Coyote vs. Acme Review: A Looney Tunes Movie Worth Seeing
There is something almost too poetic about Coyote vs. Acme. The movie is about the little guy standing up to a massive corporation that believes it can do whatever it wants, and in a bizarre twist of fate, the film itself nearly became a victim of corporate decision-making. After Warner Bros. attempted to shelve the movie as a tax write-off, Coyote vs. Acme seemed destined to disappear without ever being seen by the public. Now, thanks to Ketchup Entertainment, audiences finally have the opportunity to see this movie the way it was meant to be seen: on the big screen. And while it may not be an absolute Looney Tunes classic, it is a genuinely funny, charming, and highly entertaining piece of blockbuster filmmaking that deserves its moment.
At its best, Coyote vs. Acme captures exactly what makes the Looney Tunes characters so enduring. The premise is wonderfully simple: Wile E. Coyote has spent years using Acme products in his increasingly elaborate attempts to catch the Road Runner, only for virtually every product to spectacularly malfunction and cause him immense physical pain. So, naturally, he decides to sue Acme Corporation. That setup gives the filmmakers a hilarious opportunity to finally explain why all of those Acme products keep failing him, while also turning decades of cartoon abuse into the foundation for a courtroom comedy.
The movie follows Kevin Avery (Will Forte), a down-on-his-luck attorney who agrees to represent Wile E. Coyote against Acme. Kevin is joined by his niece and coworker, Paige (Lana Condor), and the two develop a generational conflict that becomes one of the movie’s more surprisingly serious elements. Paige is younger and more idealistic, while Kevin is older, more cynical, and jaded by his experiences. Their disagreements occasionally add some emotional weight to the story, including one particularly serious confrontation between them. Unfortunately, that conflict is not handled as effectively as it could have been. The movie largely moves past it in the following scenes without fully addressing the consequences, making the dramatic buildup feel somewhat underdeveloped.
Fortunately, the movie’s greatest strength is not its courtroom drama. It is the Looney Tunes. There is something endlessly delightful about watching these completely absurd 2-D animated characters interact with a live-action world. We have seen this combination before in movies like Space Jam and Looney Tunes: Back in Action, but it remains incredibly refreshing when it is executed well. The technical work involved in seamlessly integrating the animated characters into real environments is consistently impressive, and the movie understands that the funniest moments often come from placing cartoon physics into an otherwise recognizable world.
That is also where director Dave Green gets the most mileage out of the material. There is plenty of classic Looney Tunes violence, outrageous slapstick, elaborate physical comedy, and increasingly ridiculous Acme contraptions. One particularly entertaining action sequence demonstrates just how much fun this concept can be, although it is also one of those moments that makes you wish the movie had included even more Looney Tunes-driven set pieces.
Because Coyote vs. Acme occasionally gets bogged down in its conventional legal-comedy structure. The courtroom material is perfectly entertaining, but whenever the movie tries too hard to become a standard plot-driven comedy, the energy can dip. Some sections drag, and the film could have benefited from more opportunities to simply let Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and the rest of the Looney Tunes wreak havoc in the real world.
The supporting cast also deserves credit, particularly John Cena, who gets to lean into his comedic abilities as a delightfully over-the-top villain. Cena has already demonstrated that he can play an entertaining antagonist opposed to non-human creatures in Bumblebee, and he clearly understands how to embrace the absurdity of this world without becoming completely disconnected from it, particularly as he squeezes the air out of Tweety Bird in his fist.
And then there is Eric Bauza, who deserves enormous praise for his voice work. Bauza voices multiple Looney Tunes characters, and his ability to distinguish their personalities while maintaining the spirit of the original performances is remarkable. Voice actors deserve to be highlighted and recognized by name, and Bauza is a major reason why the animated characters work as well as they do. It is also genuinely fun to see so many familiar Looney Tunes characters incorporated into this story without feeling completely shoehorned into it.
Ultimately, Coyote vs. Acme works because it is a good old-fashioned movie for the whole family. It is funny, visually inventive, technically impressive, and packed with the kind of cartoon mayhem that audiences have loved for generations. It may not reach the heights of the greatest Looney Tunes productions, and its legal-comedy elements occasionally slow it down, but there is more than enough here to make the movie worthwhile.
Most importantly, Coyote vs. Acme feels like a movie that was stolen directly from the Warner Bros. vault and finally returned to the audience that was supposed to see it. There is an unmistakable irony in watching a film about a little guy taking on a giant corporation after that very film nearly disappeared because of a corporate financial decision. Wile E. Coyote finally gets his day in court, and, in a strange and wonderful way, so does the movie itself.
SCORE: 7/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 7 equates to “Good.” A successful piece of entertainment that is worth checking out, but it may not appeal to everyone.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press screening for our Coyote vs. Acme review.
Source: Comingsoon.net