film is at its best when it lets these icons do their thing.
  • Like You Would Really Do It: Seriously now, did anyone think the movie would end with Bugs Bunny Killed Off for Real?
    Bugs: Come on. You didn’t think you’d get rid of me that easily, did you? I told ya, I’m a Tune, Doc! I can survive anything!
  • Love to Hate:
    • Even those who dislike the film agree Al-G Rhythm is a wonderfully amusing villain due to Don Cheadle's rather hammy performance and being a legitimate threat to the Tune Squad.
    • The Goon Squad have incredibly cool designs and badass moments, making their screen time very worthwhile. Special mention goes to Chronos.
  • Memetic Badass: Initially, it was mocked that LeBron James was recruiting Superman, Gandalf, King Kong and The Iron Giant to defeat Don Cheadle's character, Al-G Rhythm, when Michael Jordan only had Bill Murray and Wayne Knight to beat the Monstars. However, when people pointed out Cheadle played War Machine, Donald Duck and Funny or Die's version of Captain Planet, some realized it made sense to recruit such heavy hitters.
  • Memetic Mutation:
    • As soon as the trailer dropped, comparisons to Ready Player One (the film even had the Iron Giant showing up), Ralph Breaks the Internet, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Kingdom Hearts were inevitable.
    • People noting how Warner Bros. saw fit to remove a scene involving Pepé Le Pew getting lectured about consent and getting him deleted from future projects, but leaving in a cameo by the Droogs, a literal rape gang, and Rick and Morty, a very child-unfriendly property.
    • Given he's taking over Michael Jordan's role, the inevitable comparisons (both joking and serious) between MJ and LeBron popped up.
    • Lola Bunny's breast reduction surgery/ACME sports bra Explanation
    • It's also been referred to as HBO Max: The Movie due to being having a massive cross-over of all the properties owned by Warner Bros as the backdrop.
    • "All of the Tunes will be deleted." Explanation
  • Moral Event Horizon: Al-G Rhythm when he vows to erase the Looney Tunes from existence if he wins showing that any idea of redemption for him is impossible.
  • More Popular Replacement: Al-G Rhythm has made a bigger splash as the main baddie compared to the mostly forgettable Swackhammer, playing a more active role throughout, and allowing Don Cheadle to ham it up.
  • Nightmare Fuel: Al-G Rhythm sucking in all the viewers of LeBron's livestream. Imagine just taking a break to watch your favorite basketball star play, and then suddenly your device sucks you into a world that you could potentially get trapped in forever. Moreso when he does it to LeBron's family considering the Serververse room shorts out violently as it happens.
  • Older Than They Think:
    • Criticism has been made of Lola's less curvy redesign for whatever reason, but it's hardly the first time that's happened. The Looney Tunes Show did the same ten years prior, although the show's art style made it not very noticeable.
    • The Notorious P.I.G. scene isn't the first time a Looney Tunes character rapped, with Bugs Bunny performing the song "Buggin'" in the first film's soundtrack. Porky also had a rap battle in an episode of New Looney Tunes.
    • This isn't the first time that the Big Chungus meme has been referenced in official Looney Tunes media. Four months prior to the movie's release, the mobile game Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem added Big Chungus as a playable character.
    • The film was heavily criticized for its many references and cameos of Warner Bros. IP, with many accusing it of being excessive product placement for the studio. The Looney Tunes franchise has always had a heavy focus on promoting Warner Bros. properties, with the classic shorts being filled with innumerable parodies, impressions, and sometimes even clips of then-popular films, actors, and songs.
    • Believe it or not, this isn't the first time that LeBron James faced Toons in a basketball match. That honor goes to this CN City ad that had him facing Sector V.
  • One-Scene Wonder:
  • Questionable Casting:
    • While her performance is seen as fine, Zendaya as Lola has been noted by several viewers as a strange example of a Celebrity Voice Actor since all but one of the other Looney Tunes is played by their regular career voice actors (not helped by the fact that Kath Soucie, her original voice actress, already recorded her lines for the movie beforehand). Gabriel Iglesias as Speedy also raised a few eyebrows at first, though, unlike Zendaya, he delivers a cartoonish vocal performance that fits in with the other voice actors. Also helps that his profile is significantly lower than Zendaya's, which makes his involvement feel like much less blatant Stunt Casting.
    • Critically acclaimed thespian Don Cheadle being in a film like this was also deemed odd, though Cheadle's work was well received for being appropriately over the top.
    • Some people are not exactly thrilled about Jeff Bergman voicing Bugs yet again. Despite being the first actor to voice the character after Mel Blanc's death, some fans believe his vocal performance has been in decline since he resumed voicing Bugs in The Looney Tunes Show. Some hoped that Eric Bauza, who has been doing a masterful job voicing the Wascawwy Wabbit in Looney Tunes Cartoons, would play the role. Bauza does voice Daffy here, whom he also voices in Looney Tunes Cartoons, as well as Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, and Foghorn Leghorn, and voices Marvin here and there.
