My Movie Review on Looney Tunes: Back in Action · 2:30pm Apr 21st, 2020
What's up, Docs?
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Looney Tunes: Back in Action".
Here's the summary of it:
Having grown tired of playing second fiddle to Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck is unceremoniously fired from Warner Bros. following disagreements over a script. At the same time, a security guard and stuntman named DJ Drake is also fired because of an accident beyond his control.
When the two of them run into each other, they soon find themselves in a spy caper to retrieve a mystical artifact called the Blue Monkey and rescue DJ's dad, Damian Drake, unwittingly accompanied by Bugs Bunny and Warner Bros's Vice-President of comedy, Kate Houghton. Together, the quartet must find the Blue Monkey and keep it from falling into the hands of Mr. Chairman, the President of ACME Corporation.
Will the heroes succeed? Or will they fail?
After recently watching the terribly painful "Space Jam", I knew that I absolutely wanted to review this movie next. This movie is one I watched on more than one occasion before, so I was much more personally acquainted with it than "Space Jam".
I really must say that, even today, this film was one that I found to be a non-stop enjoyable experience!
For instance, the direction by Joe Dante, the screenplay by Larry Doyle, and the story by Doyle, Glenn Ficarra, and John Requa (the latter two being uncredited) were entertaining.
Among the things I enjoyed about this movie was that it was much more true to the spirit of the original cartoons than "Space Jam" was, and it had a great sense of charm and fun that boosted the movie into something worthwhile. Plus, while there were some gags that weren't exactly funny, the overall comedy was much more sharp, laughable, well-worked, and paid great tribute to the style of the classics. It was also amazing how everything managed to tie together as a story despite how gag-driven it was, and there was some surprising heart to accompany it.
The animation by Eric Goldberg was astonishing, if I may add. As I watched the film, I couldn't help but note that the animated characters mixed wonderfully with the live-action world, and they carried a zaniness to them that screamed pure Looney Tunes. If I had to pick what the best animated moment of all would be, I'd pick the moment where Bugs, Daffy, and Elmer were running in and out of the paintings at the Louvre.
The music by Jerry Goldsmith and (uncreditably) John Debney was entertaining as well. The lovable thing about their work in this movie was that they captured a vibe that remarkably matched the old shorts, and at the same time...they helped the film feel as enormous as possible and have a sense of emotion. As the final film to be composed by Goldsmith before his death, I thought that this was a great sendoff for him, and Debney's material matched Goldsmith's so well one could hardly tell the two apart.
In terms of character development, I couldn't exactly pinpoint too much significant growth. But, the developing romance between DJ and Kate was definitely something, and I loved that Bugs and Daffy learned to put aside their rivalry and differences in favor of working together.
Finally, the performances of the cast and characters were extremely appealing.
In terms of the human-visible cast members, I can't deny that Steve Martin stole the show in every scene he was featured in. Every gag revolving around Mr. Chairman was hilarious, and Martin did a wonderful job making the character someone who's not meant to be taken seriously come across as an intimidating threat as the film progressed. Plus, Brendan Fraser fit the role of DJ Drake like a glove, and the character himself was a protagonist that was both funny and lovable.
The vocal performances were fun to listen to, if I may add. Unlike in "Space Jam", the portrayals sounded much more close to the late Mel Blanc's, and the voice actors sounded like they were having a great time. To top it all off, Dante and the filmmakers successfully managed to preserve the personalities that we all know and love the characters by.
In the end, minus a gag or more that wasn't very gut-busting, "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" is a rollercoaster ride that, if put in a boxing match with "Space Jam", can beat the latter in a throw down. It's a Looney Tunes film that actually manages to be a Looney Tunes film, and it gratefully dedicated the late Chuck Jones upon his passing.
So, I rate "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" 4½ out of 5 stars.
I actually started watching this the other day on Netflix.
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What’d you think of it?
A real shame this flopped at the box office.
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Tell me about it.
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Yeah. Critics also said the plot was nonsensical.
Looney Tunes cartoons are, by definition, nonsensical.
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They actually said that? Did they even watch Looney Tunes when they were kids?
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I imagine Roger Ebert didn't. No disrespect meant to the guy, for he was a good critic, but I don't think this film should be reviewed with the mindset that you'd review Birth of a Nation (2016) with.
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Don't listen to critics like you see in Rotten Tomatoes. They have an elitist mindset that they'll like only films with plot-droven elements. Not only that, a lot of them can't be trusted nowadays because they have agendas, both political and ulterior. Because they acclaim a movie that is otherwise awful, but distate a movie that turned out decent.
A good reason to make your own opinions.
This movie is also noted because Daffy here acts like a screwball. But is still jealous of Bugs... and still greedy and ego-blown.
As much as I liked this film I like Space Jam even more.
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Why? “Space Jam” was nothing but a worthless piece of junk.
My only complaint is that Lola Bunny wasn’t in it. Still, I did like how they utilized 2D animation and live-action together in the movie, like Space Jam did.
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Sorry to burst your bubble but I feel Space was a masterpiece and a film I grew fondly grew up with. Plus it has one of my favorite couples: Bugs and Lola Bunny! End. Of. Discussion.
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Alright then.
Your opinion’s your opinion.
In my opinion, I thought it was okay. The animated characters were well developed, the special effects and animations were great, and the humor is laughable (for the most part). But the problem is the plot of the movie is more like a cliched spy movie than a Loony Tunes cartoon, the human characters were dull with the exception of D.J. Drake, played by Brendan Fraser who is a great actor, and the villains were idiots. But, hey, that's just me.
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Definitely better than “Space Jam”, though, right?
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Yeah, definitely better, but I didn't hate Space Jam, I thought it was a cheesy but fun movie.
I remember this movie fondly.
Space Jam is loads better.
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Let me ask you this:
What’s so appealing about the Looney Tunes asking for help from a basketball player just to defeat annoying aliens?
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Because it appeals to sports fans like myself obviously.