Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)

Directed by: Joe Dante | 91 minutes | animation, adventure | Actors: Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Steve Martin, Timothy Dalton, Heather Locklear, Joan Cusack, Bill Goldberg, Don Stanton, Dan Stanton, Dick Miller, Roger Corman, Kevin McCarthy, Jeff Gordon, Matthew Lillard, Mary Woronov, Marc Lawrence, Bill McKinney, George Murdock, Robert Picardo, Ron Perlman, Vernon Wells, Leo Rossi | Original voice cast: Joe Alaskey, Jeff Bennett, Billly West, Eric Goldberg, Bruce Lanoil, June Foray, Bob Bergen, Casey Kasem, Frank Welker, Danny Chambers

Imagine if your favorite cartoon characters were real and you could see them on the street! This childhood fantasy has been creating stunning combinations of real people and animation for decades. From classics like ‘Mary Poppins’ and ‘Pete’s Dragon’ to Disney’s self-parodying ‘Enchanted’ – they remain etched in our memory as beautiful childhood sentiments. ‘Looney Tunes – Back in Action’ also makes a contribution by releasing the Looney Tunes into the real world.

Where in ‘Space Jam’ we visited the world of the Looney Tunes with basketball player Michael Jordan, ‘Looney Tunes – Back in Action’ opts for the ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ approach: the Looney Tunes live in our world, as if the most normal thing in the world. They work as actors in the cartoons we watch on TV. The story is an energetic and fun parody of James Bond and sci-fi movies from the 1950s. Stuntman DJ Drake (Brendan Fraser) teams up with studio assistant Kate Houghton (Jenna Elfman), Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck to battle Mr. . Chairman (Steve Martin), the evil boss of the ACME company (home supplier to Wile E. Coyote). mr. Chairman has kidnapped Drake’s father and actor Damien Drake (Timothy Dalton) – secretly a secret agent – ​​and wants to use the mysterious Blue Monkey diamond to take over the world.

You read it already, the story actually makes no sense at all and is mainly an excuse for a lot of entertaining scenes with Looney Tunes characters. For example, Drake and co enter a casino run by Yosemite Sam and Mr. Chairman Elmer Fudd and Marvin the Martian approach them. The Daleks from ‘Dr. Who’s the review. The energetic and catchy Fraser is the perfect human counterpart to the Tunes, as well as making fun of himself (as Drake turns out to be Fraser’s stand-in in the ‘Mummy’ movies). Dalton is also clearly having a good time in a witty parody of his short career as 007.

What would help the film are stronger villains. mr. In the end, Chairman is more funny than dangerous, and never seems to pose a real threat to the main characters. With Wile E. Coyote, who is also sent after Drake and associates, we already know how it ends. Bugs Bunny’s trademark is of course that he manages to get out of everything, but a more serious threat would have given the story a more satisfying ending. Nevertheless, ‘Back in Action’ is an entertaining ride with fun slapstick for the kids and nostalgic in-jokes for the adults.