movie review

Coyote vs. Acme (released 2026)

Perhaps you can attribute the tone of this post to local circumstances: it's been broiling hot the last few days, and not only have I been ill but I've been in the hospital for a pre-planned procedure, which involved looking inside me and not finding anything - which is not necessarily the best answer, because why then have I been feeling so crappy?

Anyway, this hot afternoon looked like a good time to spend in an air-conditioned movie theater to see the storied Coyote vs. Acme. I enjoyed the old Road Runner cartoons as a kid, and got a kick out of the original lawsuit article in the New Yorker some years ago, so this tickled my interest.

I didn't like it much.

I suppose if what you want is to watch the old cartoon characters get banged up and abused, it might be funny. But one thing I want out of movies is a solid storyline, and this one fell down there.

I had prepared for going to see this movie by rewatching the only other live-action/toon film I knew, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which I'd seen when it came out and not since. It was quickly apparent that the problem with that movie was that the plot and writing came from a cheap downmarket film noir. I quickly lost interest.

Well, the problem with Coyote vs. Acme is that what it's derived from is contemporary action-adventure movies. Imagine a really, really bad Mission Impossible film (none of the actual ones are that bad). Subtract the specifically toon aspect, and that's all you've got. Do not imagine a courtroom drama; despite much of it taking place there, it isn't organized enough to be one. There are about three secret conspiracy plots that explain everything, one of which gets boasted about in court even though it's a secret conspiracy plot.

One of the big plot points of Roger Rabbit, that toons cannot be hurt or killed no matter how much physically abused (the coyote is always recovered again in the next scene, isn't he?) makes something of a cameo appearance in this film.

Besides the lame and overly fussy plot, the acting isn't much good either.

It got me out of the house and into an air conditioned room for a couple hours, for which I'm grateful, but I spent much of that time wishing I were reading something instead.