Coyote vs. Acme’s journey to the big screen feels like a miracle, because it practically was. To summarize: Back in 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav made the boneheaded decision to permanently shelve a trio of already-completed films in order to file them as tax write-offs, this film included. While as of writing, Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt will likely never see the light of day, the online campaign to release Coyote vs Acme reached such a fever pitch from inside and outside the industry that Warner Bros. finally relented. They ended up selling the distribution rights to indie label Ketchup Entertainment (who also saved another Looney Tunes film, last year’s The Day The Earth Blew Up) to the tune of $50 million dollars. Now that the film is finally coming out, it’s truly insane that something this good was even considered un-releasable at all.
The film starts off with a classic Looney Tunes setup: Wile E. Coyote concocts a scheme in hopes of catching and eating his eternal rival, the Road Runner. In this instance, he uses a pair of Acme rocket-boosted roller skates. Naturally, the skates don’t work and his scheme blows up in his face yet again. Dejected at his failure, Wile E. returns to his cave and realizes his decades of failure have been mainly due to the thousands of faulty Acme products he’s purchased over the years. At that moment appears a TV ad for Albuquerque-based law firm Avery, Jones and Maltese (a clever homage to animation legends Tex Avery, Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese), which inspires Wile E. to sue Acme.
Unambitious lawyer Kevin Avery (Will Forte) has no intent on ruffling Acme’s feathers – whom in this film are as ubiquitous a juggernaut as Apple or Microsoft – and generally prefers making small settlements for singular incidents, much to the annoyance of his Oxford-educated niece Paige (Lana Condor). However, Wile E. refuses to accept a meager check, and his massive compilation of evidence – plus a bit of trickery – lead to a full-blown lawsuit, and Kevin now has to challenge the might of his old law school rival Buddy Crane (John Cena), as well as Acme CEO Foghorn Leghorn (Eric Bauza).
The idea of Wile E. taking Acme to court is already a hilarious concept, one originally expressed in a 1990 New Yorker article. However, director Dave Green and writer Samy Burch turn that idea into a true-blue underdog story in the vein of both Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. I was shocked at how the film managed to give legitimate pathos to the entire Coyote/Road Runner dynamic to begin with. It reframes his Sisyphean task as one where his relentless, never-give-up attitude legitimately inspires Avery to step up against the corrupt mega-corp. In fact, Coyote vs. Acme’s theme of resilience in the face of overwhelming odds means the film became an accidental meta-commentary on its own existence. Even if the story beats are overly familiar, the filmmaking and writing are still strong enough to make the story breeze by without feeling tired.
“By virtue of the film coming out at all, Coyote vs. Acme is already a triumph.”
As surprisingly heartfelt as Coyote vs. Acme is, it’s also just really, really funny. There aren’t any Space Jam-eque attempts at pop culture references, the film just sticks to classic cartoon mayhem. It’s a perfect love letter to the Looney Tunes franchise and also a perfect entry point for kids and newcomers alike.
It’s filled to the brim with great gags just like classic Looney Tunes cartoons, made even funnier with how the chaos works in a real-world context. When dynamite goes off, it really blows up the whole room, which is perfectly sold by the fatigued reactions of the human characters. It’s filled with appearances from toons both popular and obscure, nearly all of whom are fantastically voiced by vets Eric Bauza and Candi Milo. Each of the human actors are just as engaging as the toons. Will Forte is a perfect comedic straight-man to the silent Coyote, who communicates exclusively through a limited number of signs. Lana Condor brings a lot of heart, and both John Cena and PJ Byrne are hilariously committed as Acme’s chief legal stooges.
By virtue of the film coming out at all, Coyote vs. Acme is already a triumph. All movies –good or bad– should have their time of day, and the hard work shouldn’t be erased from existence all for tax purposes. But it being one of the funniest movies of the year is certainly a cherry on top.
