I was excited when I first saw this Looney Tunes movie, but looking at it now, it's not really that funny. It's just another Roger Rabbit wannabe that fails to receive critical and commercial success as the on film synonymous with live action/animation mixes.

Joe Dante called this an "Anti-Space Jam" film. I agree with him. Space Jam was too commercial, but this film's just not funny as the classic counterparts. It had a bland and boring plot and predictble storyline that's not witout its plotholes. Bugs was pretty calm and cool like the Chuck Jones version, so is Daffy,who would occasionally revert to the wacky Bob Clampett Daffy. There were a lot of jokes and famous looney tunes gags in it, but they were all pretty corny in live action. One such joke the CEOs of Warner Bros. studio were the Warner Brothers(obviously not related to Animaniacs). They managed to sneak in a joke about Porky Pig and Speedy Gonzales being politically incorrect.I really didn't like Bugs and Taz expelling gas in their own manner. I think Larry Doyle should go back to writing those poorly written sitcoms of today.

The film really doesn't have the same convincing interaction as "Roger Rabbit". The toons were just drawn in one position and later moved around the screen by computer. I prefered when they draw the toons on the photostatic blowups of live action frames and kept being drawn in their corisponding positions no matter where the camera moved. They wouldn't seem flat that way,otherwise the animations okay. The toons are shaded more realistically and they do touch real objects, often they would pick up CG objects, which by the way, the film has UGLY CGI! Come on! It sticks out like a sore thumb for crying out loud! The special effects were all pretty lame. I bet Industrial Light and Magic would do a MUUUUCH better job.

I really don't care for the choice of actors. Enough said. Joe Alaskey was pretty good. He's no Mel Blanc, but he trys.

The only thing I liked in the film was the famous reprisal of a "Rabbit Fire" scene. Overall, it's just a pointless waist of money and time. I hope one day, Warner Bros. would go throgh a renaissance and make Looney Tunes funny again. Tiny Toons and Animaniacs successfully recaptured the same classic humor. And I hope the Looney Tunes gang would return in new theatrical shorts, animated by the Warner Bros. Animation and NOT the overseas ones.

All too often, the modern incarnations of the classic cartoons miss out on the essential ingredient: Fun! This one does not. It is silly, cliched, and awesome fun for anyone who remembers the heyday of the Warner Bros. cartoons. It also leaves out the nods to political corectness that seem to be de rigeur these days. Daffy gets blasted routinely as in the way he was created for.

Besides staring Daffy and Bugs, most of the other Warner Bros. menagerie make cameo appearances. There are some live action figures like Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Steve Martin and Heather Locklear who do fine in supporting roles but it is the toons who steal the show.

Warner Brothers had a reputation for never letting anything be too silly for a good gag. They keep that reputation here. They always used to sneak in bits of classical art and music to the extent that common people actually learned to recognize some of the master works: they've become a part of the pop culture through the cartoons. They've kept that tradition alive as well. Who cares? Its funny and that's the point.

The plot is too silly to bother and describe here. The movie also goes a bit over the top towards the end but who cares? It was all fun.

Saturday morning has not been this much fun for years!

Okay, maybe only someone in marketing or sales would really, truly, relate to the idea of changing the entire population of the world into monkeys, have them manufacture shoddy merchandise, and then turn them back into humans to buy the same products under the wondrous and versatile Acme brand.

Guilty as charged, there were several other things I liked about this movie, puerile, dumb and absolutely ridiculous as it was.

One was seeing all those favorite cartoon characters back in action, blending so seamlessly with the real actors and movie sets. Not only Bugs and Daffy, but Elmer Fudd, Wile E. Coyote, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Granny and Tweety, Taz, and even Pepe Le Pew, among others.

Two was digging out all the little gems like Scooby Doo's Matthew Lillard hanging out with his alter ego Shaggy, Brendan Fraser being a rejected stunt double for the guy in the Mummy movies, Bugs Bunny finding Nemo, the Louvre painting-hopping sequence, all the star cameos, and of course the secret agent car and gadgets.

Three was seeing Brendan Fraser, Steve Martin and Joan Cusack fighting it out for the hammiest actor award, with the full support of Jenna Elfman and Timothy Dalton. You also have to love the Acme management team, with Vice Presidents for Bad Ideas, Stating the Obvious, Nitpicking, Unfairly Promoted, Rhetorical Questions, Never Learning, Child Labor and Climbing to the Top.

