Coyote vs ACME is the best movie you’ll see this summer, and I’ll die on this hill. Fuck everything else, including Nolan’s Odyssey.
You might have heard of this Looney Tunes movie for its turbulent path: originally inspired by a humorous piece on The New Yorker in 1990, and developed as a studio feature, it was abruptly shelved by Warner Bros as a tax write‑off, as they already did for the movie Batgirl in 2022. I won’t try to explain how this is profitable for a Company, ‘but ’cause I scarcely understand it myself. The cancellation of Coyote vs ACME prompted an uproar and the mobilitation of many third-parties, and the movie was eventually rescued by an independent distributor that released it in theatres this summer.
The movie frames Wile E. Coyote’s endless pursuit of the Road Runner as a product‑liability lawsuit against the Acme Corporation, and it’s written from Ian Frazier‘s original article by Jon and Josh Silberman, Samy Burch, James Gunn and Jeremy Slater. The movie’s definitely picking up the inheritance and tradition of other Looney Tunes‘ movies such as Space Jam, and other mixed-media masterpieces where the existence of cartoons in the real world is not accidental but an integral part of the world-building (Who Framed Roger Rabbit comes to mind). The flesh-and-blood actors include Will Forte and John Cena, playing respectively the independent lawyer championing cartoons and the corporate lawyer representing ACME. The cartoons are voiced by the most remarkable effort of Eric Bauza, for almost all the characters, and Candi Milo voicing three female characters, with a cameo by voice legend Jim Cummings as the Tasmanian Devil.
And what about the plot?
I can’t say much without spoiling it, but I’ll say that it includes all your favourite characters (including the clever recognition that one of them did not age well), and it’s a clever reflection on a consumer vs. product debate that definitely deserves all the attention it can get. Don’t play ACME’s game. They don’t want you to see this movie. Go and see it. If you’re a sucker for Mr Coyote and for not giving up, you might even shed a tear.
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