’Coyote Vs. Acme’ review: Looney Tunes adaptation is, like its wiley protagonist, more miss than hit

Dir: Dave Green. US. 2023. 102mins

Hoping to harness the crackling, sarcastic spirit of classic Looney Tunes cartoons, Coyote Vs. Acme is a nostalgic charmer that struggles to sustain its snarky tone over feature length. Will Forte plays an apathetic lawyer representing Wile E. Coyote, who sues the powerful ACME Corporation that manufactures the products that always fail to help him catch the wily Roadrunner. The film’s mixture of animation and live-action features myriad references to the venerable franchise, but the lacklustre screenplay proves as faulty as ACME’s crummy contraptions.

The lacklustre screenplay proves as faulty as ACME’s crummy contraptions

The picture opens in the UK on August 21 before arriving in US theatres the following week. Alongside the presence of John Cena and several notable Looney Tunes characters, Coyote Vs. Acme’s journey to the screen may also attract viewers, who will be curious to see the final product after such a long delay. Originally intended as a Warner Bros. release before being shelved by the studio, the worldwide rights were bought by Ketchup Entertainment in 2025. This is the second Waner Bros animation feature released by Ketchup following 2024’s The Day The Earth Blew Up, which collected $15 million worldwide, and Looney Tunes fans will be excited for Wile E. Coyote to finally get his day in court – literally.

Frustrated about always being thwarted by his prey The Roadrunner, Coyote hires Kevin (Forte), an Albuquerque attorney who deals in small-claim cases. Coyote asserts that ACME, which produces everything from cellphones to explosives, has caused him untold amounts of physical and emotional damage because its gadgets never work. Kevin is nervous to sign up for such a high-profile lawsuit, but he reluctantly faces off ACME’s in-house counsel against Buddy (Cena), his cocky longtime rival.

Director Dave Green (2016’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows) demonstrates a deep reverence for the legacy of Looney Tunes, which launched in 1930, making sure that Coyote is constantly scheming, albeit unsuccessfully, while the fleet-footed Roadrunner enjoys mocking his hapless pursuer. (In keeping with the original cartoon shorts, neither of them talks.) And the merger of the live-action actors, principally Forte, with the animated Coyote is seamlessly handled.

The film’s premise, which is inspired by Ian Frazier’s 1990 New Yorker humour piece, promises the possibility of a variation on 1988’s award-winning Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which similarly placed beloved cartoons in the real world. And initially, Forte’s grounded, defeated Kevin appears to be the perfect foil for the more assertive Coyote, who refuses to let his cowardly lawyer accept a paltry monetary settlement from Buddy. But May December screenwriter Samy Burch struggles to make Coyote Vs. Acme a winning buddy comedy in which these two very different individuals become friends. Forte is too one-note as the passive Kevin, who will eventually learn courage, while the silent Coyote receives fewer funny bits as the film moves along.

Those enamoured of Looney Tunes will appreciate Coyote Vs. Acme’s snide sense of humour and slapstick mayhem; as fans would expect, Coyote plummets from great heights on multiple occasions. Such signature visual moments occur throughout the film, as does the introduction of many Looney Tunes figures — from the very famous to the ones only true diehard admirers will know. The cast and crew’s fondness for this world is palpable although, fittingly, the picture rarely allows for sentimentality, which would run counter to the franchise’s smart-aleck attitude.

But despite replicating the Looney Tunes tone, Coyote Vs. Acme’s jokes and one-liners tend to be terribly hit-or-miss, especially once the plot takes over. To win the lawsuit, Coyote and Kevin must prove that ACME knowingly created defective products, leading to a conspiracy-theory narrative that drags rather than delights. Coyote Vs. Acme wanly attempts some social commentary about the insidiousness of unfeeling corporations, but the political points are rather tame. Even the riffs on courtroom-drama cliches are largely ineffective.

Cena would seem well-suited to this material, applying his usual deadpan absurdity to his role as a brash, brawny attorney who speaks sternly to adorable cartoon characters such as Tweety Bird. The effect can occasionally be very amusing. (Both Cena and Forte smartly play their characters straight, so that their animated co-stars can get the laughs.) Still, Coyote Vs. Acme spends too much time with its live-action characters, becoming guilty of permitting its Looney Tunes icons to be mere supporting players in their own film.