'Coyote vs. Acme' Review
- Dempsey Pillot
- 7 hours ago
- 4 min read
Release Date: 08/28/26 [Cinemas]
Genre: Adventure. Animation. Comedy. Family. Fantasy.
MPAA: Rated PG.
Distributor: Ketchup Entertainment.
The Verdict: A Must-See
A little under a decade ago, Warner Bros. announced it would be developing a new live-action animated hybrid Looney Tunes film named Coyote vs. Acme. After production on the film was completed in 2023 - and after a merger with Discovery - the studio surprisingly announced its decision to shelve the film. Not because it was unhappy with the final product, but because it wanted a tax write-off. Due to immediate backlash, the newly-formed Warner Bros. Discovery reversed its decision and allowed the filmmakers to shop the film to other studios. After all of the major studios passed, the film remained shelved. It continued collecting dust until last year, when a bid from the indie film company Ketchup Entertainment saved the project. Now, the film is finally hitting theaters. And if you were one of the many upset about WBD’s handling of the film before, you’re going to erupt like The Tasmanian Devil when you find out the studio tried to not only bury a film this good, but arguably the best Looney Tunes film ever made.
Inspired by the fictional 1990 New Yorker article of the same name, the film follows Wile E. Coyote in pursuit of a new prey, the Acme Corporation. After years of buying the company’s products in the hopes of capturing the elusive Roadrunner, he’s fed up that none of them have worked. In an effort to be compensated for his woes, he files a lawsuit against the company. The only problem is that the firm he’s hired to represent him has never actually gone to trial - and is only ever used to settling its disputes. But as the firm is forced to begin building its case, it uncovers a conspiracy that could change the relationship between man and cartoon forever.
On the surface, the film is a humorous modern retelling of David and Goliath. But over the course of its 100-minute runtime, it evolves into cathartic social commentary on capitalism. Now, audiences will no doubt be quick to draw comparisons between Acme and some of the world’s current corporate giants, including Amazon and Apple. But that isn’t necessarily the point of the film. It’s the impact that these corporations continue to have on the public.
Director Dave Green and writer Samy Burch do a great job of portraying Wile E. Coyote as empathetic. After years of using nothing but comedic signs to communicate, the character is finally given a (figurative) voice. Here, he’s no longer a predator (that label is brilliantly bestowed on someone else). Instead, he’s just an angry consumer, blinded so effectively by capitalism that he’s not even sure if he’s buying things because he wants to anymore or because someone else wants him to.
Burch, who helped craft the story with James Gunn and Jeremy Slater, deserves specific praise for how she manages to explore corporate greed through a “Looney” lens - and for brilliantly figuring out what role some fan-favorite characters have in the process. Despite being set in a world where only select rules of logic and physics apply, somehow an animated version of Peter Lorre, an Elon Musk-esque funsucking Foghorn Leghorn, and a “Deep Throat”-coded Bugs Bunny make perfect sense. And for that alone, Burch deserves a blank check.
To say that all of the film’s compelling characters are animated would be a disservice. Will Forte plays the film’s human lead, the head lawyer representing Wile E. named Kevin Avery (a clever nod to the iconic animator Tex Avery). Despite acting against mostly computer-generated characters, he delivers one of his funniest performances since MacGruber - and arguably his most emotionally complex performance ever. From the very beginning, it’s established that he’s an underdog lawyer. But as the film goes on, he begins to realize he’s no different from Wile E., being conditioned by larger corporations like Acme to believe his only role is to be a cog in their machine. Needless to say, it culminates in one of the most ridiculous yet surprisingly emotional cinematic courtroom exchanges ever.
John Cena also delivers his best comedic performance to date as Buddy Crane, Acme’s top lawyer. Where the WWE and DCU found a way to make use of Cena’s cockiness, Coyote vs. Acme finds a way to make use of his memeability. Even when he’s using his physicality as an intimidation tactic, he’s immersed so deeply in this world that it’s as if he’s trying to outdo his 2D counterparts. Some of the film’s best bits involve him playing it straight in the face of the world's surreal chaos.
Lana Condor and P.J. Byrne also deserve their flowers for how game they are here. Condor plays Avery’s niece and intern at his firm. She is the one who helps him realize that there is more to the Acme case than meets the eye. While Byrne plays the ultimate “yes-man” at Acme, who is willing to do everything shy of shooting his beak off in an effort to please Crane.
Truthfully, the film’s only con is that Warner Bros. Discovery nearly succeeded at keeping this from the public - and played a part in preventing it from being seen for so long. But when you take away the behind-the-scenes drama, the film is still unironically great.
Where the Space Jam films and Back in Action are fun, iconic genre parodies, Coyote vs. Acme is the first live-action Looney Tunes movie with a message that outshines its satire. The fact that it almost became a casualty of the very corporate greed it targets only makes it that much more legendary. Hopefully the next time a corporation aims to screw over the little guy in favor of a few extra bucks, that’s all folks will truly remember.
