At The Movies: COYOTE VS ACME
Sometimes the little guy needs a miracle. Sometimes he needs a lawyer. It turns out, Wile E. Coyote needs both.
There is something fundamentally humorous about turning Looney Tunes’ Wile E. Coyote, the patron saint of spectacular failure, into the hero of a courtroom drama. Yet Coyote vs. Acme manages to pull it off.
Directed by Dave Green, this live-action/animation hybrid gives one of the most recognisable cartoon characters a surprisingly sincere story about corporate power, culpability, and the importance of not testing products on animals.
The premise is simple. After decades of being blown up, flattened, launched into the stratosphere, and otherwise disastrously betrayed by Acme products while pursuing arch-nemesis the Road Runner, Wile E. finally decides enough is enough. He teams up with struggling lawyer Kevin Avery (Will Forte) to sue the Acme Corporation.
This film is a classic underdog story. Actually, it’s an underdog story about underdogs.
Samy Burch’s screenplay, with story contributions from James Gunn and Jeremy Slater, makes Wile E. more than an anthology of familiar gags. They successfully give him an emotional reason to fight back while preserving the character’s obsession. The result is a fun and comical contemporary story.
The film is full of nostalgia, but the sentimentality is sprinkled throughout rather than being in your face.
A surprisingly pointed social message lies beneath the cartoon mayhem. Acme’s vast corporate machinery versus one injured, determined coyote provides a genial way to explore power, responsibility, and what happens when a multi-million-dollar corporation absorbs the consequences of its actions. It has the broad scope of Erin Brockovich, only with more anvils and significantly less Julia Roberts.
Under Green’s direction, the two worlds seamlessly fuse. The live-action performances are played straight. They allow the animated characters room to be outrageous without the melodrama. Brandon Trost’s cinematography and Steve Arnold’s production design give the film genuine scale, while Steven Price’s score amplifies the sense of adventure.
The animation is a highlight. DNEG’s visual effects team worked closely with 2D artists, using drawn poses and expressions to guide the 3D animation. This attention to detail ensures the original Looney Tunes visual language is captured within the overall contemporary style. The live-action scenes and animation blend impeccably, creating a believable hybrid world.
Movie Review By Anita Kertes
