by Andrew on Sat Apr 16, 2022 3:31 pm
Razzie Award winning! I mean, the original wasn't a critical darling either, and neither of them are supposed to be. It seems like they appealed to the intended audiences of their time, at least to some extent.
I haven't seen it, but one criticism of it that I've seen echoed quite frequently is how cynically commercial it was. Obviously the original had its commercial tie-ins, but Wayne Knight's character had a line poking fun at all of Michael Jordan's endorsements, so it arguably came across as being more self-aware.
Indeed, the other thing that the original had going for it was that the story was a bit of a joke at MJ's expense. It acknowledged that his baseball career wasn't a roaring success, and had fun with the idea that the real reason he returned to basketball was because he helped the Looney Tunes defeat some evil aliens. Sure, it celebrates him and casts him as a hero, but it's also absurd and not entirely fawning. It also came first, so there was a semblance of originality and freshness to it that a sequel - regardless of quality - simply can't have.
Looking back though, I do think the fact that the original poked a bit of fun at MJ and his baseball career, and that he was willing to do that, worked in the film's favour. If you look at a lot of celebrity appearances on shows like The Simpsons, traditionally the ones where the guest stars who play themselves are willing to be caricatures and the butt of jokes are better-received than appearances where the show seems to fawn over the guest. A smidge of self-deprecation can go a long way, as can tying the plot into a fictionalised version of the celebrity's real life/career. From the reviews I've read, that was one of the big turn-offs for people, along with the product placement, shoe-horned cameos, and general style of humour.
These are second-hand observations, and like I said, I'm sure at least part of the audience it was aimed at did enjoy it, just like the original. Maybe I'll give it a watch some day, but from everything I've heard, it turned out to be the unnecessary sequel a lot of people predicted it to be. That's arguably the biggest issue here. By all means make a kids/family film starring LeBron James, but do something new with it, instead of just rehashing the plot of Michael Jordan's celebrity vehicle.