Looney Tunes Back In Action (DVD)

“Looney Tunes: Back In Action” doesn’t simply fall down between the twin stools of sloppy clag “Space Jam” and shiny classic “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”. It hurtles into frame, whistling down through the air a la Wile E Coyote and lands with a thud. Nothing else would be suitable for Joe Dante’s Ritalin-deprived, overstimulated kid of a movie. A madcap effort that plasters two-dimensional whackiness onto a live-action frame, it certainly does enough to prove that Dante has Looney ink running through his veins. On the basic plotline he hangs a series of sketches and set-pieces featuring everyone’s favourite gaggle of characters, naturally giving the most screen ...

I really had no idea whether this was going to be good or plain awful. I quite like Brendan Fraser (The Mummy, Blast from the Past) as an actor and his co-star, Jenna Elfman (Dharma and Greg) is someone I often find amusing – though sometimes annoying. With a supporting cast including the talents of Timothy Dalton (who more-or-less reprises his role as James Bond), Steve Martin (in probably his funniest performance since Roxanne), and the incredibly talented, never to be a big star Joan Cusak (Grosse Point Blank) backing them up, things looked hopeful. Oh, and of course there’s Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Yosemite Same, Marvin the Martian, Pepe le Peu, and all ...

The Looney Tunes with always be a major part of animation history, stuff like Roadrunner constantly amuses despite having the same punchline over and over. Bugs Bunny’s adventures with Elmer Fudd always raise a smile. There’s a good fanbase for the characters and yet Looney Tunes-Back In Action was a tremendous flop on release. An supposed outlay of $80 million saw a dismal return of $20 million at the US box office, needless to say you probably won’t be seeing many big screen adventures of Bugs and Co in the near future. Back In Action is by no means a bad film, it’s just one that’s misguided and doesn’t really know what sort of audience it’s trying to cater ...