Truly Dreadful Film

Did you people see the same film I saw?

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION was Joe Dante's live action tribute to the Warner Brothers cartoons he loved as a kid, made in respect to Chuck Jones, the famous animator who had recently died. Dante went on record to say how much he had hated SPACE JAM for ruining those cartoon characters (and it's hard to disagree with him), so this was his chance to make amends. The problem with the film is, ironically, Warner Brothers themselves. They refused to give Dante much in the way of creative control so what we get is largely a generic piece of junk. Certainly the scenes involving the constantly mugging actors Brendan Fraser and Jenna Elfman are largely wince-inducing and never have you seen such irritating lead characters. And the less said about Steve Martin's villain the better - what on Earth was that all about, anyway?Where LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION shines is in the cartoon characters themselves. Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny share equal screen time and they're a real hoot when thrown into the real world. Even better, this must be the ultimate 'reference' movie of Dante's career; there are bit parts and supporting roles for literally dozens of Warner-owned cartoon characters, new and old (mainly old). Catching the references is ever a delight, but there are also some imaginative highlights in the main plot, too. The sci-fi attack by classic sci-fi monsters is great stuff, and the chase through the paintings in the Louvre is hilarious. Sadly, the dumb humour and main actors drag this film down quite considerably, but Dante's heart is in the right place and the references make it worth a watch.

. . . that it's not allowed to have its own home page on this site. FRANK TASHLIN'S STORYBOOKS: TONY AND CLARENCE can be found as a "Special Feature" on Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 4, Disc 2. TONY predicts that the athlete formerly known as Bruce Jenner soon will replace Donald Trump as the U.S. Rich People Party nominee in the 2016 Presidential Election. Some may quibble that Jenner endorsed Trump already, and that Trump clinched the election yesterday when he was awarded the highly coveted American Purple Heart Medal. Though Freberg's narration of Tashlin's 1951 story symbolizes such metal disks as "pennies," Jenner's World Decathlon GOLD Men's Medal trumps Trump's Purple Thingee. Plus, Jenner has closer ties to the U.S. military, having been born the son of a veteran. Since Jenner meets the age and citizenship requirements for the American Presidency, and has a bigger footprint on U.S. "Reality" TV shows than Trump's Birth Certificate Baby Print-sized presence, Jenner is THE logical replacement candidate when Trump self-implodes once and for all. The controversial aspect of TONY AND CLARENCE is that CLARENCE is male--until she comes out as the female "Clarice," who cannot even use the Women's Room in North Carolina!

Using a similar idea to 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit', Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are real actors in this live action animated world. WB VP Kate (Jenna Elfman) has enough of Daffy Duck and fires him. She orders security guard DJ Drake (Brendan Fraser) to eject the Duck but chaos ensues. DJ gets fired also. DJ is a stuntman wannabe whose father Damien Drake (Timothy Dalton) plays an action superspy Bondlike icon. It turns out that Damien is actually a real superspy and has been captured by Chairman of ACME corp (Steve Martin). DJ and Daffy go to Vegas to rescue him. Meanwhile Bugs without Daffy isn't doing so well and Kate is about to be fired herself. She goes in search of Daffy with the help of Bugs. In Vegas, DJ contacts another superspy Dusty Tails (Heather Locklear). Then they discover the secret base Area 52 with Mother (Joan Cusack) where they find out about the secret Blue Monkey Diamond.It's a lot of chaotic sarcastic ridiculous Looney Tunes story. It's fun for about 30 minutes which is the duration of most Saturday morning cartoon runs. Then it gets way too tiresome. The nonsensical story is not worthwhile to follow. It's one sight gags after another. Brendan Fraser works well with the cartoon characters with a touch of heroism. That's his basic move anyways. He even references 'The Mummy'. Steve Martin plays the ridiculous chairman. It's so ridiculous that the character should probably be a cartoon as well. Its constant unrelenting bombastic nature never lets the audience off the ride and gets monotonous.

Not quite hot on the heels of 'Space Jam' but clearly whipped out to try and garner as much success as said film, how could they fail?Well for a start the plot is a jumbled mess that tries its hand at various movie genres and not quite deciding which to stick with. All the Looney Tunes stars are crammed into the film given various roles which just feels forced and unnecessary. Its the usual thing of Bugs and Daffy working together (well you know they don't get on right?) and teaming up with the fresh faced Fraser to thwart evil Steve Martin who is possibly the worst thing in the entire film, talk about over the top-over acting and not being funny at the same time!This film feels so phony, such a product placement hack of a flick. The action moves from place to place including a wide range of gimmicks just to cover all the bases and try to appeal to everyone. There are sequences in Vegas which end up in a car chase which isn't too bad but that all leads to the inevitable Bond spoofing ugh! There is an Area 51 sequence which of course leads to some familiar sci-fi creations popping up. Lets just say the film spoofs/homages almost every flippin' film they can muster at various points throughout the films run time.I guess the casting of Dalton kinda gives the game away as what to expect though doesn't it. Oh Dalton, oh geez I guess its a Bond spoof again everyone, how very original.I realise that's the whole point of the film, its a full length parody made up of various little moments or sketches where each character has a spot in the light to shine. A film within a film, breaking the fourth wall, cute little in-jokes and product placements etc...yeah I know the drill, problem is its just really lame. The plot just feels totally pointless, you don't really need the plot, just call it a montage movie.One thing I must give praise too is the sharp animation of all the classic characters plus their integration into the live action. Its clearly much slicker than 'Space Jam' and the live actors are impressively responsive to their cartoon counterparts. Despite every gag being predictable and unoriginal the whole thing does look really glossy and polished.But seriously! I mean come on...we even get Indiana Jones jungles and lava flows plus outer space action towards the end! just stick em all in there, something we appeal to someone!. The funny thing is Fraser is perfectly cast for this type of film, the guy the looks and acts like a cartoon, that's why he's in so many kiddie flicks. Not a bad thing per say...I'm just pointing it out.I think kids will enjoy the film for its bright colourful visuals and the inclusion of all their favourite characters. Adults may get a slight kick from some of the parodies and reasonable gags from time to time (much like the brief 'Pulp Fiction' parody in 'Space Jam'). Overall this is such a clusterf**k of ideas it just feels like a bombardment from many sources, but instead of narrowing it down they just use everything, throw it all into the pot, give it a good stir and see what happens.The other issue is simply these classic toons will never be the same again without good old Mel Blanc I'm afraid. Even 'Space Jam' suffered from the same problem, the characters just don't have that same bite, they lost their satirical edge when Blanc died sadly and that doesn't appear to have been brought back. I think the characters are slightly watered down these days, playing it safe, maybe its just me.I honesty think they chucked so many settings and movie concepts into this simply for it to appeal to everyone. I think the term recycled sums this up pretty well, a tribute to the WB Looney tunes by merely recycling all their classic goofiness. Question is did we really need it as this is nowhere near as good.There's something in there for everyone whether you like space, jungles, Vegas, Bond or even a bit of culture in Paris, its all here folks!4.5/10