Coyote vs. Acme (A PopEntertainment.com Movie Review)

PopEntertainment
12 minutes ago
5 min read

COYOTE VS. ACME (2026)

Starring Will Forte, Lana Condor, Tone Bell, John Cena, PJ Byrne, Martha Kelly, Luis Guzmán, Nancy Linehan Charles, Aimee McGuire, Doug Montoya, Kelsey Leos Montoya, Travis Siemon, Bennie Taylor, Ernie Vigil, Rachel Hroncich, Steven Ray Byrd and the voices of Eric Bauza, Kenneth Choi, Candi Milo, Zoe Buchansky, Jeff Bergman, Tucker Hawkey and Jim Cummings.

Screenplay by Samy Burch.

Directed by Dave Green.

Distributed by Ketchup Entertainment. 103 minutes. Rated PG.

“The Acme Corporation has been knowingly putting dangerous products in the hands of cartoons for decades.”

Sounds like a case for litigation, wouldn’t cha say? The case of Wile E. Coyote vs. The Acme Corporation seems like a pretty clever idea for a movie.

After all, the coyote (and self-described “super genius”) used a whole array of Acme products – everything from mallets to catapults to rocket skates to anvils to giant rubber bands to magnet gloves – in his pursuit of his prey, the Road Runner. The Acme products always failed spectacularly, leading to great physical and mental pain and suffering of the plaintiff. And his nemesis always disappeared in a puff of dust with a cheery “beep beep.”

Reparations must be made.

That is the high concept which fuels this mix of live action and animated comedy. It’s actually so obvious that I’m shocked no one has come up with a movie or show of it before. It was the subject of a satirical humor essay by Ian Frazier which was published in The New Yorker in 1990, which inspired screenwriter Samy Burch’s conception of the movie – although of course the storyline itself had to be greatly expanded from the original article.

Coyote vs. Acme is also only the second Looney Tunes film which has not been released by Warner Brothers. Like last year’s The Day the Earth Blew Up, this film was originally made a few years back for the Warner Brothers streaming platform Max (now called HBO Max). However, due to a bitter corporate turnover when Warner Brothers merged with the Discovery Channel, the new execs decided rather infamously to scrap several complete films as tax write-offs.

Included among the scrapped projects were these two Merrie Melodies films, as well as a version of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot (which was eventually released on HBO Max for streaming) and the DC-universe film Batgirl (which still has never seen the light of day and probably never will.)

However, because of the bad press and public outrage, eventually WB agreed to allow for bidding on its two finished Looney Tunes projects. Both were snapped up by an American independent film production and distribution company called Ketchup Entertainment, which has been around for over a decade and has distributed dozens of movies – most of which you’ve never heard of. (I only recognized one of their titles as something I’ve seen – and I see a lot of movies.) Still, they spent a whole lot of money to get to release these films, so their rescue mission is both appreciated and will hopefully open up more possibilities.

The counsel in this case is Kevin Avery (Will Forte), an Albuquerque billboard lawyer with the eclectic specialty of cartoon law – specializing in getting small settlements (usually a couple of hundred dollars) for animated characters who are injured due to faulty products. Avery is proudly, willfully afraid to work too hard, taking small settlements and never, ever going to trial. He runs a small practice Avery, Jones & Maltese (named after classic WB animators) in a mini-mall and has no real aspirations beyond making enough to make a living.

This changes somewhat due to two things. First, he gives an internship to his idealistic niece Paige (Lana Condor), who truly feels the need to fully serve the people – or the cartoons – that hire them.

Second is the fact that the firm is hired by Wile E. Coyote – who absolutely refuses to settle easily – using subterfuge and dirty tricks to push his case as far as it could go. However, is he driven by a need for vengeance, or is this just an elaborate ruse to trap the Road Runner in a courtroom?

So, for the first time, small-time lawyer Kevin Avery is forced to go to trial – with the accumulated wealth and power of the Acme Corporation on the other side, and a legal team of course led by his law school nemesis Buddy Crane (John Cena) and Acme’s CEO, who turns out to be Foghorn Leghorn. Who knew?

In fact, classic WB cartoon characters show up throughout Coyote vs. Acme – either in cameo or more substantial roles – such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the cat, The Tasmanian Devil, and of course, The Road Runner.

Coyote vs. Acme is definitely a more adventurous film than The Day the Earth Blew Up, which while very amusing was essentially an hour-and-a-half long extension of a classic WB short. By mixing live action with animation, Coyote is a very different animal, a hybrid of sensibilities that mostly works. Sure, the animated stuff – and how it interacts with the real world – is the best stuff here. Some of the cartoon slapstick humor done with live action characters falls a little flatter – there are only so many times you can see Will Forte flung across long distances without worrying for the fellow.

I’m happy to say that the mix of animation and live-action is pretty seamless. You really believe that these cartoon characters are interacting with the live people, although occasionally you do notice the actors apparently interacting with the space where the animation will be filled in.

This is actually a genuinely difficult skill, to make it look natural speaking with someone who is not there at the time you are filming. All of the actors pull it off well, particularly Forte, whose hangdog insecurity makes the fact that he is supposedly interacting with these extremely hyperactive creatures even more amusing. Condor’s sweet naivete also adds an intriguing wrinkle to the connections.

Of course you can’t have a trial film without some court sequences – actually there are two separate trials here – and they mostly land as a variation of Law and Order: Special Animated Unit. However, honestly, the court scenes – while mostly amusing – are some of the less interesting parts of Coyote vs. Acme. The best parts are simply the cartoons interacting with the everyday lives of humans. It’s a fresh wrinkle on a very old shirt.

Essentially, Coyote vs. Acme is a bit of nostalgic fan service. If you love the Looney Tunes shorts, then you’ll probably enjoy this movie. If you are not a fan, this won’t sell you on it. I am a fan, and even though it is imperfect, I am so glad that Coyote vs. Acme has finally been allowed to see the light of day.

Jay S. Jacobs

https://youtu.be/0yGrVVFNKF4?si=OLTXwUrBmpf3yXVd