In my last review I mentioned the particular joy that comes from watching a movie that should not work. But in Coyote vs. Acme, there’s another kind of exhilaration - a movie that somehow lives up to the hype.
There’s a special kind of glee to watching with the knowledge that the corporate shenanigans which tried to prevent this film’s release ultimately failed, especially when the movie in question is basically about corporate shenanigans. It’s this generation’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit, with the lighthearted approach of My Cousin Vinny thrown in for the legal drama genre.
You wouldn’t think legal speak would be a great segue into the zany world of the Road Runner and his carnivorous pursuer, but Coyote vs. Acme takes after its more obvious predecessor in ways that go beyond the mix of live action and animation visuals. Behind the wacky premise, Roger Rabbit is a movie about wish fulfillment and endings that could’ve been. By the end, the mystery is solved, the bad guy is vanquished, the highway doesn’t get built, and Los Angeles keeps the transportation system it had become world-renowned for.
Nowadays hiding from a far harsher reality in sunny illusions is a sell that’s practically doomed upon arrival, so there’s a different approach this time around. In Coyote, a corporation taking over nearly every aspect of life, cheerfully acknowledging that the law they helped write into existence is on their side, complete with a system rife with corruption and complicity on every level, is no reason for a legal procedural to not have a happy ending, even if it varies on what that entails.
Needless to say, the stakes are higher than one verdict, which is why the big climactic moment doesn’t end in a courtroom, but with elected officials hearing representatives from ACME and the designated underdog. Said underdog is Will Forte, giving it his all as Will Avery, a billboard lawyer who’s about to be shaken out of his easy complacency, with John Cena having a different kind of fun as Buddy Crane, the corporate mouthpiece who’s as slick as the name implies.
As the two circle and dig into secrets ACME has struggled to conceal, the emotional heart of the film (and much of the character development) is generally what you’d expect, the one who kicks things off in the first place: Wile E. Coyote, who has seen every one of his plans blow up in his face thanks to ACME’s brand of gadgetry. It’s hardly a shock that Will would come to see himself in Wile; it’d be difficult to not relate to a character whose whole thing is obsessively pursuing a goal that will not come to fruition.
The real shock is that the comedy gags are sheer perfection. This style of animation and well laid plans going hilariously awry has remained so integral to the culture that any creative on-screen mishap that matches it is dubbed Looney Tunes-esque in its honor. So it’s no small feat that Wile remains silently, laughably intense, with the kind of personality that he pulls stunts that not only include ridiculously complicated wake up calls, but lurking in a corner reading books entitled “How to Wait Around Dramatically.”
With so many references, both to film and the cartoon franchise itself, it does mean that the humans, such as Kevin’s idealistic niece Paige (Lana Condor), get sidelined or even downright predictable, not to mention Martha Kelly’s deadpan brand of comedy remaining far too minimal, but part of the reason Coyote vs. Acme made it to viewers is likely because it’s not about women. Justice for Batgirl aside, there’s simply so much creativity exploding, rolling, or soaring through every frame in Coyote that those humans, full of personal history that don’t include rocket skates or even a measly stick of dynamite, can only seem duller by comparison.
So see Coyote vs. Acme in theaters. It’s one of the lucky few to have made it out, and it’s worth seeing on the biggest screen available.
Grade: B+