Susan Granger’s review of “Looney Tunes: Back in Action” (Warner Bros.)
Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck square off once again in this action-packed celebration of their long-time rivalry as cartoon characters. Combining live-action with animation, the story revolves around a Warner Brothers security guard, D.J. Drake (Brendan Fraser), who dreams of being a stuntman. Instead it’s his unpleasant job to escort Daffy off the lot when humorless studio exec Kate Houghton (Jenna Elfman) shelves the duck whose audience appeal has dwindled. At least that’s what market research data says. What she didn’t count on was Daffy’s befriending Drake and accompanying him on a search for D.J.’s father Damian (Timothy Dalton), an actor who, in addition to playing a James Bond-like spy, is a real-life secret agent who seeks the legendary Blue Monkey Diamond which, according to myth, has the power to turn people into monkeys. This treasure is also coveted by the evil Chairman (Steve Martin) of the Acme Corporation who uses energetic three year-olds as slave labor by putting double-espresso in their sippy cups. Directed by Joe Dante, the hunt sprints to Las Vegas, where Daffy and D.J. meet up with Dusty Tails (Heather Locklear), an undercover operative. Then it’s off to Paris – the Eiffel Tower and Louvre – and, finally, Africa. Writers Larry Doyle, John Requa & Glen Ficarra utilize all the Looney Tunes lore – Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam, Wile E. Coyote, Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian – and raid franchise fodder from James Bond, Austin Powers, “Mission Impossible,” “Star Wars,” “Psycho,” “The Mummy,” etc. But “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” it isn’t, even though it shares cinematographer Dean Cundey. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Looney Tunes: Back in Action” is a frenetic 4. Too bad it’s not funny. “That’s all, folks!”
