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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Perhaps a Warner Brothers
executive had an ACME anvil drop on him. How else
to explain the long period of time between "Space
Jam" and "Looney Tunes: Back in Action"? While the
Looney Tunes characters work best in short
cartoons (or short stretches), "LTBIA" is
surprisingly entertaining and -- at its best --
recalls the best work of Chuck Jones, Fritz
Freleng, Robert McKimson and Bob Clampett.
Daffy Duck has been fired by Kate (Jenna Elman) a
Warner executive. DJ (Brendan Fraiser) an aspiring
stuntman who's currently working as a security
officer on the lot, is assigned to get rid of
Daffy and, in the process, manages to get fired
himself when Daffy wrecks havoc on the studio lot.
Stuck together, the two of them are drawn into a
plan for world domination by Mr. Chairman (Steve
Martin), the head of ACME Corporation. It seems
that Mr. Chairman plans on stealing the Blue
Monkey a gem with awesome magical powers that will
allow him to bring the world to its knees. DJ's
father, movie star and real-life secret agent,
Damien (Timothy Dalton, in a wonderful spoof of
his Bond performances) discovers the plans and has
disappeared, having been taken prisoner by, well,
who else? Mr. Chairman.
Meanwhile Bugs gets sucked into defending the
world when he tries to get Daffy his old job back
(at less than his usual salary cut). It seems that
the cartoons just don't work without Daffy. Kate
gets sucked into helping DJ and the result is
romance between the two.
While it's inconsistent, "Looney Tunes" manages to
occasionally channel the spirit of the old
cartoons. There's a marvelous sequence in the
Louvre where Daffy, Bugs, Elmer Fudd and assorted
bad guys chase each other through the paintings of
Dali, Seurat, Lautrec and others. The action
recalls the best moments of the old cartoons with
imaginative, witty animation and a couple of
marvelous in jokes as well. The live action has
its appeal, too. DJ at one point complains about
losing his job as a stunt double for actor Brendan
Fraiser when Fraiser gets jealous of the work DJ
did in "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns." Later,
Fraiser playing DJ gets to confront "Brendan
Fraiser" about losing his job. It's a clever
moment that provides a chuckle for adults familiar
with Fraiser's work -- Fraiser also provides the
voice of the Tazmanian Devil in the film, doing
triple duty. There are also a number of funny
cameos by well known character actors in the film.
But the film sags a bit in the middle. Steve
Martin's over-the-top portrayal of Mr. Chairman is
a bit much even for this movie. Although "Looney
Tunes" doesn't work quite as well as the shorts,
it's a much better movie than the studio's first
attempt at a feature length film with the
characters. "Space Jam" was an awful mix that
missed the target more often than not.
Despite nice color reproduction and a lack of
digital artifacts, "Looney Tunes" looked flat to
me. Perhaps it's due to the transfer but the film
doesn't have the depth that you can see on a
detailed transfer. The widescreen aspect ratio is
preserved, although for those who prefer a
full-screen version, you can purchase that
separately. Since the film was shot in 2.35:1,
there's a good chance much of the action will be
cropped.
Clearly this DVD is ready to travel as the bags
are packed with some really nice extras: The new
Road Runner cartoon doesn't quite have the zest of
the best that Chuck Jones produced but there are
enough clever ideas to make it appealing. "Bang,
Crash, Boom" is an amusing look at special effects
from the perspective of the animated actors in the
film. The montage of deleted scenes includes an
alternate ending that doesn't quite work, as well
as some nice moments that probably slowed the pace
of the film too much -- which would explain why
they were cut. But I guess director Joe Dante
didn't have much to say. Silence is golden. Not a
word. Nada. No commentary track at all.
Although "Looney Tunes Back in Action" will never
be mistaken for "Citizen Kane," it's a fun
adventure with the Duck least likely to succeed
and the Rabbit who makes his life miserable. |
