The People vs. Warner Bros. Discovery - The Movie

Saying that it's been a long time coming for the release of Coyote vs. Acme (2026) is the understatement of the decade. After filming and initially being set for a summer 2023 theatrical release, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav infamously canceled the completed live-action/animated hybrid movie as a $30 million tax write-off. After intense backlash from cinephiles, filmmakers, and the creatives involved, Ketchup Entertainment eventually acquired the film's rights for $50 million, and the final product is a cinematic underdog triumph for the ages.

My history with Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner (and sometimes Bugs Bunny) goes back to when I first discovered YouTube as a kid. Seeing Wile E. constantly scheme against the ever-evasive Road Runner, only for his contraptions from the Acme Corporation to blow up in his face figuratively (and literally), was, and continues to be, amusing to me. As a child, I never saw myself rooting for Wile E. until I was an adult, and this movie completed that emotional arc. With that out of the way, on with my review. Some spoilers are coming, so heads up.

Coyote vs. Acme follows the titular, ever-silent Wile E. Coyote as he taps small-time billboard attorney Kevin Avery (played by Will Forte) to represent him in a class-action lawsuit against the Acme Corporation, represented by Avery's rival, Buddy Crane (played by a hilarious John Cena), for a lifetime amount of damages from their faulty products. With the help of Kevin's niece, Paige (played by Lana Condor), and an anonymous source - cough, cough (Bugs Bunny) - the unlikely band of misfits takes on a monumental case that could either go down in cartoon history - or blow up in their faces, so to speak.

This film's greatest strengths, in addition to the traditionally hand-drawn animation for characters like the titular Wile E. Coyote and supporting characters like the Road Runner, Tweety, Daffy Duck, and Bugs Bunny, are the fast-paced and clever jokes, slapstick comedy, and sight gags; the well-paced and directed execution of a funny yet inspiring Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)-style law comedy with a timely premise of an unlikely hero overcoming the odds against a mega-corporation like Acme, and, surprisingly, the heart of these characters.

The most notable example of this comes during the third act when the Road Runner makes a surprise testimony before Congress, speaking (or 'beeping') on behalf of Wile E. Coyote, which is unexpectedly very heartfelt and moving as a lifelong fan of these two characters. Also, seeing characters like Foghorn Leghorn act as the sleazy, corrupt CEO of the Acme Corporation and Elmer Fudd as a U.S. Senator during the climactic congressional hearing is not only funny from a satirical standpoint and not too surprising from a political lens, given the nature of today's politics, but they work for the story the filmmakers were aiming to tell.

If there are any downsides to this movie, the first two acts are fairly predictable script-wise, and the 2D animation for the Looney Tunes characters doesn't look nearly as timeless as the animation Eric Goldberg provided for Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). Perhaps it is because some digital effects were used to enhance the characters' look and better blend them into the live-action settings, although these are nitpicks on my end.

In conclusion, Coyote vs. Acme could not have been released at a better time. Given Paramount's soon-to-be-complete merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, the everyday people's ongoing fight against oligarchic power remains as relevant as ever. It also speaks volumes about how greedy, out-of-touch, and morally and artistically bankrupt CEOs of mega-corporations like Warner Bros. Discovery are (as are the politicians who enable them), and how little regard these CEOs show for their employees and the general public, whom they endlessly exploit for their labor and profits; not to mention churning out content they expect the general public to consume mindlessly, despite the projects having little cinematic thought, originality, passion, or identity behind them.

If anything, this movie was too good for Warner Bros. Discovery to release themselves, as Coyote vs. Acme threatened to expose the very hypocrisy in a mega-corporation releasing a film with such a strong anti-corporate message. As an individual continually displeased to be living in a capitalistic society, I long for the day when even stricter anti-monopoly laws than the ones following the landmark United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. case of 1948 will be the law of the land, thus mandating mega-corporations like Paramount to be broken up for the sake of leveling the playing field for fair competition. That said, I cannot deny that I found the internet and film community's relentless fight to save this film from never seeing the light of day deeply uplifting and a small ray of hope that organized people-powered pressure campaigns can move mountains in reviving once-shelved movies for everyone's enjoyment.

See this movie, either in theaters or on home video, while you still can.

Final Score: 9 out of 10