Original Space Jam Director Welcomes LeBron to the Slam Jam

Everybody do not get up because it is not time to jam now, according to Joe Pytka, the director of the original Space Jam. Like everyone else with a streaming subscription this weekend, Pytka took an hour out of his day to watch Space Jam: A New Legacy starring LeBron James, a man who is constantly and needlessly cast in the shadow of Michael Jordan.

Like its predecessor, New Legacy was panned by critics and most folks with access to Twitter but Pytka felt particularly strong about why this movie simply wasn’t as good as his—and shockingly it has nothing to do with LeBron being a terrible actor. Despite the film’s short run time, Pytka told TMZ that he could not finish it in a single sitting and had to start and stop the movie five times to get through the whole thing. It’s a cartoon, my guy!

Pytka also compared the film’s stars saying that when Space Jam was released, Micahel Jordan was the “biggest celebrity in the world” whereas LeBron has not reached those heights. Pytka was also displeased with the casting of the film, which is incredibly rude considering both Diana Taurasi and Nneka Ogwumike were in this movie and you literally cannot ask for more than that. The one valid piece of criticism Pytka offers is calling the new film’s soundtrack “insignificant” compared to the first film. When you’re right, you’re right.

But what really seems to have pissed in Pytka’s pie was the treatment of Bugs Bunny who (SPOILER ALERT) endures an emotional death by deletion from the Warner Brothers serververse in order to save LeBron’s life. While Bugs returns at the end of the movie, it’s unclear whether he still exists in Tune World or if he is a ghost haunting Lebron for eternity. Either way that’s a little heavy for a kids’ movie and I, too, was annoyed by an unnecessary emotional arc for Bugs that didn’t involve his marriage and lifelong commitment to Lola Bunny.

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