      • The fact that Eric voiced Porky Pig here rather than his usual voice actor Bob Bergen (who still voices Tweety in here) also raised some eyebrows as well, especially since the latter has been his most consistent voice actor since Mel Blanc's passing.
    • As for the European Spanish dub, singer Lola Indigo's turn as Lola Bunny was very poorly received, and was considered an ill-advised Casting Gag (since she had released a song titled after the character two years prior to the film, but had little if any experience in acting) at best and another example of Spanish dubbing's overuse of inexperienced Celebrity Voice Actors at worst.
  • Slow-Paced Beginning: Outside of brief appearances on merch and as video game characters, it takes around 20 minutes for the Looney Tunes to properly appear.
  • Special Effect Failure: The spectators in the climactic game have been said to resemble cosplayers on the green screen. Their flailing and stilted movements don’t help in the slightest. Then again, they are inhabitants of the Serververse and are made up mostly of data. note 
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
    • Ever since her appearance in the trailer, many people have criticized Lola's new design, especially her face and her blander body, claiming the original design gave her more personality.
    • In a weird case of "They Changed It Back, Now It Sucks", some fans were upset that she reverted back to her level-headed "strong female tomboy" characterization rather than her ditzy, bubbly Valley Girl incarnation from The Looney Tunes Shownote  or her bubbly but competent Genki Girl incarnation from New Looney Tunes since those incarnations made her just as looney as the other Tunes.
    • In the European Spanish dub, at the last moment the dub director decided to replace Lola's VA, Vera Bosch with Lola Indigo. Spaniards weren't amused at all by this decision, quickly comparing it to other similar cases like the villain of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World or a future Noby in Stand by Me Doraemon. Here's a comparison between the two actresses.
      • The fact that Isabel Valls, who has been Lola's voice in Spain since the 2000s, wasn't considered for the role was already controversial as well.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
    • Despite being advertised as a player, Marvin the Martian appears only to have his ship stolen and then get flattened by it a few times. He never joins with the other Tunes (despite other traditionally 'villainous' ones doing so) for no discernible reason. Especially bad given he was already underutilized in the first film, which at least had a clever reason for his limited role. Even worse is his second appearance alongside all the other toons could've easily been rewritten to have him get recruited.
    • The Goon Squad all have interesting designs and abilities, but they only appear during the game itself and therefore don't have the same presence that the Monstars did.
    • The Monstars themselves are limited to a few brief cameos (in their normal Nerdluck forms) during the climactic game when they appear, never once directly interacting with the Tunes. It doesn't help they're just reused footage from the first movie.
    • While Daffy has one of the larger roles as the Toon Squad's manager and coach, several fans were disappointed that he didn't get to contribute to the game as a player unlike in the first film.
    • Pepé Le Pew infamously doesn't appear here, even though the filmmakers originally planned to include him and address the controversy around his character. Similarly, Penelope Pussycat was originally supposed to be on the team but is nowhere to be seen, most likely due to her affiliation with Pepé, although she briefly appears in the Comic-Book Adaptation.
    • While this film arguably spreads the wealth amongst the Tunes' screentime better than the first, a few of them never get the chance to show off in the climactic game. Particularly bad are Foghorn Leghorn and Speedy Gonzales' cases, as the former only had one small assist in the first film and the latter is the only new player who doesn't get a scene highlighting any contribution to the game.
    • Of all the IPs owned by WarnerMedia, the only Cartoon Network characters that appear are Rick and Morty and no one else, not even the main characters from Teen Titans Go!
    • The other NBA and WNBA players who star in the film —- Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, Nneka Ogwumike, and Diana Taurasi —- only get a brief scene where they cameo as themselves. The rest of the film relegates them to voicing the digitized teammates of Al-G and Dom who only exist to use their special powers to play basketball. This is a stark contrast to the professional athletes who starred alongside Michael Jordan in the first film, who had an entire subplot of losing their talent and facing fallout from it.
    • Given the film hints at a Wizard of Oz world appearance, you might expect Witch Hazel to appear as the Wicked Witch of the West, but she's only given a very brief cameo.
    • The cameos from the other Warner properties in general. As soon as the first leaks came out, people assumed the Tunes were going to face off against the likes of Joker and the It (2017) version of Pennywise, and not the Goon Squad that was in the final film. In the end, however, almost everyone is reduced to nothing more than a background cameo, with the live-action worlds being visualized by Stock Footage.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
    • LeBron and Bugs traveling to various worlds and finding the other Looney Tunes is glossed over in one montage, even though the concept of Looney Tunes going through other cinematic worlds could've been a movie in and of itself. We never even see where Gossamer and Tweety were living.
