"Coyote vs. Acme" REVIEW

Published on 9/1/2026 

Written by: Braylon Mitchell 

Directed by: Dave Green 

Cast: Will Forte, Wile E. Coyote, Lana Condor, John Cena, Foghorn Leghorn, Martha Kelly, Road Runner, etc. 

Plot: After decades of failed schemes and backfiring products, Wile E. Coyote hires a struggling human billboard lawyer to sue the Acme Corporation for negligence. 

REVIEW 

This is the movie that Warner Bros. didn't want you to see. Quick story time, because the long journey this film had to traverse to make it to the public eye sounds like a cinematic miracle when spelled out. Three years ago, back in ye old days of 2023 when "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" ruled the world, Warner Bros. (under the controversial CEO David Zaslav) scrapped this $70 million film for a $30 million tax write off—taking a completely finished and ready-to-release film, and in the pursuit of capitalizing on the most money they thought they'd make off it, ensuring it'd never be seen by audiences. That's a terrible fate for any film, but especially for an original concept comedy utilizing a very beloved and iconic Warner Bros. property that many people were excited for. Rightfully so, the backlash to that decision was so widespread and extreme in fan frustration that years later the opportunity arose for independent studio Ketchup Entertainment to be the hero that would swoop in and bring this formerly lost media onto the big screen for the world to see. Even if "Coyote vs. Acme" was a dud of a film, it'd be worth supporting with your time and money based on everything it went through alone—thankfully, "Coyote vs. Acme" is a great film that wholeheartedly deserves your time and money. As an achievement of mixing cartoon and live action, this might just be the best execution of that concept since the 1988 hit "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" as the ingenuity of using animated characters in the "real world" is done so brilliantly through a David vs. Goliath courtroom comedy about the injustice of corrupt mega-corporations caring about profit and progress no matter who's harmed in the process. That's a timeless message that feels as timely as it's ever been. This film isn't afraid to tackle that "stand up to the corperations" mentality, building a clear trace of reasoning to care about Wile E. Coyote's and cartoon-kind's struggle. In a good ol' fashioned 80s/90s-esque way, the film is unbridledly sentimental and very effective at doing so. Reasons to emotionally connect and care about our underdog characters and their relationships to each other is a major focus of the film—a film that's fast paced and even a bit messy at times, but never unclear in motivation or emotional drive. There's a moment that takes place in court between Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner that was genuinely heartwarming in a way I wasn't expecting and didn't know that I needed. The journey to releasing "Coyote vs. Acme" alone is cheer-worthy, but it certainly helps that the film's strong emotion, messages, humor, and creativity are cheer-worthy as well. 

THREE BEST ELEMENTS

• The animation. Mixing 2D animation within live action real world environments and interacting with live action characters isn't an easy feat, but this film pulls that off seamlessly. The animation and the way it's integrated is fantastic. The way the lighting interacts with these animated characters looks so impressive too. In particular, off the top of my head  a courtroom monologue by Foghorn Leghorn in the third act is coming to mind where the way in which the lighting hits him as he moves around the room was so cool. 

• The screenplay. Written by Sammy Burch (Oscar nominated screenwriter of 2023's "May December"), with a story credit from James Gunn (head of the DC universe and "Guardians of the Galaxy" writer/director), and adapted from a satirical The New Yorker article by Ian Frazier from 1990, this film's script is loaded with just the right amount of silliness, motivated messaging, and heart that it needed. 

• P.J. Byrne's performance. Byrne is a character actor that you've probably at one point before seen in a film, and with this film he has another small supporting role—a short but sweet role playing Acme lawyer John Cena's assistant—where Byrne stole the show for me with some of the funniest line deliveries and expressions of the entire film. He's hilarious, and I very much wanted to single him out as the talent that he is bringing it all to a really funny role. 

WORST ELEMENT 

• Although the film is overall pretty hilarious, some jokes/gags didn't land with as much consistency as others. 

RATING

8/10

It's a miracle that this film even released so watch it, buddy!