I was looking forward to this. Even though it nearly got canned, I thought it sounded like a fun idea: Coyote Vs Acme. Wile E. Coyote takes on Acme for all the damage they’ve done to him over the years.
Seeing Wile E. Coyote chasing the Roadrunner was a staple of my viewing growing up. It was slapstick, and people getting hurt is funny; see my Jackass review.
Even though it’s been a few years since I’ve seen Coyote, this movie hits the spot and is just plain old fun.
Coyote Vs Acme stars Will Forte, Lana Condor, John Cena, Luis Guzman, P. J. Byrne, John Early, and Eric Bauza doing some of the classic voices. Dave Green directs, with Samy Burch, Jeremy Slater, and James Gunn writing. I was surprised to see Gunn’s name on there; they were keeping that quiet. I guess if you take the ego out of James Gunn, he writes a decent story.
The Story
We open in real life, where cartoons also live. The Peter Lorre cartoon works at Acme, but he knows a secret. There’s something going on behind the scenes at the company, and he wants to blow the whistle.
He’s caught and made to jump into a ‘painted hole’ never to be seen again.
30 years later, we’re in the present, and Wile E. Coyote is trying to get his dinner. He’s still trying to use Acme products to catch the roadrunner, but they just don’t work. While drawing up plans for another whack scheme, he hears Kevin Avery (Forte) on the TV saying something about suing for things that don’t work.
Wile sets off for the big city to find Kevin and sue Acme. Although he also has plans of his own.
Avery is a small-time lawyer who just seems to settle every case for a few hundred dollars. It makes him enough and keeps him out of the spotlight. When he meets Wile, he just wants to settle and not take on the biggest company in the world. Sadly for Kevin, he’s duped into taking on the case.
The Cast
I’m a fan of Forte; I think he’s a very underrated actor and has a great sense of comic timing. If you haven’t seen it, he’s excellent in an episode of Flight of the Conchords.
In Coyote Vs Acme, he’s great. In fact, there are moments you really feel for Kevin. He doesn’t want to take on an army of lawyers; he just wants to settle. However, as time goes on, he learns he’s letting down his clients and himself.
Cena is excellent in this. He’s the complete opposite of Kevin. His Buddy Crane is the hotshot lawyer for Acme and a winner, at work and at life. I know Cena is a wrestler turned actor, but he’s good at it. He doesn’t take himself seriously, and just has fun with his own persona. He’s basically The Rock, before he became Dwayne.
I have to mention Bauza, who plays a lot of the voices, including Bugs Bunny. Sadly, Mel Blanc is no longer with us, but colour me surprised, Bauza’s voice acting is spot on. Again, it’s been a while since I heard Bugs, but damn, if it didn’t sound like him.
A Deeper Story
I haven’t spoiled the story for Coyote Vs Acme, as there is a lot more going on than meets the eye. Yes, there is a breakdown of the characters, but not in the usual modern way. Pretty much every character we’ve grown up with has been deconstructed, emasculated, or just replaced with a Mary Sue.
In this movie, they explain a little why Wile needs the Road Runner, and vice versa. It’s not just about seeing poor Wile falling off another cliff, landing in that little ring of dust. There’s more to it than that.
And it’s not just about the two main characters. The corporate greed that Acme has ends up hurting a lot of people. I know this is more of a kids’ movie, but there’s a larger message in there.
The story is very well thought out and leads to a satisfying conclusion. The characters have more of an arc than Rey Palpatine over 3 movies! What a world we live in.
Overall
Overall, Coyote Vs Acme was jolly good fun; it’s got slapstick, heart, and a good message about friendship. It just works.
I loved how when we first meet Wile and Road Runner, it just felt like an episode. Sure, the animation is better, and it’s set in the ‘real world’, but it was still funny, and I found myself giggling.
I ended up completely engrossed in the story, which, as I said, is well told. There are call backs to some of the original cartoons, but I didn’t feel like it was ‘memberberries. It was more loving than that.
It’s amazing to me how Coyote Vs Acme was nearly canned, but (as someone said online) somehow The Bride was released. I have seen both movies, and I will watch one of them again, over and over. The other I would rather pour bleach into my eyes.
I’m giving Coyote Vs Acme a very solid 4.5 out of 5 stars. It will most likely end up as a 5-star movie when I see it again. It’s great fun for all the family.
