‘Coyote vs. Acme’ review: A wacky working class hero

Coyote vs. Acme is a triumphant mix of Looney Tunes shenanigans and an anti-capitalist creed from writer Sammy Burch and director Dave Green.

At this rate, the history and drama surrounding the making, tanking, and second life of Coyote vs. Acme is enough to make its own film. And, in many ways, this Looney Tunes spin was already loaded with so much meta, anti-capitalist glee that it almost feels as if it were predicting its own future. Luckily, it’s not just the headlines and David Zaslav’s greed (Warner Bros. originally shelved the film in 2023 for tax write-offs before reopening it for distribution) that make the film, directed by Dave Green, a winsome experience. With fine-tuned comedy, practical effects, and a genuinely thoughtful story that bridges the worlds of humans and cartoons with a Who Framed Roger Rabbit-level ease, Coyote vs. Acme is an absolute delight.

Written by Sammy Burch (May December), the film is based on the 1990 New Yorker article, “Coyote v. Acme” by Ian Frazier. Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, created by Chuck Jones and writer Michael Maltese, first premiered in 1949, in the theatrical short film, Fast and Furry-ous. Many of us grew up on the Looney Tunes, be it in the old cartoons and multiple series, or old, overtaxed VHS copies of Space Jam. Even if you’ve never watched a single episode of The Bugs Bunny Show, these are characters who, through cultural osmosis, we all know.

So well known that it’s easy to believe there are no more original stories to tell. The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie signaled a studio titan with no interest in preserving its own nearly century-long legacy. Coyote vs. Acme shows that there are fresh approaches to familiar characters and those icons can be championed with necessary consideration.

And it all surrounds an animated coyote.

In an era that doesn’t prioritize physical media and entire catalogs of series are being deleted from the internet, it’s hard not to cheer for a story like this that, with such vivacious enthusiasm, champions the idea of failing and effort. That even though failure is possible (likely, even), it doesn’t make the effort to make something, do something, any less.

The story begins with an iconic chase through the Southwest American desert. Wile E. Coyote is in pursuit of the Road Runner when his latest purchase from Acme Corporation, a pair of jet-fueled roller skates, runs afoul. Beaten up and worse for wear yet again, having only briefly gotten a finger on the Road Runner, he’s at his limits.

Enter Kevin Avery (Will Forte), an attorney who appears in commercials and billboards in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Coyote ventures to Kevin’s office with his case, an impossibly vast assortment of evidence to use in a lawsuit against Acme Corporation.

A deep dive into  corporate greed. But with slapstick.

Reluctantly, Kevin takes the case. Though it takes some manipulations and scheming on Coyote’s end to make it work. Aided by his niece, the plucky and almost too sincere for this movie Paige (Lana Condor), they work to win the case against Acme as bigger, darker plots from behind the company’s curtains begin to unveil themselves. Acme is corrupt, and it’s only a matter of time before unsuspecting cartoons are caught up in its web.

Coyote vs. Acme is a movie on a mission to have fun while going full scorched earth in its pursuit to, with a wink and a Meep Meep take aim at capitalist greed. The cartoonish nature of the story, both with the literal cartoon characters and the exaggerated plot developments, help find the stories sharpest edges. The world is corrupt and big studios like Acme (or Amazon Warner Bros., etc.) are only out there to turn a profit, happy to use and abuse anyone or anything they see as a means to making money.

That the film is able to maintain this message while committing to the Looney Tunes style of gag comedy and pratfalls is a testament to Burch’s writing. There’s a delicate balance in exploring the darker corners of this world while keeping up the livewire energy of the titular character. This isn’t “dark” Looney Tunes, that’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Sammy Burch is the film’s not-so-secret weapon with razor sharp writing.

Instead, it’s a reminder of the potency of the classic family film and exemplifies the longevity of the Looney Tunes. The comedy so often follows a very specific rule book: Coyote’s pursuit of the Road Runner ends in slapstick violence and humiliation, Bugs Bunny manages to outsmart Elmer Fudd, smacks, explosions, and so on. Coyote vs. Acme brings inventiveness to those familiar beats, the way in which the writing pulls the rug out and just how disaster befalls Coyote that makes for such timeless fun.

The practicality too helps, with more tangible effects and the computer animation used for Coyote’s design and the rest of the Tunes. It helps harken back to classic filmmaking style while still beckoning the characters in to the new era. And it helps in marrying the live action world with the animated. Coyote particularly benefits from this choice.

One of the longest held truths about the Coyote and Road Runner saga is how much a viewer ends up feeling bad for Coyote. Sure, he’s maniacal and hellbent on capturing the Road Runner (often with the visuals that show his intent to eat the creature) but the many, many, many losses he suffers is made sympathetic due to the animation of the character. The droopy ears and fourth wall breaking gaze always plucked at the more sensitive viewers who though hey, maybe this guy deserves a win too.

Coyote vs. Acme embraces the need to fail.

More so, the animation of the character in Coyote vs. Acme abuses this fact. This is the most lovable the character has ever been, even when he shifts into his more devilish persona, scheming up ways to capture the Road Runner even when trying to pretend otherwise. Plus he makes for a fantastic foil against Forte’s Kevin, whose sad sack nature works at odds with Coyote’s. Kevin fears failure so never tries to win anything that seems out of reach, settling for small-claim victories. Coyote fails every single day and still is happy to strap himself to a rocket and ricochet through the air, destined for a big kaboom finish, in his efforts to one day, maybe, win.

There’s a reason the film nods so often to Sisyphus. Because the story, through all it’s silliness, puns, and play on words (joke per minute style stuff), finds meaning in the profound journey of embracing exhaustive repetition. Of finding meaning in efforts without payoff. In the mundanity of life, really, if you’re to look too hard and long at it.

In other hands the story might’ve leaned too heavily on the messaging but Burch anchors it in a real sense of heart, helped by Forte’s committed performance. We care about the two as they face down the larger than life villains, lead by John Cena‘s tone appropriate bluster. And we care because the animation is so thoughtful, so wonderfully expressive, that even with no spoken dialogue we understand Coyote’s motives and small, but significant, changes of heart.

The bottom line.

With some gorgeous practical designs and showstopper moments (a train tunnel sequence stuns in the marriage of mediums), Coyote vs. Acme is worth the theatrical experience. Based on a story that gave new life to the 2D character, the story finds sharp edges without losing its heart. Yes, this is a story about a corrupt company that abuses its power. But it’s also about the strength of failure and the strength in trying even when it seems inevitable. Bursting at the seams with family fun goodness and a wickedly mischievous heart, Coyote vs. Acme fought through failure to make it to the big screen. And we’re lucky it did.

Coyote vs. Acme premieres August 28, 2026. Watch the trailer below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-43VeYGiPM 

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Images courtesy of Ketchup Entertainment.