VGFlicks: Space Jam: A New Legacy (Part 1)

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4

The movie the least suited to the ongoing theme for this year's film reviews, Space Jam: A New Legacy is the reason why I specify “Trapped in a virtual world” rather than “Trapped in a game”. However, there is a major link to video games in its plot, which means that by my metrics, it counts to be reviewed here.

Chuck Jones was not a fan of Space Jam, because he didn't
think Bugs would ever ask for outside help. At least, in A
New Legacy, it's someone coming to him for help instead.
Also, eeeesh. Mr. Jordan, forget acting, stick to sports.

I guess I’d better discuss the history of its “franchise”, if we can call it that. An idea this bizarre has its origins in the world of advertising, where Michael Jordan starred alongside Bugs Bunny in two commercials, Hare Jordan and Aerospace Jordan, both advertising Nike’s Air Jordan shoes. Chance meetings eventually led to a Nike executive being given the idea by Ivan Reitman for a feature-length film with the same formula. The plans were halted by Jordan’s retirement from basketball in 1993 to try baseball, but resumed when the athlete returned to the sport in 1995, with the commercials’ director, Joe Pytka, directing the film. Despite a… tumultuous production, shall we say, the film was finished and released to theaters on November 15th, 1996. The film hilariously implied that the Looney Tunes were responsible for Jordan going back to basketball.

Talks of a sequel happened immediately, but miscommunications caused those plans to be changed, then scrapped. The poor performance of Looney Tunes: Back in Action at the box-office was another nail in the coffin… until new talks arose in 2014, this time centering the film around LeBron James, another of the biggest basketball stars of all time (I know very little about sports and even I knew of the guy!), and with Malcolm D. Lee in the director’s chair. Filming started in July of 2019 and ended in March 2020, right before the Covid-19 pandemic got really bad; but since all that remained was animation, production wasn’t hindered by the world-changing event. The finished film was released to theaters on July 16th, 2021.

Much of what I have to say is tied to the film’s plot itself – so why not cover it, and get to my talking points when they come up? Also – why call this A New Legacy when, aside from two mentions, there’s no link between the two films?

From child to superstar

The film opens in 1998 in Akron, Ohio, where a young LeBron James is dropped off at a basketball match by his supportive mom. He is a big fan of the Looney Tunes, as evidenced by his backpack. So although he should be focusing on the game, his attention is diverted when his best friend Malik shows up with a present: An old Game Boy with a Looney Tunes game cartridge in it.

Oh hey, that's The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle!

VGFlicks: Jumanji: The Next Level (Part 3)

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3

It’s the final level!

Storming the Stronghold

Always good to get together and plan the last steps.
The campfire is just for comfort, too bad Milo can't enter.

If the group wants to finish the game, they must rescue Eddie (currently using Ming Fleetfoot) and Milo (currently playing as Cyclone, the horse). Spencer (back as Bravestone), Fridge (back as Mouse Finbar), Martha, and Bethany (back as Prof. Sheldon Oberon) are down to one life left. In the latter’s case, her avatar had already lost two, even though it was being played by someone else. Guess lives are non-transferable. Alex still has three. All of them are scared, but must be ready for the final battle. Spencer and Martha, playing action heroes, will climb the mountain using equipment from Fridge’s Backpack of Holding, sneak into the fortress and save Eddie. Meanwhile, Alex, Fridge and Bethany will sneak in.

Pictured: "Augustus" and "Tomatoli Kababik".
Actually a girl in a man's body, and an athlete in a
small guy's body.

Alex inserts himself into the caravan of people walking into the fortress. Fridge and Bethany try the same, but they’re stopped by a guard who asks if they’re the Brothers Kababik. Time to LARP and roll for persuasion. Not only does that work, they even manage to sell the lie that they’re “brothers from different mothers” (since Fridge’s character is Black, and Bethany’s is white). Fridge even ends up having to play along to the guards’ claims that the Brother Kababik he is pretending to be is a eunuch. Geez, that was awkward. And then he still gets offered cake, the very thing that can kill his character. Yup, Jumanji has it out for the guy.

Alex finds his way to the room where Cyclone is held captive. The path is covered in pressure pads that release death traps, and he falls very quickly to one of them. It’s okay, he still has two liv-oh wait, no, just one. Third time’s the charm and he frees the horse, but not without seeing Cyclone’s character sheet first.

Alex has to be extremely careful. He's a family father now.
He has several more reasons not to die in Jumanji.

And since they're basically action heroes, they can have that
entire conversation while taking a break from climbing a
whole damn cliffside.

While Spencer and Martha are climbing up the cliffside, she asks why he never went to see her, and why he ended their relationship. He admits that he felt insecure after seeing just how outgoing and extroverted she had become through university life. She, in turn, admits that it’s been hard for her to keep that image and she’s worried her new social circles will see the shy girl she used to be – and it feels like it’s only with Spencer that she can truly be herself. Huh, guess Jumanji had lessons for the two of them after all, or at least it needed the two of them together to deliver it.

VGFlicks: Jumanji: The Next Level (Part 2)

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3

The Search for Spencer

Finally, a sign of civilization. It's probably a trap packed
with goons, mooks, and cake-offering merchants.

The team ventures through the desert. On the way, Milo tries to get through to Eddie, who’s too angry at his friend to entertain a conversation. Milo tries to explain that he needed to retire from the business after working so long, but his efforts are in vain. They finally spot a town in the distance, The Oasis, as indicated by the map that only Prof. Oberon can read.

...Does this mean Jumanji: The Next Level counts as a
Christmas movie?

