After enduring years of malfunctioning products, Wile E. Coyote teams up with a local personal injury attorney to take on ACME, the manufacturer of anything and everything used by the Looney Tunes characters. (from IMDb)

The movie Coyote vs ACME is a David and Goliath story in and of itself. Made three years ago, the little movie was expected to hit theaters in 2023, but Warner Bros. decided to destroy it in favor of a tax write-off. That's it; that's the only reason. A tax write-off. Looney Tunes fans protested in numbers - as well as the cast - and soon there was a light at the end of the proverbial painted-on-the-side-of-a-mountain tunnel. The 'little movie that could' was set to center around Wile E. Coyote going up the massive organization ACME to sue them for faulty products. The movie is a blend of live action and animation - think Who Framed Roger Rabbit? - with Will Forte playing a lawyer aiding Wile E. in his efforts, and John Cena representing ACME. With a premise so silly it just might work, it's hard to imagine anyone at Warner would seriously consider it for destruction!

Coyote vs ACME starts out like a quasi-thriller, setting up a conspiracy of sorts that takes place decades earlier in the ACME labs. We're then brought to the present where Wile E. Coyote is still struggling to capture the Road Runner, which leads him to eventually meet Forte's lawyer character, Kevin Avery. Avery is more or less a small claims lawyer who prides himself on getting clients like Porky Pig a few extra bucks for every unfortunate accident. So when Wile E. decides to go after ACME for a major lawsuit, it's well beyond Avery's realm of expertise.

1987's Who Framed Roger Rabbit? has long kind of been the pinnacle of live action meets animation. It's not perfect - and is far more adult than a film like that should be (Thanks to Zemeckis), but it does the marriage of live action and animation so beautifully. Much like how the 1993 Jurassic Park has been hard to top following its monumental achievements in cinema, few films feel worthy of mentioning in the same breath - when it comes to live action + traditional animation - as Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. The closest thing to Coyote vs ACME that we might have, though, is probably 2003's Looney Tunes: Back in Action in how the characters are used. Back in Action is a corny, but fun, road movie that just doesn't quite rise above being just OK. Tonally, though, Coyote vs ACME may actually be closer to Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. This movie throws its hat in the genre's ring, so to speak, in a confident way... but keeps things surprisingly grounded while still leaning heavily into the world of Looney Tunes.

I'd venture to say that Coyote vs ACME probably isn't exactly what you might expect. It's part courtroom drama, part buddy comedy, part animated movie, part mystery, and part comedy. It's a mixed gag bag that works surprisingly well. I couldn't help but think, while watching it, "They really almost didn't release this??" It really seems perplexing. (But I suppose that's business over art for you.)

While Wile E. has the most spotlight of all the Looney Tunes characters (hey, it's in the title), you may be thrilled to know that many of the fan favorites make an appearance in some form in Coyote vs ACME. I don't want to spoil any surprises, or exactly how they're used for the story, but it's a lot of fun seeing familiar animated faces popping out throughout the story. It's also way more involved than just "Wile E. Coyote sues ACME and goes to court"; the mystery hinted at during the film's opening is part of the plot, and other Looney Tunes characters end up greatly influencing the story. Despite the decent sized film budget and the presence of Looney Tunes characters, Coyote vs ACME feels more like an indie film than a blockbuster, and that probably actually serves the story better. There's a more intimate feel to the proceedings than some sweeping, loud action flick like Looney Tunes: Back in Action. And that fact probably lends to the movie feeling surprising when it does take detours that feel a little larger in scale.

The content is decidedly PG, but there were a few moments where I found myself thinking, "Wait... is this PG or PG-13?" One of the first times we see Coyote in action, he holds up an "Oh $%@%!" type sign that doesn't very subtly suggest what word it's implying. And the rest of the film isn't heavy with language, but there are a couple uses of "h*ll," "d*mn," "p*ss," and a handful of uses of "Oh my G-d" as an exclamation (And while mild, Avery does use the word "frickin'" once). There's also one scene where Wile E. holds up a sign that says "ACME Sucks." The cartoon violence is very strong throughout the whole film, and while it's done in a sort of tongue-in-cheek way, the darker opening of the film feels a little surprising for this type of family movie. There isn't really any sexual content, but they lean hard into Daffy Duck being out-of-his-mind, and there's a scene where Kevin and Wile E. approach Daffy while he's painting in a park and Daffy insists that Kevin poses nude for him (he doesn't). Overall, it's still relatively family friendly, but it's just a hair edgier than you probably would expect for a family movie. It's got a bit more grit to it. There's even one of those harsh moments between characters that reminds me of that tense exchange between Walter and Buddy in Elf. In other words, it's a surprisingly more serious moment that may poke some emotional bruises for viewers.

Overall, Coyote vs ACME is a sweet little cinematic gift. Watching it, knowing it almost didn't even make it to the public is hard to imagine, but that realization adds a little extra weight and significance to it. But, let's be honest, if it was still a stinker regardless, that fact wouldn't matter much. It's a great film, one that I look forward to revisiting, and one of the best combinations of live action and animation that we've seen yet.

- John DiBiase (reviewed: 8/16/26)