Coyote vs. Acme
Dave Green
A Looney Toons movie with lawyers and valuable life lessons about the abuses of power and the importance of standing up.
Filed under Movies
Theater · Comedy · ~1h43m
Coyote vs. Acme really is a weird legal drama with classics characters and funny actors through and through. And there's next to no nostalgia bait despite drawing on decades of rich Looney Tunes universe lore. Just running with the fresh ideas alongside timeless cartoons.
The movie hammers into big ideas and modern themes -- like the morality of product research data mining practices and the influence of corporate power in the courtroom and in consumer lawsuits. But it doesn't do it ham handedly and, like Coyote, it doesn't try to say too much.
Will Forte was perfect. Lana Condor as the overly eager law clerk was good (although they didn't give her character a ton of dimensionality). And then John Cena was excellent as the villain (esp. his conversations with Tweety).
Fun for all ages, but seemingly especially for adults. I'm curious how the kids will fair with this one, but they'll at least have interesting notions of R&D, corporate overreach, and the role of the nation's government. Suffice to say, I'm not holding my breath on this movie becoming the next Frozen or Minions beloved children's franchise; it may be a rather unique quasi-adults-first-and-then-children sorta kid's movies that stands the test of time.
Good pacing. Good slapstick, cartoon humor. And a satisfying ending for everyone.
I strongly recommend watching this one.
Behind the scenes, the sordid studio cancellation controversy means this actually being a good movie is all the better. The movie studio nonsense fascinates me (and doesn't really have a bearing on the quality), but if you want more of that then I recommend reading Indecent Exposure.
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