Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)
The Cast
Brendan Fraser .... DJ Drake/Himself
Jenna Elfman .... Kate
Steve Martin .... Mr. Chairman
Timothy Dalton .... Damien Drake
Heather Locklear .... Dusty Tails
Joan Cusack .... Mother
Bill Goldberg .... Mr. Smith
Dick Miller .... Security Guard
Matthew Lillard .... Himself
Ron Perlman .... Acme VP, Never Learning
I sat down to watch this movie yesterday after seeing it get nominated in the Worst Movie EVER 2007 Tournament and remembering that I had access to it. I wasn't expecting a stunning movie of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? proportions, but I wasn't prepared to be so overwhelmingly underwhelmed that I'd barely feel the need to write up a review on it. Written by Larry Doyle (who last wrote the similarly disappointing Duplex) and directed by a fine director in Joe Dante, LT:BiA pretty much takes the same approach that Roger Rabbit took on the animation industry. Animated characters exist among us and aren't subject to any laws of physics other than those that have been established throughout decades of cartoons.
Basically the new VP of Comedy at Warner Brothers, Kate something or other (Elfman) fires Daffy Duck for not being funny enough, and during his mad dash throughout the WB backlot, Daffy inadvertantly causes security guard DJ Drake to destroy a good portion of the WB lot. So DJ gets fired as well, even though he's the son of Damien Drake (Dalton), the legendary spy actor and WB property. At this point, a bizarre fatigue fell over me and all the plot details instantly became pointless and moronic. Yes dear reader, I gave up. Not because it was terribly bad or anything, but just because I didn't care.
I'd rather be pissed off about some terrible movie I just sat through than feel almost nothing about the time I may have just wasted. LT:BiA doesn't know what it wants to be, and to no one's surprise (except maybe some ancient WB execs) it was a horrid box office dud. It stars timeless animated characters that pretty much everyone has grown up with in one form of another. It takes these characters and puts them into an environment that is intended to reboot the animation franchise at WB, yet fills the movie with references to B-movies from the 50s and so on. It's meant to appeal to kids, but provides a semi-convoluted and stupid storyline to try and appeal to... well who, I have no idea.
The cast is decent enough I suppose, with Fraser doing an admirable job of almost making me give a damn. Same goes with Steve Martin as the Chairman of ACME Products, and Joan Cusack in her role, whatever it was. I kind of zoned out at that point, looked up and went "Oh hey, it's Joan Cusack," enjoyed her delivery of a few lines and then faded back into near obliviousness. Some of the animation effects actually jolted me out of that semi-coma, enough to make me wish they weren't being wasted on such a misguided movie as this one.
Perhaps the movie was actually meant to be bad, I have no idea. Maybe they were shooting for a B-movie, so-bad-it's-good level. If that was the intent, they didn't shoot low enough. This movie makes for a good cure for insomnia, and it makes me want to hate it but I can't. It's bad, but it's not godawful and insulting to anything or anyone except maybe Mel Blanc. But he's dead so fuck him, right Warner Brothers? Don't waste your time with this movie, it may sap your will to review.
1.5 / 5