The Space Jam 2 Scene That Is Confusing Nintendo Fans
Gamers can be an opinionated sort. Whether they're in an uproar over "Jeopardy!" gaming questions, furious with "Crash Bandicoot 4" for requiring an internet connection, or flaming "Fortnite" over Team Rumble mode changes, fans of video games never shy away from voicing their frustrations. Sometimes, these frustrations are justified. Other times, they're, well ... not. That seems to be the case with gamers' latest bit of bother. "Space Jam: A New Legacy" just did an oopsie — and gamers are not having it.
Early in the film, a young LeBron James can be seen playing an original Nintendo Game Boy — a gift from a fellow video game-loving friend who just upgraded to the then-new Game Boy Color. Like any youngster getting their hands on their first handheld gaming console, young LeBron becomes quickly enthralled in a game — which is, in this case, "The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle."
Because movie characters are only allowed to have one hobby — and it has to be the one that the movie is about — young LeBron is coerced by his coach to throw his love of gaming out ... literally. The final scene of the movie's opening ends with Lebron callously chucking the Game Boy into a trash bin as the "Crazy Castle" logo glitches sadly on the monochromatic screen.
Narratively, the scene is meant to foreshadow LeBron James' inevitable (and stunningly lucrative) career in basketball — and it's effective in that sense. But gamers are none too pleased with the treatment of Nintendo's beautiful old brick — and, as usual, they've taken to the internet to voice their rage.
Nintendo fans v. Space Jam
"Space Jam: A New Legacy" might have its issues — especially if you consider its abysmal Rotten Tomatoes score — but nobody could have expected one of its problems to stem from video game console abuse. However, the moment in which LeBron throws his Game Boy in the trash has received a visceral reaction from fans.
Aside from that, Game Boy historians are up in arms over the fact that, while LeBron's friend Malik mentions that his dad got him "the new color one," the gray machine in LeBron's hands is an original Game Boy. Games journalist Ben Bertoli ranted, "OH COME ON, 'Space Jam: A New Legacy.' You couldn't even bother actually making it a Game Boy Color? How hard was that??"
Bertoli later corrected himself, realizing that Malik wasn't referring to the Game Boy he's gifted LeBron — he's referring to an unseen Game Boy Color, and this big monochromatic block was the hand-me-down. However, Bertoli also pointed out that this doesn't explain why "The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle" is shown in full-color graphics during one sequence in which gameplay is overlaid on top of LeBron's first encounter with the game.
IGN Entertainment's Brian Altano agreed that this moment felt weird, noting, "In a movie about talking animals and space monsters playing basketball, this probably shouldn't bother me..BUT IT DOES"
"Space Jam: A New Legacy" reviews haven't exactly been glowing, and this detail — which some adults definitely noticed — is just the latest foul in the ill-fated film.