Coyote Vs. Acme

Coyote Vs. Acme is going to last in the halls of cinematic history forever purely thanks to the insane uphill battle it had to fight just in order to be seen. Starting off as a simple live-action/animation hybrid movie starring the legendary Looney Tunes, the film was positioned for success due to how well it was performing for test audiences, but this potential Icarus was clipped at the wings by Warner Brothers who (having shown a strange disdain for any Looney Tunes property released in the last two decades) decided to shelve the film and use it as a tax write-off, hoping people would just let it fade away. This wasn’t the case, with audiences from across the globe demanding the film be released, championing it even though it tragically seemed like a done deal, but a miracle did appear in the form of Ketchup Entertainment, who previously saved another set-to-be-trashed Looney Tunes film, The Day the Earth Blew Up, and bought Coyote Vs. Acme for distribution, finally giving the world the movie they thought they would never see.

In the world of the Looney Tunes where the Acme Corporation controls all forms of human convenience and entertainment, Wile E. Coyote suffers another embarrassing loss after failing to catch the Roadrunner since his Acme-bought rocket boots malfunctioned. He gets the idea that Acme are the reason he never succeeds after seeing a commercial for Avery, Jones & Maltese, a personal injury law firm specializing in cartoon violence caused by Acme products, but finds that the senior partner, Kevin Avery (played by Will Forte) is more than willing to settle a case instead of fight it, forcing the conniving coyote to force his hand by sending all his faulty purchase straight to Acme corporations, pulling Kevin and his business into a proper case against Acme’s head lawyer, Buddy Crane (played by John Cena). While trying to back out as he knows how unbeatable Acme are, Kevin and his plucky assistant, Paige (played by Lana Condor) find themselves as the tiny David facing the monolithic corporate Goliath, but uncover some truly scummy practices Acme uses to improve their products, sparking a passion in Kevin that’ll convince him to fight this potentially losing battle, and connect with Wile, who may’ve had his own personal reasons for starting this case, but may’ve sparked something truly important for the cartoon community as a whole.

Faced with far more pressure on its shoulders than it anticipated, Coyote Vs. Acme was being used a battle cry from creatives and passionate fans against Warner Brothers and the executives who felt like they had the power to shelve what universally was seen as a strong finished picture, and while the only moderate box office return doesn’t reflect the vigor people seemed to have when it was almost cancelled, the insanely positive critical and audience reception is enough to give the film the final hoorah. With a simple but very engaging and surprisingly heartfelt story, likeable characters, efficient scripting that never shocks but is stably enjoyable, and inviting visuals and humor, Coyote Vs. Acme is a delight for all ages and shouldn’t have even considered for the tax bin.

Despite having existed for almost a century, The Looney Tunes have weirdly been neglected for years and their parent studio has so little interest in them, that an independent production company needed to save a film based on them they were going to delete forever, which is just sad considering they still have the potential for great timeless comedy, which this movie proves. Inspired by a 1990 magazine article of the same name in The New Yorker by Ian Frazier, the premise of Wile E Coyote suing the Acme Corporation for selling him faulty tools, is perfectly silly and feels like it’s a recipe for easy comedy, and this movie does lead way to a lot of good jokes, but what’s more surprising is how strangely touching the film becomes as it continues, evolving from an opening act which is perfectly decent but comes across a little too familiar to feel daring and fresh, into a genuingly heartfelt picture that banks on nostalgia but in a way that actually rewards rather than panders. Nothing about the story written by James Gunn, Jeremy Slater, and the film’s sole screenwriter, Samy Burch, screams as incredibly original or hard-to-predict, but thanks to its aforementioned heart, an easily identifiable goal that feels more relevant than ever and is spookily accurate to how this movie in real life had to fight to exist, and the general pleasant cheer of seeing such a wholesome movie focused on classic beloved cartoon characters on the big screen, it’s hard not to fall in love with it.

