MOVIE REVIEW

Looney Tunes: Back in Action  (2003)

Starring: Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Steve Martin
Director: Joe Dante

Rating: PG

Studio: Warner Bros.

Release Date: 11.14.03

Review Posted: 11.14.03

Spoilers: None

By Sara M. Fetters

Lovable Toons "Back in Action" for a Raucous Ride

After the particularly humor-impaired Vice President of Comedy Kate Houghton (Jenna Elfman) releases Warner Bros. player Daffy Duck (Himself) from the rest of his contract, perennial sidekick Daffy suddenly finds himself without a hero to tag along with. This leads him to wannabe stuntman and lot security guard DJ Drake (Brendan Fraser), a man charged with throwing the funny foul out on his tail-feathers and off the lot, the wacky ‘toon latching onto the exasperated flatfoot with loopy abandon.

But things take a dastardly turn for the duo when DJ discovers his movie star father Damian (Timothy Dalton), known for his series of suave super spy movies, is actually a real spy for a top secret government agency. In fact, dad is in dire straits, being held by the evil Mr. Chairman (Steve Martin) of the ACME Corporation. It appears the pernicious madman is trying to find the whereabouts of the mysterious Blue Monkey, a diamond with the power to turn humans into monkeys and than back again, Mr. Chairman out to turn the human race into a bunch of thick-furred simian slaves for his sinister shenanigans. It is up to DJ and Duck to find the Blue Monkey and save the former’s father before the latter’s knack for physical catastrophe gets them into even more trouble.

Meanwhile, back on the lot, studio star player Bugs Bunny (Himself) is proven more than right that Daffy’s dismissal was a dismal disaster when recent dailies without the dynamo duck prove to be dreadful. With her job on the line, Kate heads to Vegas in search of DJ and Daffy with hopes of trying to lure him back to the studio and Bugs’ side. With Bunny tagging alone for cynical support, the duo soon find their targets and end up joining the quest for the Blue Monkey, all the while ACME agents like Yosemite Sam (Himself) and Wile E. Coyote (Himself) are hot on their trail.

How worried was I that “Looney Tunes: Back in Action” was going to prove to be a frustratingly putrid way to spend a Saturday afternoon? After the awful “Space Jam” almost buried Warner Bros.’ Classic cartoon characters for good, I was hard pressed to believe that this profit-driven corporate monstrosity had the nerve to make this Bugs and Daffy adventure anywhere near worthwhile. Even with “Gremlins” genius Joe Dante behind the camera and “Simpsons” writer Larry Doyle holding the pen, I figured there was no way either of them could come close to the maniacal genius of this cartoon series in its heyday. Thankfully, I was wrong, “Back in Action” proving to be one of 2003’s most hilariously pleasant big screen surprises.

What Doyle and Dante get so blissfully right is the devil-may-care rebellion inherent in so many classic “Looney Tunes” adventures. You really feel like anything and everything can happen as you watch “Back in Action,” the action going on in the periphery every bit as manic and amusing as the action going on center stage. In fact, this stoic irreverence is never clearer than in one early tracking shot through the Warner Bros. commissary. While the scene obviously is meant to focus on interplay between Kate and Bugs, it is the sight of Coyote pulling a sheep from his lunchbox, the Warner frog doing a song and dance or Shaggy and Scooby berating an obviously exasperated Matthew Lillard, that standout.

What should have been clear from the get-go is what an inspired choice Dante is as director for this enterprise. The director’s best films; the full-out comedic assault of “Gremlins 2: The New Batch,” the sly b-grade satire of “Piranha,” the winsome nostalgia of “Matinee,” the slick on-its-ear terror of “The Hollowing;” owe so much of their own spirit to the irreverent zaniness of the “Looney Tunes.” It is as if his entire career has been built up in order to bring the unmitigated brilliance of Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng to the big screen, and he’s more than up to the task.

That said, I did not like Martin’s portrayal of the ACME Chairman at all. He’s all wrong, and whereas Fraser, Elfman, Dalton and Joan Cusack – in a luminescent cameo that had me rolling – play their scenes with a quasi-seriousness that belies the animated antics going on around them, Martin acts as if he’s in a particularly awful “Saturday Night Live” skit. He tries to show up the proceedings, attempting to be an animated human presence in a film that already has enough cartoon elements drawn into it. He’s a bad fit, and as such, is never as funny a foil as he really should be.

No matter, Dante and Doyle supply the film with so many “Looney” legends that there is more than enough going on to distract from Martin. Whats more, they and their creative team get each and every character completely spot-on. From Marvin the Martian to Foghorn Leghorn to Porky Pig and Speedy Gonzales (the latter two in a priceless knock at political correctness), all the legends are here, and each and every one of them is given an opportunity to shine just as they have over the past seven-plus decades.

It helps that Dante called upon “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and “Jurassic Park” cinematographer Dean Cundey to help bring this tale to life. The veteran cameraman knows how to mix the animated and real worlds bar none, and the loopy universe of “Back in Action” is no exception. Even better, he imbues the whole picture with a surreal two-dimensionality that echoes the timeworn style of the characters, giving human and cartoon a level playing field that is truly extraordinary.

All of this culminates towards the middle of the picture during the quartets brief foray to France and the Louvre Museum. Bugs and Daffy are being chased – aren’t they always? – by a driven Elmer Fudd, and to escape they start popping in and out of the myriad of painting that dot the museum’s walls. The animation suddenly takes on the sheen of whichever painting they plop into, while Jerry Goldsmith mixes his score with bits of classical bits and pieces that match the time of every canvas they drop in on. This could be one of the most brilliant pieces of cinema put together this year, achieving the same dreamlike beatify that followed almost every piece of “Finding Nemo.”

And while “Back in Action” doesn’t quite achieve the sublime majesty of that film, let alone live action/animated classics like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” or “Mary Poppins,” it is still one heck of a whack-a-doosically entertaining ride. This movie is a raucously pleasurable hit; the classic “Looney Tunes” characters once again the biggest carrot of the bunch.

Rating: êêê  (out of 4)

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