‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Review – A Superbly Looney Comedy Worth Saving

Every animation fan has spent some amount of time wishing for another Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Robert Zemeckis’ 1988 masterpiece remains the gold standard for live-action and animation hybrids; a seemingly impossible balancing act of technical wizardry, timeless comedy, and genuine cinematic magic. Plenty of films have tried to capture that same lightning in a bottle, with varying degrees of success. The Looney Tunes themselves have taken a few swings at it, from Space Jam (1996) and its 2021 sequel to Joe Dante’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). Now, after an unexpectedly rocky journey to the big screen, Coyote vs. Acme (2026) gets its chance.

It is extremely fitting that a movie about perseverance and refusing to give up against all odds should itself have required so much persistence to finally reach audiences. Just like last year’s The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, which was also rescued from the corporate graveyard by Ketchup Entertainment and given the theatrical release it deserved, Coyote vs. Acme has survived a remarkable journey. Thankfully, it proves to be yet another Looney Tunes project that was well worth saving. Both films went from almost being tax write-offs for Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav to their own righteous, metatextual underdog stories.

Wile E. Coyote Takes Acme to Court

Directed by Dave Green, whose previous work on Earth to Echo (2014) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) demonstrated an aptitude for convincingly combining live-action filmmaking with digital characters and effects, Coyote vs. Acme boasts a highly inspired premise. After decades of having Acme products spectacularly fail him in a variety of explosive ways, Wile E. Coyote finally decides to take the Acme Corporation to court.

Coyote vs. Acme wastes no time establishing that something much bigger is going on at Acme. An opening sequence involving the mysterious cartoon scientist Dr. Lorre, Tweety Bird (Eric Bauza), and an assortment of increasingly ridiculous Acme products suggests that this company may be considerably more sinister than its long history of selling defective gadgets to one very persistent coyote. From there, viewers catch up with Wile E. doing what Wile E. does best: attempting to catch the Road Runner. Familiar Acme products like rocket skates and glue traps fail spectacularly, as always, and eventually the Coyote has had enough. After all these years, he’s built a pretty compelling case with a mountain of evidence to back it up.

The Little Guy vs. The Megacorporation

Enter Kevin Avery (Will Forte): a pathetic, down-on-his-luck injury attorney for toons who accepts the Coyote’s case largely because he desperately needs the work. His enthusiastic niece Paige (Lana Condor) sees the potential in Wile E.’s claims immediately, especially since their tiny law firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico is on the brink of shutting down. If they can prove that Acme has been knowingly selling defective products to Wile E. for years, they could possibly reach the attention of the Supreme Court and give a voice to other toons who have been wronged by the corporation.

This setup turns into a classic little-guy-versus-The-Man courtroom story, only the little guy in this case happens to be a murderous, mute cartoon coyote. Acme reluctantly takes Wile E. and Kevin to court, represented by Buddy Crane (John Cena), an absurdly confident lawyer who apparently has never lost a case, and his fellow rep Bill Pellicano (P.J. Byrne). Cena is particularly great here. He has become increasingly adept at playing characters who take ridiculous situations completely seriously, and Buddy is another perfect example. Veteran actor Luis Guzmán also makes for an inspired choice as the judge, while Foghorn Leghorn (Eric Bauza) serving as Acme’s slick corporate spokesperson is exactly the sort of wonderfully silly idea that this movie needs.

Rendering Toons in the Real World

The biggest potential stumbling block with Coyote vs. Acme is also the most obvious one: these characters are rendered in 3D computer animation designed to resemble their traditional 2D appearances. It is the same basic approach fans have seen in projects such as Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022) and Tom & Jerry (2021). While it will never quite possess the tactile magic of hand-drawn animation, the execution in Coyote vs. Acme is about as good as this technique gets.

More importantly, the characters still feel like themselves. Wile E. Coyote remains an endlessly determined, slightly devilish disaster. He gets smashed, burned, launched, flattened, blown up, and otherwise subjected to an astonishing amount of physical punishment, yet there is something incredibly endearing about him — maybe because of the pain itself. Keeping him mute is an inspired decision because his inability to speak never prevents him from communicating exactly what he is thinking and feeling (mostly via handwritten signs).

