Review of LOONY TUNES-BACK IN ACTION.

LOONEY TUNES-BACK IN ACTION

 

Animated live action, Warner Brothers, satire, humor, Bugs Bunny, Daffy, Steve Martin, Brendon Fraser,

 

DAFFY DUCK is unhappy. His friend and competitor, BUGS BUNNY, gets all the attention and good roles, so Daffy insists the new VP of Warner Brothers, KATE HOUGHTON makes him a star in his own movie. Instead, she fires him.

 

Security guard D.J. DRAKE (Brendan Fraser) is also unhappy. He wants to be a stunt man. Worse, when Kate tells him to remove Daffy from the premises, a typical cartoon-style chase follows and ends with a water tower falling on and drenching Kate’s car, so DJ is fired as well.

 

It turns out DJ is the son of DAMIEN DRAKE (Timothy Dalton), a famous actor known for his Bond-type roles. Also, Damien really is a Bond-type spy. DJ gets a message from his father who is actively fighting bad guys while he talks. Dad wants DJ get a huge diamond with supernatural powers called the BLUE MONKEY (spoiler alert-it can turn people into monkeys.) So he goes to Las Vegas in old pizza-delivery car to rescue Damien and find the diamond. And, try as he might to prevent it, Daffy comes with.

 

Bugs won’t work without Daffy, and the WB board tells Kate to get him back or lose her own job. So she also goes to Las Vegas with Bugs in Damien’s sleek silver spy-car. This car is so classy, when Bugs says he’d like to freshen up, the car dressed him and Kate in formal ware and gives him a martini, shaken, not stirred, with a little carrot inside.

 

The head of ACME Corporation, MR. CHAIRMAN (Steve Martin), also wants the Blue Monkey. When Bugs, Daffy, DJ, and Kate walk into YOSEMITE SAM'S casino, owned by Mr. Chairman, the action ramps up.

 

This combined live action/animated flick also has Foghorn-leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Granny, Sylvester and Tweety, Wile E. Coyote, and many more. The interaction between them all is hilarious.  My favorite moment is when Daffy is thrown head-down into Bug's car, whereupon Bug's says, "What's up, Duck." And Daffy says, "Don't start."

 

Steve Martin plays his role with typical extravagant delightfulness, and Timothy Dalton plays his with admirable understatement. Brendon Fraser pokes fun at himself, but for some reason it doesn't come across. And the Walmart product placement is just product placement no matter how much they make fun of it.

 

All in all, this is a funny and enjoyable film.  It will make you laugh and get your workout post up to a run.  I rate it at ++++.