15 Most Underrated Movies Of The 90s
1. Space Jam
Michael Jordan returning to the peak of his powers. The Looney Tunes as one of the biggest brands on Earth. Bill Murray in his extremely weird, extremely underrated post-Groundhog Day, pre-Rushmore era. A soundtrack featuring Seal and an unproblematic R. Kelly. Wayne freaking Knight. Space Jam isn't just the most underrated movie of the 90s, it's the defining movie of the decade.
Yes, the concept might be a little, er, looney, but that merely gives this movie a charm that fits so perfectly with its decade, and it's a whole lot of fun to boot. The Tune Squad at this point in time were genuinely entertaining, and watching the oft-serious MJ bounce off them made for some brilliantly off-kilter humour.
It works, too, as a sporting movie: the game between the Tune Squad and the Monstars is fascinating, mixing the end-to-end excitement of an actual basketball game with cartoon madness that results not only in Jordan's arm defying physics to secure the win for the heroes, but a riotously entertaining movie for all the family.
Space Jam doesn't need a LeBron James remake. The special stuff was inside it all along.
[JH]