Review of Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) by Ben G — 23 Dec 2009

Though it doesn't happen often, I think watching movies years after the promotional campaign/reviews is the ideal way to watch movies. Everything about the movie is brand new to you, and you go into it with 0 expectations. That happened most recently with Looney Tunes: Back In Action, one of the most pleasant and joyful movie viewings i've had in a while.

The first non-Disney movie I saw in theaters as a child was Space Jam. I was looking forward to it entirely as a Looney Tunes movie, and I really couldn't care about the Michael Jordan/basketball angle. I ended up enjoying it (I was 6, of course I did), and it remains to be a really nostalgic movie for me.

With that said, I think the 6-year old me would have definitely preferred Back In Action, as it was what I originally wanted. It's a 90 minute live action Looney Tunes cartoon, directed by the person who did the best ever live action Looney Tunes cartoon with Gremlins 2: Joe Dante. He was the perfect choice to direct the first, true Looney Tunes movie, and it's every bit a Joe Dante movie as it is a Looney Tunes one. There are numerous easter eggs featuring little known characters from classic WB cartoons, and nearly every LT joke from the history of the franchise is featured with a new twist.

Nearly every major Looney Tunes character gets their time to shine during the runtime, and no one really feels shortchanged. Another hat-tip to my childhood is that my favorite Looney Tunes character was always Daffy Duck (Daffy and Foghorn, who is also featured briefly). The whole premise of the movie is that Daffy hasn't gotten the shine that Bugs has, and at the second-half of the movie it turns into a buddy-comedy almost with Daffy and Bugs. It's a very great conceit, as if it is was only Bugs it wouldn't be nearly as good. There's the give-and-take with Bugs and Daffy that is unbeatable, and was showcased in the classic Rabbit Season short (which is featured at the beginning of the movie).

The actual actors in the movie are fine. Brendan Fraiser always does his best work when he's doing cartoony stuff, so his role is perfectly cast. Jenna Elfman, who i've never been a huge fan of, does solid work and is entertaining. The highlight of the human cast, though, is the great Steve Martin as the head of Acme, the main villain. Martin knows exactly what the tone is (live-action cartoon), and plays the character to the hilt as only he could do. A movie that features two of my all-time favorite things, Looney Tunes and Steve Martin, really, how could it lose?

I'm quite flabbergasted by the negative word this movie has received, as if I saw it as a 6 year old instead of Space Jam it would probably be my all-time favorite film. Now, at 20, it's still a very entertaining, never a dull moment, hysterical comedy/action movie that I think every fan of the Looney Tunes franchise needs to check out. Nice work, Joe Dante.