    • Bugs and Lola's romance is ignored, aside from a brief look of longing on Bugs' behalf after she joins the team again. Otherwise, their relationship is strictly platonic.
    • Bugs' character arc. It's established that he misses the other Tunes and wants them to come back to his world and contacts them to play on LeBron's team. Apparently, he wanted them back just to keep them for himself, and then by the climax, he sacrifices himself for LeBron and the Tunes. It's an interesting idea, but it's never really explored, because it focuses too much on LeBron's arc or showing all of Warner Bros' IPs.
    • Daffy's new role as the coach and manager gets used for some jokes, but it has no bearing on the plot. Additionally, some who wish he got to play have noted he could’ve stayed manager in the film but joined the game as an 11th-Hour Ranger.
    • More like wasting a perfectly good song. "Get Ready for This" is the only returning song from the first film's iconic soundtrack. You might expect it to play again during the game like it did the original movie's most popular scene, but it's only used briefly during a comedic dance scene with Al-G Rhythm.
      • Despite the Quad City DJs' theme song practically having defined the first movie, neither it nor its trailer remix is anywhere to be found in the sequel or even its soundtrack. More egregious is the fact that the Quad City DJs' created and teased a follow-up titled "Brand New Jam" for the sequel, yet it was completely unused and still has yet to receive a full-length release even two years after the fact. The only proof that the song even exists is a 36-second preview on their Instagram page.
    • Granny is shown to retain her powers from The Matrix. Given this development, you might expect the other Looney Tunes to use any skills or assets they've picked up in their respective worlds throughout the game, like Foghorn unleashing dragons or even Daffy joining the game with Superman's powers. Unfortunately, Granny is the only player who ever gets shown doing this.
    • It's never made clear what Al-G Rhythm has against the Looney Tunes; he refers to them as rejects when he sends LeBron to Tune World and threatens to delete them if they lose the game. His hatred may have something to do with his need to be recognized or a general dislike of anything old-fashioned, but no explanation is ever given or even hinted at. Likewise, why he feels the other animated properties like those of Hanna-Barbera are more relevant despite most of them falling out of fashion or into obscurity in a meta sense outside of failed attempts at revivals or Jellystone! is also never brought up. Nor do the Tunes or HB characters ever interact directly with one another.
    • Pepe learning about consent could’ve easily been a great way to showcase how times have changed since he was introduced instead of getting rid of him altogether. Even victims of sexual assault have pointed this out.
    • While Rick and Morty's cameo was very surprising, many [adult swim], and by proxy Cartoon Network, fans were disappointed that they were the only two representatives of the network and that there was never any other scene that focused on them or other characters/worlds. The same applies to other WarnerMedia properties such as Rooster Teeth’s RWBY, especially since that IP was featured in previous WB movies Ready Player One (2018) and Doctor Sleep, that many people thought they were a shoo-in for this film as well.
    • This isn't the first time LeBron James has faced off against toons in a basketball match. That was during an CN City ad pitting him against Sector V, yet no one mentions this, even as a joke, and, as said above, Sector V doesn't appear in the film.
  • Trailer Joke Decay: The advertisements really wanted you to hear Granny say "Haters gonna hate”.
  • Ugly Cute: Gossamer spends all of his screen time as a good guy, with his friendly portrayal really making him look downright adorable.
  • Unintentional Uncanny Valley: Al-G's upgraded form. Much like Will Smith's Genie, there's just something off-putting about seeing Don Cheadle's features on a brawnier, obviously computer-generated character.
  • Unexpected Character: Prior to the trailer's release, there was next to no indication that the film was an All-Star Cast Crisis Crossover with all of Warner Bros.' properties rather than just the Tunes. Even if you did think that might happen, there's no way anyone would have predicted that such family-unfriendly characters like the Droogs, the War Boys, the White Walkers and even Pennywise, of all people, all together would show up.
  • Unintentionally Sympathetic: Marvin the Martian's treatment comes across as a mean-spirited use of a beloved character. Aside from Pepé Le Pew, Marvin is the only main Looney Tune who doesn't get to join the team, with his role being nothing more than getting his ship stolen, being crushed by it, and getting ignored by everyone else when he asks for help. Doesn't help that Bugs is the one to start a conflict with him, yet he gets off the hook entirely while Marvin pays. Bugs' behavior towards Marvin is even worse when you remember he longs for all the other Looney Tunes, treating all of them but him as family.
  • Unintentional Period Piece: The video game camp Dom wants to go to is arranged/sponsored by E3, with their logo being shown at the camp. E3 would shut down permanently in 2023, with their final showing happening the year this movie came out.
  • Visual Effects of Awesome: The Looney Tunes' CGI designs have been praised as impressively detailed while managing to emulate their 2D style and energy.

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