Space Jam: New Era is THE new movie made in Warner Bros that we have been waiting for a long time! With a theatrical release scheduled for July 21, Warner decided to work hard by inviting great stars of American basketball… Just Focus had the chance to attend the preview, we tell you everything!
Synopsis
LeBron James' son, Dom, wants to become a video game developer and thus get away from the footsteps of his father, a famous NBA star. Father and son find themselves trapped in the Serververse, a virtual place that is run entirely by an artificial intelligence with malicious thoughts called AI-G Rhythm. His goal is simple, to challenge LeBron James to basketball. If he wins, he has the right to leave with his son, otherwise, the James family will remain stuck in this parallel world forever. LeBron must save his son, for that, he is sent straight to the world of Looney Tunes and will make sure to form the best team of the Serververse. 
A modernized history up to date
We knew Space Jam with the great Michael Jordan, released in 1996, and today we discover the new Space Jam , this time with the current NBA star: basketball player Lebron James. An undisputed player with the Miami Heats, Cleveland and since 2018 with the Lakers, he wins titles year after year and becomes a model for many basketball players, amateurs and professionals. This choice of character flows naturally, after the hero of American basketball of the 90s, here is the hero of the 2010s. But this is not the only change between the first part of Space jam and the second. We really feel a modernity through this second opus, by the special effects first, much more sophisticated than on the first, but also on the choices of subjects addressed. The center of the story is of course the great Lebron James but it is faithfully accompanied by the algorithm Al-G Rhythm, artificial intelligence with dubious objectives … This artificial intelligence is played by Don Cheadle (House of Lies) and proves the change of angle compared to the first part. Here we fall into rational fears, or not, about the control of the planet by AI…Same on the choice of music, much more modern, with rappers such as Chance the Rapper or 24kGoldn and Lil Wayne. But also, there are more pop American stars like John Legend and the Jonas Brothers. Regarding the story of the film, this is not the first time that we address in cinema the love between father and son (with In Search of Happiness for example), but here more than the links between a father and his son, we find the difficulty for a child to undergo the pressure of his parents concerning his future. Even more so when you have a famous father who is excellent in his field. This sensitivity that the film brings shows once again the evolution of this second part, we are touched by this relationship. Where the film takes up the basics of the first, it is on the basketball competition between a big bad and the gang of Looney Tunes that we love so much and that rocked our childhood. A touch of nostalgia then takes us away and plunges us entirely into the film.
Lebron James: better at basketball than at the movies…
So yes, let's be honest, Lebron James is not the greatest film actor of all time… And at the same time, it's not his job and he still manages pretty well! A reference is also made in the film in which Lebron announces the color, "Sportsmen in the cinema, it never worked". A touch of humor that shows the modesty of this player in front of his acting. The rest of the cast is qualitative, several NBA players play their own roles such as Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis and on the women's side, Diana Taurasi and Nneka Ogwumike. Regarding the Looney Tunes team, it is impossible to find a fault for them… As you can imagine, they are all animated, for the VO we find Zendaya but also Jeff Bergman (the bunny bug dubbing since the 90s). For the VF, we find Angèle for Lola Bunny. 
Cedric Joe, who plays Lebron James' son, has little experience behind him and yet, he assures! Despite his young age he transmits his emotions to us and will even manage to pull us a small tear.
References to the Warner Bros. universe galore
From the beginning, LeBron was invited by Warner Bros. for a new project created entirely by the algorithm. When it enters the Serververse, a continuous stream of information related to the subsidiary is projected on the screen. References to Harry Potter, the DC franchise or even Game of Thrones are made throughout the film. During the big battle where the artificial intelligence team fights against LeBron James' team, the audience is divided in two, on the one hand people who came straight from Earth to attend the game, on the other, a rather heterogeneous audience composed only of Warner characters. A successful communication for Warner Bros! We really liked this touch of modernity brought to the film, although the synopsis is similar to the first one, we found that it was more complete with a more subtle scenario. We let you (re)discover the trailer just below!
