Loony "Tunes" by Homer Yen (c) 2003
Perhaps your upbringing included a perverse, smart-alecky rabbit that frequently asked, "What's up, Doc?" And perhaps your upbringing also included an unpredictable duck whose behavior could only be described as daffy. You can return back to those innocent childhood years of yours through "Looney Tunes: Back in Action," which shows that our love for Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck never fades.
Yet seeing our favorite Looney Tunes characters again is, unfortunately, the only element that might entice adults to watch the film. Of course, kids will manage to sit through the movie and grin at its goofiness. But the older crowd will want dialogue that's a bit more engaging and a structure that's more cohesive than this. The movie has a noticeably haphazard start. It's a clunky opening that seems to fling the main characters together. It's like those cartoons where a painter splashes a canvas indiscriminately with lots of paint.
In fact, it's aggravatingly patchwork during the first 30 minutes as live characters stare unconvincingly at their animated counterparts. The introduction of the various main characters felt uneven. And oddly, the animated characters seemed more like background noise when their presence should be in the forefront. Thankfully, it gets better as the film progresses.
The movie is a low-key combination of a Tomb Raider adventure and Austin Powers silliness. Former Bond star Timothy Dalton plays superspy Damian Blake. When he's captured by the scatterbrained but power-hungry Mr. Chairman (a very likeable Steve Martin), he gets word out to his weak-minded son, DJ (Brandon Fraser, who shows how nimble he is by finding ways to add dignity to otherwise corny roles). DJ currently works as a security guard on the Warner Brothers studio lot. As such, we happily run into more cartoon characters from our childhood. DJ's quest eventually attracts three more people to join him. Daffy is always up for a good adventure. Bugs seems to go along because, well, because he's Bugs and this is his movie. The final member is Kate (Jenna Elfman). Her character is not really necessary, except to perhaps have her feminine charms inspire the otherwise milksop security guard.
Everything is okay, but for the most part, the film never seems to find its comedic inspiration. Yet, there are some great ideas that do emerge. You'll enjoy ACME Corporation's cadre of evil henchman, including the likes of real bad-guy-celebrities (like wrestling star Goldberg) as well as animated ones (Wile E. Coyote, Yosemite Sam, Elmer Fudd, etc...). And there is a noteworthy segment featuring a chase through the Louvre museum as the characters jump in and out of famous paintings while taking on the characteristics of that particular art style. This is the kind of clowning around that endeared us to Bugs and Daffy. But there just isn't enough to keep us completely interested.
It would be unfair to say that this is a bad film. However, it would be fair to say that this isn't nearly as groundbreaking or as enjoyable as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" which was a film that superbly meshed live action, animation, and story. "Looney Tunes" provides a few good laughs. But the original cartoon shorts seemed funnier. Sometimes, things are better in 5-minute spurts rather than 90-minute presentations. And if you do manage to catch the sequence featuring the chase in the Louvre, you'll wonder what happened to the rest of the film.
Grade: C+
S: 0 out of 3 L: 0 out of 3 V: 1 out of 3
========== X-RAMR-ID: 36387 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1222140 X-RT-TitleID: 1127345 X-RT-AuthorID: 1370 X-RT-RatingText: C+
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