Looney Tunes: Back in Action ---- *** (out of 5) (2003)
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Steve Martin, Timothy Dalton, Joe Alaskey
Director(s): Joe Dante
Screenwriter(s): Larry Doyle
Released on: November 14, 2003
Reviewed on: May 25, 2004
Rated: PG - for some mild language, cartoon violence, and innuendo
LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION is a surprising cartoon/live-action affair that will totally catch you offguard with its highly unanticipated funniness and appeal. With the opening scene, a heavy retread of extremely common Looney Tunes cliches, I found myself rolling my eyes in exasperation, preparing to brace myself for about 90 minutes of this kind of sappy, just-for-children kind of shtick. Not long after, my eyes opened wide in surprise as the film began to shine as a comedy with more mature humor blending nicely with the sort that 7-year-olds will expect.
An embarrassingly bad stuntman named D.J. is fired from his job at Warner Brothers and befriends Daffy Duck, who is equally as frustrated at the network's love for Bugs Bunny rather than himself. After the company then decides that Bugs Bunny is a humiliating act without Daffy, they fire the female Vice President that got rid of him. The three unhappy characters become companions that are essential to each other and, soon into the story, D.J. gets a message from his father, Damian Drake, who is a spy searching for a blue diamond that has the power to turn the human race into monkeys. The team journeys to Las Vegas and Africa in a frenzied attempt to find the diamond and rescue D.J.'s father from an eccentric madman.
BACK IN ACTION delivers the goods that you might not think would tickle your funny bone, but they do. The film is littered with references to stereotyped pop culture and to the television show itself. There are also plenty of celebrity cameos and lines that seem to both mock and celebrate the popular, known world of Looney Tunes instead of rehashing what's been done hundreds of times with the franchise over the years.
The film is a combination of an enjoyable children's escapade with the Looney Tunes and what rubs off sometimes as a self-parody. It's goofy, eccentric fun with ceaseless energy and sharp-witted lines that are sometimes hard to catch but will immediately trigger the interest of adults. Brendan Fraser sometimes overdoes his acting as well but bolsters up the exaggerated environment of the Looney Tunes by even mocking himself in one scene. There is also a great villain played by a nearly inrecognizable Steve Martin who acts as a notorious scene-stealer during his moments. He acts hilariously, perfectly using the great lines given to him by writers that are obviously quite smart in their trade. The entire experience of BACK IN ACTION is a quick, breezy 90 minutes that will fly by but will leave you enlightened by its successful attempts at more adult comedy and its tribute to the insane world of the Looney Tunes. Think of it as a more up-to-date and much funnier version of SPACE JAM.
<<<< Back To Contrabandit's Movie Reviews
