Looney Tunes Back In Action

 This movie is still a gem to me, I saw it in theaters when it first came out, and usually watch it with friends or on my own, once to twice a year. With the upcoming release of The Day The Earth Blew Up and seeing the Looney Tunes take to the big screen once again in one of my most anticipated movies of this year, I thought I would look at my favorite film to feature them. A film with great comedy, as well as some solid commentary included, right under Who Framed Roger Rabbit as my favorite cartoon, live action combined film. Even though nostalgia and love for Space Jam is strong, and I have a soft spot for that and the sequel, this film to me, isn't so cheesy or bad its good, it's just plain good. 

The quest for Bugs and the love interest get Daffy back as he and a stunt actor played by Brenden Frasier as they embark on a spy mission trying to stop Acme from taking over, while getting tons of amazing Looney Tunes and Hannah Barbara cameos both in scenes and the background works so well. The movie is packed with comedic easter eggs while still having plenty of amazing jokes both verbal and visual.

The story works for what it is, and has plenty of great moments, usually just being a window for the Looney Tunes to be wacky. The moments they focus on the human characters are few, but can be pace breakers, but are so minimal that much like Sonic, I don't mind them. This movie has flaws, and not all the jokes land, but so many of them do. The animation still looks super good, for its time and for today, I actually watched this and Who Framed Roger Rabbit in a double feature with a friend one day and It worked incredibly well. 

Even with the previous gripe stated, and it is mostly aimed at the romance, the human characters also get plenty of laughs, from the leads, to the villains. There are moments where the main villain played by Steve Martian not only has to interact with but act like a cartoon character, and he brings the right energy to do so. A cartoony spy movie, that also has tons of solid slapstick moments, but tons of quotable lines that I still bring out when I can around my friends. One in particular involving Bugs after a cartoon gone array, or a Daffy line considering financial stocks that are just perfect in both delivery and to help the joke itself hit a bullseye. 

There are a couple action sequences that blend the comedy perfectly into them, making them all the more entertaining. From car chases, to space battles. The moment leading up to that with Daffy having jet pack troubles due to announcing his name, and every time he says it, they explode is just perfect. Another instance of, something still making me laugh no matter how many times I see it. I also love how this movie has Bugs and Daffy at the center stage, doing what they do best. Bickering, having one liners, but also being great friends, and it doesn't spend a time keeping them apart either, knowing the strength these times cartoons have on their own, but all the more when they share the space on the screen. 

This movie is proof that you can put the Looney Tunes in a live action setting and still be funny, and keep what makes them great in the film. 

I saw this on the big screen back then and rewatch this movie with friends or on my own a couple times a year. There are moments that just work, a couple jokes may fall flat, but the animation and humor are overall good. Even though I know a ton of the jokes are coming up, plenty of them still give me a chuckle. The Elmer Fudd chase scene with Bugs and Daffy that changes the style of animation to match the painting they enter is genius. Same with the scene where Bugs is getting lunch with the leading lady, and we get classic animated Shaggy debating Matthew Lillard on the James Gunn Scooby films, while Ralph Wolf gets pummeled in the background by Sam Sheepdog, it will never cease to get a laugh out of me. Moments that are funny and also creative, is why I love this movie so much. Whether a cameo like Tweety or The Road Runner get five minutes or ten seconds, they always work and are memorable, there are even pop culture cameos that are pretty funny too. 

I have watched this film dozens of times, and I will plenty more, I definitely like it more then both Space Jam movies, and even then I enjoy aspects of both of those movies ironically. This film on the other hand, directed by Joe Dante who did Gremlins among many other films, is just good. This film is just a really fun, and funny movie. Since I was too young to see the classic Looney Tunes films or even the first Space Jam movies in theaters, this one was my first and is therefore also very special to me. I would love to see more come as these characters are timeless. I may have to look at more live action cartoon hybrid movies, and cartoon adaptations, perhaps even finding some new ones to enjoy, but this one will always be right alongside Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and the recent Sonic movies of blending live action and animation to make something I can watch again and again.