Serious it may not be; over the top - definitely; corny - oh yes; but the funny parts were much greater than the whole. Let's hear it for the Dancing Yosemite Sams.

Amanda Richards, April 24, 2005

"Looney Tunes-Back in Action" most likely has the type of humor which one would find funny, but only if that 'one' is a kid, most likely 12 and down. That's just it, this movie's for kids. (Well, I count as a kid, but I guess I'm not the type the movie is aimed for.) Unfortunately, I did not like this movie very much, so this is going to be a negative review.

Alright, first the plot. DJ Drake (Brendan Fraiser) and Kate (Jenna Elfman) join forces with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck to save DJ's dad and a magical blue diamond from the hands of the evil and, if I may add, absolutely annoying Mr. Chairman (Steve Martin), the leader of Acme Company. The blue diamond has the power to turn people into monkeys (yeah. monkeys) and Mr. Chairman wants it to, well, turn people into monkeys. Simple enough, isn't it?

Now, I admit some parts I laughed, like the comment about DJ Drake as the stunt double of Brendan Fraiser. I dunno why, but it was so unexpected I laughed. Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny were occasionally entertaining. I think the animated characters were what saved this movie from being more a painful experience than it was already. My favorite scene was the chase between Elmer, Daffy Duck, and Bugs Bunny through the famous paintings by many famous artists.

There were other rare moments when a laugh escaped me, but most of the time I was staring at the TV screen, wondering whether some people actually thought this was funny (The alien attack at Area 52...). Steve Martin was a pain to watch, with his whole uber-strange character as Mr. Chairman. Poor guy. (Steve Martin, not Mr. Chairman)

I had expected something alot more funnier, alot more wittier, and alot more interesting(er), but, well, I didn't get it. It left me feeling unsatsifed and, to quote a phrase me and my friends use sometimes, like: Dot. Dot. Dot. What's just sad is that this movie could have been better, I mean, there aren't many movies where Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Marvin the Martian, and other famous and lovable Looney Tunes characters are with human actors in a movie.

The Grand Conclusion: This movie is stupid. It has the kind of stupid humor which isn't witty, but is funny enough for kids to be entertained. Get it if you want to watch something for the sake of watching something or for the sake of watching something you don't have to use your head at all while watching(Kinda confusing there), but *don't* get it if you're looking for something to really entertain you or something to leave you feeling the satisfaction of watching something good. There are other movies that are much better than this.

Story:
(from back of DVD case)
Yikes! The fate of the human race is in the hands of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, teaming to wreak hilarious comic mayhem in a fast-paced family adventure combined live-action (staring Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Steve Martin and more) with animation ( a hilarious cavalcade of Looney Tunes greats) Join the Tunesters as they try to obtain the powerful Blue Monkey gem
and stop Acme Corp.'s grab for weirdwide worldwide domination. Connect with your inner Daffy for hare-brained wit and mystery most fowl. For Acme Anvils. For pratfalls and movie in-jokes. For more fun than you can catch in just one viewing. The Looneytics are running the aslyum. Welcome to THEIR world.
Comments: A fun and goofy plot with funny spoofs, but hard-core Looney Tunes fans may be disapointed.
Score: 8/10

Audio:
Languages: English, Francais & Espanol
5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound EX
Subtitles: English, Francais & Espanol
Comments: Yeah Baby YEAH!
Score 10/10

Video:
Can't be as good as THX (Impossible!) but still very worthy.
Score: 9/10


Extras:
All-new Looney Tunes cartoon Whizzard of Ow (et la Wizard of Oz)
Behind the Tunes documentary (tour of the set)
BANG CRASH BOOM! rabbit/duck perspective of special effects
Theatrical trailer
Looney Tunes: Out of Action (Deleted Scenes)
DVD-ROM link to more Deleted scenes
Code: Go to extras and immeatdly press right then enter. You will see a clip of Yosemite Sam blowing up
Interactive/animated menus
Scene acess
24 chapter stops
Looney Tunes Golden Collection trailer
Comments: Behind the Tunes documentary riduculous, code crummy but other than that good
Score:7/10


Overall 8/10
Overall: 8/10