They must have walked all day, because it's the evening when we return to Bethany in the real world. She goes to get Alex Vreeke (Colin Hanks), who knows a lot more about Jumanji. He did remain stuck in the game for 21 years, after all. He’s reticent at first since he now has a family and a daughter, but she manages to convince him to help save the rest of the team.

She's not real, Eddie! Also, I know what you have in mind,
and I doubt Jumanji will let you use Bravestone's, uh,
“equipment” for that, if you see what I mean.

In The Oasis, the players notice Jurgen's army. They enter a bar, the Smoke Stack, where Smolder Bravestone is accosted by a gorgeous woman in a red dress. The archaeologist’s ex says she has a clue for him, but she cannot say it in the bar. She slaps Bravestone to act like she isn’t interested and flees, but in an obvious “follow me” way. Grandpa Eddie, of course, doesn’t make the connection with the “Follow the flame” clue given by Nigel.

The group progresses, encountering Jurgen. The safe containing the Falcon Jewel is there. Jurgen makes a speech while casually tossing pieces of meat to hyenas. A speech about those hyenas’ trainer, whom Jurgen considered a friend. The guy tried to get too close to the Jewel… and now he’s hyena food. Geez, that’s dark. Then, the lights go out, and when they’re back on the key to the safe has disappeared.

What hits the worst about this scene is, after Jurgen throws
the axe and kills Ming (well, Spencer), the avatar's head
literally flies off her shoulders before disappearing.

The warlord yells for the thief, and Eddie, thinking he’s playing right, stops the robber: An Asian woman (Awkwafina), who recognizes Bravestone. But it’s too late, Jurgen’s men pull her aside and shake the key off of her. She tries to explain herself, but sounds more and more like a shy Jewish nerd with breathing issues and no self-esteem. Before the players can rescue the thief, whom they’ve recognized as Spencer, Jurgen throws an axe that disintegrates the player character.

VGFlicks: Jumanji: The Next Level (Part 1)

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3

I realized I had accumulated far too many video game movies to review, and therefore I decided to knock three this year. Even better, they'll share a common theme: “Trapped in a virtual world”. I would have said “game world”, but that’s not entirely accurate for all three; Heck, I don’t know whether “virtual world” really counts for today’s movie, either. Depends how you see it.

Truly an all-star cast. Pictured: Five teenagers, actually.

Of all the franchises to make a resurgence, I think nobody expected Jumanji to return after the 1990s with a new movie, Welcome to the Jungle, in 2017. Before then, all the franchise had was one movie, one TV show, and an unconnected movie with a similar concept. Then, suddenly, we’ve got a new Jumanji game, in which the board game has morphed into a cartridge to entice modern-age kids. Thus, we followed five new characters: Spencer Gilpin, Anthony “Fridge” Johnson, Bethany Walker and Martha Kaply, who got sucked into the video game the first time and became their characters. They even rescued another player, Alex Vreeke, who had been trapped in the game for 21 years. They overcame the game’s challenges and returned to their world, and Alex went back to 1996.

I covered Welcome to the Jungle in January 2019; that same year, on December 13th, the sequel, The Next Level, came out in theaters. Surely, the only way to make a sequel to this would be to either introduce new characters, or teach the previous characters new lessons they haven’t learned yet. Both? Both is good. Also, the next sequel is coming out this December, so I figured I’d do this one on time before I forget again!

The Longing

Beautiful locales, and she's still on her phone? Well, at least
it's to talk plans with her friends...

The movie opens two years after Welcome to the Jungle, to scenes of our main four characters, and how their previous adventures in Jumanji changed them. Former alpha girl Bethany (Madison Iseman) lives for the great outdoors, doing volunteer work in gorgeous areas of the world. Martha (Morgan Turner) and Spencer (Alex Wolff) graduated and are now attending different universities. Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain) is as athletic as ever, as we see him training before replying to the others' offer for a meetup.

Needlejuice Records: Other Album Recommendations

NEEDLEJUICE RECORDS

Mystery Boxes: 2022 – 2023 (Part 1) – 2023 (Part 2)

NBW Special

Other album recommendations

I figured I’d do this one real quick, because I mostly talked about one band last Friday, and figured I’d expand a bit. One thing I noticed that was missing from my previous Needlejuice articles was a quick mention of other albums I recommend for each band and/or artist I discuss. There’s a lot of artists signed onto the label, and though many of them have multiple albums on it, they also frequently have albums that aren’t on there.

I figured I’d give many of them a little bit of extra visibility by listing the albums I, personally, enjoyed the most and felt like adding to my own collection. Not every band discussed across these past articles is listed here; I already covered everything I’ve got from Nuclear Bubble Wrap, and some bands haven’t wowed me to the point of getting more. I might also discuss in a later article some albums listed below that are indeed available on the label, so this list is bound to be modified over time. The albums for each band/artist are listed chronologically.

So, to make this quick, and in the order that I’ve talked about them: The list!

Eldren: Welcome to Deathville

Blinker the Star: Still in Rome, Songs from Laniakea Beach, Love Oblast, Animal Math, Occult Classic

Ookla the Mok: oh okay LA, vs. Evil

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: *takes a deep breath* Float Along – Fill Your Lungs, I’m In Your Mind Fuzz, Nonagon Infinity, Polygondwanaland, Gumboot Soup, Infest the Rats’ Nest, Live in San Francisco '16, K.G., L.W., Omnium Gatherum, PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation, The Silver Cord, Flight b741 *phew!*

Nick Lutsko: Ends

Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears: The Shredding Tears, Mad Valentines, Daffy’s Elixir, (and a side-project) Evil Arrows EP 1 & EP 3

Marc with a C: Popular Music, Flowers for Analog, (and a side-project) Have an Okay Time with Claire and the Potatoes!

Not necessarily a big list, but one I felt was worth sharing anyway.