It’s true that the film doesn’t house much of the intelligent witty wordplay you’d normally associate with classic Looney Tunes, and is privier to the chaotic slapstick, sight gags and references, but this does make sense given the varying styles that each involved writer houses, with Jeremy Slater being more commercial friendly and mainstream, James Gunn being more spontaneous and colorfully odd, and Samy Burch having a slightly bitter sense of reality behind some cutting commentary and sparse weirdness. It’s no surprise the script for the most part plays things safe and doesn’t contain anything overly shocking, new or even that uproariously funny, but at the same time, nothing feels poorly written or executed, every line and bit of slapstick is well timed and performed, and because the characters and situation are still engaging even amongst the chaos, it really manages to tick all the boxes it needs to succeed. The direction by Dave Green doesn’t technically feel like it’s adding a whole tone (with his very limited filmography explaining why it feels like the writers have more of a fingerprint on the film than he does), but he doesn’t hold it back either.

While many of the big Looney Tunes like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig have had their fair share of cinematic spotlight, Wile E Coyote isn’t usually given centre stage even though his crusade to catch the Roadrunner is one of the most iconic images in Looney Tunes (and even just cartoon) history. This movie really capitalizes and even dissects this turmoil in a pretty interesting fashion, really letting his addiction and determination be the driving force for the film in both a comedic and even dramatic sense, and with the pretty decent and expressive animation on him, he’s able to be a very effective cartoon lead despite never uttering a word. Most of the other Looney Tunes characters are used effectively even if they are sparingly shown; Bugs Bunny being constantly kept in the shadows and hyped up like a celebrity cameo is very fun, Daffy is part of a pretty fun sequence where it’s revealed how he’s connected to Acme, and Foghorn Leghorn is a perfect match for this southern evil tycoon trope, and Eric Bauza and Candi Milo are fantastic at capturing the voice and range of these iconic parts beautifully.

While the human characters are usually the weakest part of any live-action Looney Tunes property and it’s hard to say that isn’t still the case here, they are better handled than past examples and are able to exist alongside the cartoons much more comfortably. Will Forte can start off a little grating and isn’t always given capable zingers but is much more effective when he has to be heartfelt and sincere, really nailing the more touching moments of the movie. John Cena plays any role entirely by heart, so he manages to also stand out as a fairly generic bully lawyer for an evil corporation, but the rest aren’t so lucky. Lana Condor is perfectly fine but plays a pretty generic part, and people like Tone Bell, Luis Guzmán, Martha Kelly, P. J. Byrne and Kenneth Choi aren’t good enough in the humor or drama department to really say they left an impression, but if the titular Coyote and his lawyer manage to win over the audience, the film is still in steady shape.

Warner Brothers’ dismissal of Looney Tunes just feels like a part of a larger problem they have with animation in general, scrubbing a lot of their animated content (new and old) from their services and barely putting in effort to have a theatrical pocket to utilize, but it’s nice that Coyote Vs. Acme shows not only the strength and flavor that can come from animation, but also how cool it can be when you mix it with live-action. Once a popular trend that has now died down, Coyote Vs. Acme clearly took a lot of inspiration from the very beloved Who Framed Roger Rabbit, when it came to mixing the live-action portions with animated characters, and while it’s hard to top what many considered one of the great movies, it does do a pretty good replication and is easily one of the best since. While some of the 3D models handled by DNEG can feel a little awkward (as it’s trying to replicate the look of 2D on a 3D model and it just doesn’t look right), there are plenty of moments where the characters look really good, interact with the world around them pretty believably, and take part in some pretty engaging action and slapstick.

Wile E Coyote is definitely the best example and many of the other more prominent roles are also done really well, but it just can’t top when the film uses traditional 2D animation, and it thankfully does find time to put some in (which is amazing). These specific sequences provided by Duncan Studio look absolutely unbelievable and will continue to make people lament the lack of usage such a simple, yet beautiful artform gets (Bugs’ scene is phenomenal to watch due to how well he’s animated).

Coyote Vs. Acme could’ve just come and gone as a well-made feature, but because of the story behind it and how unfairly it was treated, it became an inspirational feature that shows what can happen when people truly fight for what they want to see and how their media is treated. While this hype could make some feel it won’t live up to expectations and the opening act may spurn some of that hesitancy, the film proves its worth as it keep going, with the story growing more endearing and really carrying a humble scrappiness that makes it easy to root for, likeable leads who bounce off each other very well, solid animation that even with some odd spots still shows off its retro characters very nicely, and good scripting that never goes too meta and over-the-top, but remains sparky enough to not be dull and overly familiar. Even if it isn’t a 10/10, it’s certainly a very good movie that didn’t deserve to nearly be erased, and any movie that keeps fighting after being kicked down deserves to be supported.