Coyote vs. Acme review

 

The endless attempts made by the perpetually hungry Wile E Coyote to catch a speedy Road Runner entertained generations in classic cartoons with each of the former’s schemes foiled one way or another proving perhaps that he wasn’t as wily as his name suggested. Or was it someone else’s fault? Often his failed attempts came as a result of misfiring equipment, always bought from a generic company named Acme and this film runs with the tremendous idea of him suing that company over these malfunctions. Gleefully incorporating countless cartoon moments mixed with live action, the results are impressive and funny.

 

The original idea came from an article in `The New Yorker` magazine by Ian Frazier and this story whose writers include James Gunn as well as Jeremy Slater and  Samy Burch who wrote the screenplay turns it a very lively hundred minutes of literal spills and thrills. Essentially it is a cartoon with some real people in it. Drawing in many other familiar faces from the classic days of Looney Tunes as it goes, the movie is set in a world where cartoons co-exist amongst humans meaning that many of the rules of that genre apply. Wile E Coyote, fed up of not being able to catch the Road Runner sees an advertising board which inspires him to enlist a personal injury law firm who specialise in cartoon violence cases. Despite the firm’s senior partner Kevin Avery having a propensity to settle for meagre amounts, events lead to the case reaching court even as Acme make various attempts to stop it.

A fun idea in itself what really brings this movie alive is the speedy pace and the presence of many other cartoon characters in significant roles. Each of them are part of this society and nobody bats an eyelid. Foghorn Leghorn is an Acme executive, Daffy Duck a former employee with information, Tweety is a mercenary would you believe! Watch out too for appearances from the likes of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and even an animated Peter Lorre. The results are often amusing, always entertaining and frequently inventive. You don’t need a knowledge of these individual cartoons but if you have it makes matters seem even richer plus there’s a neat compilation of previous Coyote/ Road Runner encounters early on.

Of course Wile E Coyote does not speak and indeed his intended prey can only utter “beep beep” so the expressive cartoons do that work. Though he never says a word of dialogue (though there's a running gag about the boards he holds up) everything the Coyote is thinking comes across in his actions and expressive rubbery face. The human cast also interact really well with the animated ones with Will Forte as Avery (named after  Tex Avery)  for whom this caper re-awakens his legal fervour when somehow Wile E persuades him (without speaking of course) to reject Acme’s payoff and go the whole way. The whole cast- including Lana Condor as Avery’s over enthusiastic niece, Martha Kelly’s deadpan Dottie Jones and John Cena as Buddy Crane, Acme’s slick over confident lawyer know just how far they need to exaggerate their characters to align with the toons and match the verve of their cartoon screen partners.

Not a moment of the film is wasted and there are so many visual jokes, surreal happenings and funny lines to make this just as funny as the original cartoons.  However many times you’ve seen some of these characters squashing each other in various ways it’s still funny and the film succeeds in inventing new ones. Up on the big screen the simply defined cartoons acquire a vivid quality as the effects seamlessly blend together without losing the rich colour palette conversant with Loony Tunes of old. Worthy of special praise is voice artist Eric Bauza who accurately conjures up those familiar speech tones of many iconic characters.

Rather like the cartoons that inspired the movie, Coyote vs Acme extracts the maximum content from a basic idea, adding twists that always work well and never overwhelming the sense of fun with anything too serious. Though you could interpret the story as taking pot shots at America’s litigious habits where nothing is outside the reach of a lawyer. Yet if you think like that a piano will probably fall on you!  And if anyone is tempted near the end to start to feel a little sorry for Wile E, its undercut really well with a denouement that suits the mood of the movie. Director Dave Green seems to really understand the cartoon dynamic and steers the chaos with an eye for the unexpected. Throughout there is an unpredictability as you’re never quite sure what background scenery will turn out to be animated and pliable- a portable hole, a wall that you can lift up like a curtain or whether an anvil will drop from the sky!

All of which makes it even more surprising that this film was at one point destined never to be seen. The live action sequences were actually shot more than four years ago in the Spring of 2022.  In 2023 Warner Bros announced that though the film was finished it would not be released, instead if was to be used to claim a tax loss. Unlike Batgirl which suffered a similar fate, this film was fully completed by this time. After several false starts it was eventually reprieved thanks to an independent company Ketchup Entertainment. Considering how much money film companies make from their marquee products it seems grossly unfair to treat a production in this way and suggests that their priorities lie outside the creative side of the business. Thankfully this production proved to be as tenacious as any toon character by pushing its way into cinemas. Judging from the busy showing I attended it’s a popular choice so I’m glad we did get to see it.