A Surprisingly Sweet Looney Tunes Adventure

Wile E. Coyote forms an unexpected emotional connection with Kevin. Their relationship gradually becomes the heart of the movie. Kevin is a disillusioned, self-deprecating man who has essentially stopped believing that he or anyone else can win against all-powerful corporations. Wile E., on the other hand, has spent his entire existence failing at the same goal over and over again. He gets up, tries to catch the Road Runner again, fails, and picks himself up again. This makes the Coyote surprisingly inspiring, which gives a lovely simplicity to the film’s central message: sometimes you fail a million times, but that doesn’t mean you stop trying.

Will Forte (Saturday Night Live) and Lana Condor (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) help carry that idea through thanks to solid performances that become more impressive the more you’re forced to consider how much they are acting against non-physical characters and props. The corporate conspiracy at hand eventually takes a deadly turn, bringing in Bugs Bunny (Eric Bauza) as a sketchy Deep Throat-style informant and Daffy Duck (Bauza, again!) as a victim of Acme’s experiments who has been driven completely insane, even by Daffy standards.

A sequence where Wile E. leads Kevin and Paige through a cartoon tunnel is a highlight, with Brandon Trost‘s cinematography (which may be the secret ingredient that makes this film work overall) doing a fantastic job of making the live-action actors feel as though they are genuinely sharing physical space with characters and environments that aren’t actually there.

Trying and Failing and Trying Again

The technical effects on display are exceptional, but Coyote vs. Acme understands that spectacle is only useful when the characters remain the priority. Director Dave Green and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Sammy Burch (May December) clearly have sincere love for the Looney Tunes and their decades of history, and that affection comes through in practically every frame. Even the film’s broader themes of corporate greed and discrimination against toons feel shockingly appropriate. Acme isn’t simply a company that sells Wile E. faulty merchandise anymore; it represents the larger corporate monopoly machine that assumes someone like Wile E. will never have the power to fight back.

Coyote vs. Acme certainly isn’t going to replace Who Framed Roger Rabbit as the definitive live-action/animation hybrid comedy, though it doesn’t really need to. What it does accomplish is something arguably more important for the Looney Tunes themselves: it understands why this franchise has endured for generations. Every gag, every character beat, every brush of a paint pen, digital or otherwise, is rooted in clear and genuine inspiration.

The Perfect Irony of ‘Coyote vs. Acme’

Wile E. Coyote will probably never catch the Road Runner. Kevin may never be able to permanently defeat megacorporations like Acme. Failure is practically written into both of their DNA. However, there is something beautiful about watching them learn to keep trying anyway.

After everything this movie went through before being saved from the Warner Bros. tax write-off trash heap to finally reach audiences, there is a perfect irony in its message. Sometimes you just have to keep running toward the thing you want, even when every possible Acme product is designed to send you flying off a cliff. Coyote vs. Acme breezes by with its hysterical humor and heartfelt attitude. On paper, it’s a project that is stacked against many odds, but Coyote vs. Acme delivers by bursting with inspired creativity and dedication in every frame.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

‘Coyote vs. Acme’ hits theaters on August 28!

Release Date: August 28, 2026.
Directed by Dave Green.
Screenplay by Samy Burch.
Screen Story by James Gunn, Jeremy Slater, & Samy Burch.
Based on the magazine article “Coyote v. Acme” by Ian Frazier.
Produced by Christopher DeFaria & James Gunn.
Executive Producers: Allison Abbate, Jesse Ehrman, Carsten H.W. Lorenz, & Carlton Lorenz.
Main Cast: Will Forte, Lana Condor, John Cena, Eric Bauza, Tone Bell, P.J. Byrne, Martha Kelly, Luis Guzmánm, Kenneth Choi, Candi Milo, & Jim Cummings.
Cinematographer: Brandon Trost.
Composer: Steven Price.
Editor: Carsten Kurpanek.
Production Companies: Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Animation Group, Troll Court Entertainment, & Keylight Pictures.
Distributor: Ketchup Entertainment.
Runtime: 103 minutes.
Rated PG.