As a child of the internet and fan of many properties with a vocal internet presence (comic books, Star Trek, Star Wars, Videogames, The Witcher, and of course Nine Inch Nails), I have seen the best, and absolute worst of fan campaigns. While many will insist that fan campaigns are wrought out of passion alone, these can often be fuelled and politicised by hate. Look no further than the harassment directed at John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, and Daisy Ridley during the release of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, or the death threats that were sent to Neil Druckmann and Laura Bailey after the release of The Last of Us Part II.
However, fan campaigns can also be wondrous things, and the release of Coyote Vs Acme is the perfect example. The film, a hybrid of live-action and animation, follows Wile E. Coyote as he sues the ACME Corporation for selling him constantly defective equipment in his attempts to capture the Road Runner as part of the Looney Tunes world. After being filmed during 2022 and completed and ready to go in 2023, it was announced in November 2023 by Warner Bros (under new ownership by Discovery) that the film had been cancelled, as the studio preferred to claim a tax write-off than release it (it had been made for a budget of approximately $70 million). The decision for this was made despite the film’s unique concept, use of popular IP, and the talent in front of and behind the screen (including James Gunn, Jeremy Slater, and Oscar nominee Samy Burch being involved in the writing, and Will Forte and John Cena as the live-action cast).
Although the film had been cancelled, snippets of the film surfaced online, along with continuous fan outrage, and a number of industry personnel who had seen early screenings of it with great enthusiasm, most notably Phil Lord and Chris Miller, directors of The LEGO Movie and this year’s Project Hail Mary. After an ongoing campaign from passionate fans and desire to off-load the film, Warnes Bros eventually sold the film’s rights to Ketchup Entertainment, who also released another abandoned Looney Tunes film, The Day the Earth Blew Up.
But now that the film has been released, the question remains: is it any good? Yes. In short, the film is fantastic, and the closest that we have come to a modern-day Who Framed Roger Rabbit. With humour that affects audiences of all ages, there is something in this film for everyone, and whenever there is a joke that might not be as funny, three more gags have already come in its place to distract you.
Well, humour is all very good and it’s nice that the film is funny, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good, does it? Not at all, but luckily, the film is good. Samy Burch’s screenplay goes a long way to giving the film a real heart, with Wile’s relationship with the feckless lawyer Kevin (Will Forte) doing much to give the film an emotional core. The human characters are very stock, and Forte’s underdog protagonist may be the most stock character of them all, but the actor imbues him with pathos. More than this, the stock nature of the human characters is very important: in a world replete with (literally) cartoonish antics and violence, these characters help ground the story in the real world, and offer an important foil to the rest of the film’s happenstances. To paraphrase Forte’s Kevin, a cartoon character can be hit with a wrecking ball and slammed into a brick wall, but they can also sue for a few hundred dollars.
Beyond the writing, there is fantastic work by director Dave Green and cinematographer Brandon Trost to seamlessly integrate the cartoon characters with the real world. Everything made feels tangible, and the cartoon characters feel very physical in relation to the streets and people we see them interact with. Green imbues the work with a real velocity that keeps the film moving at a strong pace; events happen and there are moments for the characters to breathe, but nothing feels like it is going on too long. Action sequences are also helmed with a similarly confident ease; a chase sequence involving a fridge that delivers perpetual ice, a pair of defective rocket boots, and a gun that fires explosive eggs is a particular highlight. At a running time of 103 minutes, this is a true family film, something that can be enjoyed by people of all ages (and attention spans).
Most important of all, the film’s victory in finally being released for public consumption very much mirrors the battle in the story: the little guy is not just fighting for himself, but is a representative of all cartoon characters standing up to Acme. Beyond this, the film’s commentary on flaws in the justice system and Congress (beloved Looney Tunes villain Elmer Fudd is a Congressman, that’s all you need to know to get an idea of where things are going in that story) does much to mirror real life issues happening in our very real world. Is this necessary to make good art? Not always, but it’s nice to see a film where audience members (including children) can be exposed to such themes in a safe environment and be led to ask follow-up questions, if my screening is anything to go by.
Coyote Vs Acme is one of the few child-friendly films I have seen in the last decade that feels truly suitable for people of all ages. A film that is brave enough to dissect the heart behind the relationship between Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, but also entertaining enough to hit that same coyote with a nuclear missile, this is a film that should not be missed. It champions resilience, not just for the fans who helped the film be released, but also in the characters who are facing a corporation with more power than they could dream of, and the Coyote who wants nothing more than to be given what he is owed.
