Coyote vs. Acme

Grade: B-

Coyote vs. Acme began development in 2018, was filmed in the spring of 2022, and then Warner Bros. (the original distributor) shelved the movie in order to obtain a tax write-off. After later reversing its decision and putting the movie up for purchase by another distributor, Ketchup Entertainment picked it up in March 2025, which is the reason we can see it now. It begins with a “based on a true story” title card. That’s obviously not true, but in a way, there’s something to that. The movie is about an underdog who takes on an all-powerful corporation.

Said underdog is none other than Wile E. Coyote. For decades, he has been on the painful receiving end of faulty products from the Acme Company in his unsuccessful attempts to catch the Road Runner. One night, in his home, after another hard day’s work, a commercial plays on the TV, advertising a personal injury law firm. Not just any injury. The examples listed in the commercial are surprisingly specific, and exactly what Mr. Coyote has been through.

Off he travels to Albuquerque to find the law firm of Avery, Jones, and Maltese (an homage to original Looney Tunes animators Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, and Michael Maltese), and sue Acme. The film is a combination of live action and cartoon, à la Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Starring in the Bob Hoskins role is Will Forte as lawyer Kevin Avery. His “chemistry” with Wile E. Coyote is admirable and convincing, especially considering they weren’t really scene partners, and Coyote doesn’t talk. The screenplay finds inventive ways to handle his muteness. “You communicate by holding signs?” Kevin asks. Mr. Coyote holds up a sign that says, “It’s a limited number of signs.”

Along with Forte, rounding out the main cast of humans is the delightful Lana Condor as Paige (Kevin’s niece, who is interning under him), and John Cena as the lawyer representing Acme. He has a great moment when he interrogates Tweety Bird. (“You just tawt you taw something, or did you actually tee it?”) It’s nice to see Luiz Guzmán again, as a self-proclaimed no-nonsense judge who ends up allowing a lot. Voiceover veteran Eric Bauza (who is also opening Buddy this weekend) provides the voices of all the Looney Tunes characters.

The plot is busy, and does more than it should. There’s the courtroom stuff, and a legal subplot comes out of that. It might bore or go over the heads of children viewers. Some of it even lost me. All in all, though, Coyote vs. Acme is cute enough as a trip back into the world where if you fall from a cliff or are in an explosion, it just makes you dirty and messes up your hair. Warner Bros. was ready to say “That’s all, folks,” but I’m glad Ketchup Entertainment rescued it from limbo.

Grade: B-