Day 7 - Space Jam (1996)

Owing to a sleepless night and a truly vicious attack of sciatica, today I promise to be the very soul of wit. Or, y'know, the very soul of brevity. Something like that.

Let's face it: Space Jam was always going to be an easy pitch - a high-concept, low-risk venture that teamed up the cartoon heroes of one generation with a (slightly cartoonish) sporting hero from the next. It was a true family movie, guaranteed to generate enthusiasm amongst kids and parents alike.

Of course, some people argued that it was little more than a 90-minute commercial that trampled wholesale over the memory of Mel Blanc and the dignity of hardworking professional athletes like Dwayne Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal but this was 1996 - they had plenty of other options available to them.

The good

This is a slick, brisk little flick that slips down as easily as an ice-cold Coke on a hot day. Michael Jordan is a likeable presence, and nobody makes the mistake of asking him to do anything as crazy as actually acting.

Animated villains Swackhammer and the Nerdlucks make a strong impression, and one which I'm sure provided the inspiration for Hades, Pain and Panic in Disney's Hercules a year or so later. The original animated segments set within the failing theme park of Moron Mountain are striking in the same way as the early Marvin the Martian shorts, and I found myself wishing I could see more.

By and large, the script remains true to the anarchic spirit of the old Looney Tunes cartoons, and the standard family movie moral of remaining true to yourself is never allowed to take precedence over the fast-paced sight gags and general mayhem.

The bad

I was raised on Looney Tunes, and I have to admit that Space Jam broke my heart a little. Partly it was the desultory shading on characters that had previously lived simple, blameless lives in peaceful flat 2D; the film creates separate universes for human and cartoon characters, so where was the need to add grey streaks around all the character edges.

Worse than that, however, is the vocal work. While Dee Bradley Baker does a serviceable job with Daffy Duck, the other characters don't escape so lightly. Billy West, in particular, creates a Bugs Bunny who sounds thoroughly decaffeinated, stripped of the cheerfully grown-up malice that always lent the character meaning.

While I'm complaining about the animated rabbits, do all female bunnies have to resemble the Playboy variety? Lola Bunny might have dressed like an athlete, but her fluttering eyelashes and hip-wiggling antics evoked unwanted memories of Jessica Rabbit herself.

Oh, and yeah, the 90-minute commercial argument? It's perfectly valid.

The verdict

High on polish but low on charm, Space Jam doesn't necessarily disappoint but it certainly doesn't inspire either.