Coyote vs. ACME

The "lost film" is a winning comedy with meta commentary to boot

Despite the United States being the center of capitalism, in recent years as income inequality has reached exorbitant levels, popular opinion is turning increasingly against big corporations. According to a recent Gallup poll, more than 2 in 3 Americans have a negative view of big corporations. Hollywood is sadly going down the consolidation route as Paramount looks set to swallow Warner Bros. Even a few years before, as Warner Bros. had merged with Discovery in 2022, a cynical bottom line view was taken by their new CEO David Zaslav. Given a grace period to categorize certain projects as tax write-offs, many completed films were shelved indefinitely, never to see the light of day. Amongst them was a Batgirl film, a Scooby-Doo sequel, and the Looney Tunes comedy Coyote vs. Acme (2026). Yet this last film was allowed to be sold to an independent producer, Ketchup Entertainment, who have released this “lost film” now.

Coyote vs. Acme is an adaptation from a 1990 New Yorker article that imagined the classic Looney Tunes character Wile E. Coyote suing the company ACME, for all the faulty products he buys from them to try and catch the Road Runner. In the film, Wile E. hires a downtrodden injury lawyer (Will Forte), who is out of his depth in facing against the giant multinational ACME and its intimidating Chief Counsel (John Cena). However, alongside the persistence of Wile E., the bubbly spark of his intern-niece (Lana Condor), and some familiar cartoon whistleblowers, the ragtag crew make ready to face down the odds.

The New Yorker article was an incredibly original piece, with the usual witty tongue-in-cheek New Yorker humor. The film ably adapts this to the screen, with a mix of visual Looney Tunes humor at its best, and some sly gags with the signature of co-writer James Gunn. Dave Green directs in only his third ever effort after the lackluster Earth to Echo (2014) and the Michael Bay produced sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016). Green showcases an adept hand at keeping consistency in his actors’ comedic performances, blends the animated characters (who are largely wordless) with the real world comprehensively, and keeps a tight rhythm so that the film never drags, but never rushes through surprisingly effective emotional moments either.

Coyote vs. Acme is not the typical cash-grab using a classic array of characters like in Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021), but is rather creative with using the history and fame of its characters to bring about actual commentary, much as in the underseen Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022). Coyote vs. Acme focuses not only on ridiculing and pointing out the reduction of our autonomy as we let corporations get larger and become monopolies in their respective industries, but it also makes an emphasis on the importance and beauty that employing Sisyphean persistence can have. The Greek myth is directly referenced in the film as to Wile E.’s insistence and continued failure at catching the Road Runner, but it is discussed more in the vein of Albert Camus’ distillation in “The Myth of Sisyphus” where he admires that the repetition and goal of Sisyphus gives him a life’s purpose. It proves to be a beautiful and unexpected character analysis of Wile E. and the Road Runner’s relationship, one where the chase is the purpose, and not the act of catching. It also provides a beautiful parallel to real life, where this film was condemned to never see the light of day, but the insistence by its filmmakers and film lovers alike helped it get the release it deserves.

In the end, Coyote vs. Acme is a wonderfully winning comedy, mixing animation and live action with panache and wit, keeping a tight runtime, and some rather profound commentary on our ability to resist against such late-stage capitalism. Aside from a good time, going to watch this movie is itself rewarding the persistence and resistance against the odds, of art that deserves to see the light of day.

7.8/10