Looney Tunes
From AwardAnnals
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| Director(s) | Joe Dante |
|---|---|
| Subtitle | Back in Action |
| Distributor | Warner Home Video |
| Honors | |
| At the peak of Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck lead Elmer Fudd on a wild pursuit through famous paintings hanging in the Louvre, their animated selves absorbing the painting styles of Salvador Dali, Georges Seurat, Toulouse Lautrec, and others. That sequence manages to recapture the anarchic spirit of Warner Bros.’ classic cartoons; unfortunately, not much else in this labored movie does. Technically, the merging of live actors and cartoon characters is impressive, as Brendan Fraser and Jenna Elfman team up with Bugs and Daffy to… | |
Honors
Reviews
Amazon.com
At the peak of Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck lead Elmer Fudd on a wild pursuit through famous paintings hanging in the Louvre, their animated selves absorbing the painting styles of Salvador Dali, Georges Seurat, Toulouse Lautrec, and others. That sequence manages to recapture the anarchic spirit of Warner Bros.’ classic cartoons; unfortunately, not much else in this labored movie does. Technically, the merging of live actors and cartoon characters is impressive, as Brendan Fraser and Jenna Elfman team up with Bugs and Daffy to save the world by keeping a magical diamond out of the hands of the evil Acme Corporation, headed by a nerdy, prancing Steve Martin. Just about every Warner Bros. character makes an appearance, as do Timothy Dalton, Heather Locklear, and the ever-dependable comic delight of Joan Cusack (In and Out, School of Rock). —Bret Fetzer
Barnes and Noble
The anarchic spirit of “Termite Terrace”—birthplace to the holy ‘toon trinity of Porky, Daffy, and Bugs—is strong within director Joe Dante. The Gremlins maestro unleashes his inner Tex Avery and Chuck Jones with this madcap comedy that adds luster to the Warner Bros. stable of wildly unstable characters. The story has something to do with a frantic cross-country odyssey to retrieve Daffy, who has been unjustly fired by a clueless Warner Bros. exec (Jenna Elfman). Accompanying her is DJ Drake (Brendan Fraser), a studio security guard who has also been unceremoniously bounced. Bugs is also along for the ride to supply a steady stream of wisecracks and wreak the usual animated mayhem. There is also some nonsense about Drake’s movie star dad (Timothy Dalton) being an actual secret agent, and the sinister head of the dreaded Acme Corporation (Steve Martin) plotting to make a monkey of everyone, literally. But never mind: All that matters is the breakneck barrage of non sequiturs, movie references, gratuitous product placements, cameos (Heather Locklear, Joan Cusack), and in-joke appearances by colleagues from Dante’s B-movie days (Mary Woronov, Dick Miller, Roger Corman). Back in Action slam-dunks Space Jam on every level, most impressively in the seamless integration of live-action, animation, and clever writing. The sequence in which Elmer chases Bugs and Daffy through a succession of masterpieces in the Louvre is suitable for framing in its own right. And whoever came up with the idea of making Yosemite Sam a Las Vegas saloon owner is not being paid enough. Looney Tunes may have been a box-office disappointment, but expect this unjustly neglected gem to see plenty of action on home video. Donald Liebenson
