Court is back in session: A “Coyote vs. Acme” review

In August 2018, Warner Bros. announced that they were making a film titled “Coyote vs. Acme,” in which the “Looney Tunes” character Wile E. Coyote would be taking on the fictional Acme Corporation in a legal battle. Finally, after eight years and a myriad of controversies, the film has been released to critical and audience acclaim. The question is, does it deserve the praise? 

The film was originally slated for release on July 21, 2023. Seven months before that date, though, Warner Bros. announced that it had been completed, but would not be released. Company officials stated that they would rather incur the $30 million tax loss than release the film, sparking an uproar among film fans. Warner Bros. received immense amounts of backlash over the cancellation of the film, including one man parading outside the Warner Bros. lot dressed as the titular Coyote and holding a picket sign that read “Release Me!!” After trying and failing multiple times to find a distributing company, the film eventually was picked up and distributed by Ketchup Entertainment. Since its release, it has made more money at the box office than the tax loss that Warner Bros. took by shelving the film.

As stated before, the film follows Coyote as he and his legal team sue Acme for the damages that their “cartoon products” have caused him in his years of trying to catch the Road Runner. His legal team is from the Avery, Jones & Maltese law firm, with Will Forte and Lana Condor playing Coyote’s lawyer and his intern, respectively. Over the course of the film, they attempt to win the case as it gains national attention, while simultaneously uncovering evidence of a dark secret that the Acme Corporation has been covering up for decades

Forte plays Coyote’s lawyer, Kevin Avery, and serves as the film’s secondary protagonist. Forte’s performance makes it very clear that Avery is nervous to take on the goliath that is the Acme Corporation, and is somewhat out of his element in the courtroom. Acme’s lawyer, Buddy Crane, is played by John Cena, who gives an incredible performance, as always. Cena has more than proven he is a very capable actor in the past, playing the title character in “Peacemaker,” and he gives an outsanding performance in this film, as well. He fits in perfectly with the tomfoolery happening on screen, and is not afraid to make himself look silly in more comedic scenes.

The film gets most of its comedy from the irony of a serious legal matter that has been injected with classic “Looney Tunes” humor, and this is where the writing truly shines. On top of that, the film is a hybrid piece between live-action and animation, like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” and “Space Jam,” and it works so incredibly well. Half the time, I forgot that the cartoon characters and objects were not actually there because of how effortlessly everything blends together. While the film takes place in the world of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, it does have some intriguing, thought-provoking themes and ideas, such as discrimination and the testing of products on animals. The film also draws a parallel between the never-ending antics of the Coyote and Road Runner and the Greek myth of Sisyphus in a way that I found very interesting.

“Coyote vs. Acme” is an incredible time, and I would recommend it to casual moviegoers and film buffs alike. It is one of the best film releases of this year so far, and I even found myself crying a little on my second watch. This film is a masterpiece in every sense of the word, and I would be doing a disservice if I gave it anything less than a perfect five stars out of five. I encourage everyone to go see this phenomenal work of art at least once in theaters before it leaves the box office.

Ryan Denkovic is a sophomore English major