Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) is directed by Joe Dante and written by Larry Doyle. It stars Brendan Fraser, Joe Alaskey, Jenna Elfman, Steve Martin, Timothy Dalton, Heather Locklear, Joan Cusack, Bill Goldberg, Jeff Bennett, Billy West, Eric Goldberg, June Foray, Bob Bergen, Don Stanton, Dan Stanton, and Matthew Lillard. This meta take on the Looney Tunes follows DJ Drake (Fraser), the son of famous spy-movie actor Damien Drake (Dalton), as he spends his days working security at Warner Bros. after a failed stint as Brendan Fraser’s stuntman. After a run-in with the recently fired Daffy Duck, DJ discovers that his father doesn’t just play a superspy; he is one, and needs DJ’s help when he’s captured by the evil megacorporation, Acme. They eventually join up with Bugs Bunny and Kate (Elfman), a determined Warner Bros. studio executive, and set out on a rescue mission. Unfortunately, their journey gets wackier and wackier due to the zany plans of Acme’s CEO, Mr. Chairman (Martin), who plans to turn every human on Earth into a monkey. 

Supposedly, there’s a sect of Looney Tunes fans who believe this film’s portrayal of these iconic characters is an outright insult to their legacy. That doesn’t make much sense to me. These characters never really had very complex personalities and were mostly used as tools to tell a joke. This is the first film that I remember really giving these characters (Daffy & Bugs, specifically) more recognizably human traits. Primarily, they’re still the zany, goofy, unpredictable cartoons we know and love, but with a bit more depth sprinkled on top. I understand disliking the portrayal if it betrayed their traditional characterizations, but it just adds to them. 

The script plays into Bugs Bunny being the most popular real-world Looney Tunes character, making it a key source of tension in his relationship with Daffy. Unfortunately, however, there’s never any satisfying emotional payoff between the two. On top of that, the main story really isn’t centered on anything to do with the Looney Tunes characters. This makes it feel like they’re just along for the ride, which they kind of are. On one hand, it feels completely in-character for Daffy and Bugs to tag along simply because they want to be faux spies. On the other hand, it’s clear it would improve the experience if they had a real stake/actually cared about how things turn out. Thankfully, this isn’t a huge con because of the fantastic human leads, especially Brendan Fraser.

Say what you want about this movie, but Brendan Fraser is definitely not one of its issues. He brings the even-keeled personality this movie desperately requires, but is also never overly serious in a way that would make the character a drag. Sure, hanging with the Looney Tunes would be annoying, but it would also be kind of exciting and a little bit fun. There are multiple jokes here that are brought to the next level simply by cutting to Fraser’s various facial reactions, which are unexplainably hilarious. Although this movie’s biggest flaw is its lack of a true emotional core, Fraser’s heartfelt performance almost makes you forget it’s missing.

As the villain, Mr. Chairman, Steve Martin gives a one-of-a-kind, appropriately loony performance that I personally love. His physicality is odd and unnatural, as if he thinks he’s playing one of the cartoons. His master plan is to turn the world’s population into monkeys, which feels like the exact brand of silly this movie is going for. He’s hateable and off-putting, but easy to make fun of–-the ideal combination for this kind of character.

Overall, this is an extremely meta, satisfying take on the Looney Tunes that unfortunately fails to make us care about its characters emotionally. They’re consistently funny and entertaining, but never three-dimensional (literally and figuratively). Brendan Fraser and the rest of the human cast add as much heart as they possibly can, which only pads the blow. Other than that, this is a blast from start to finish. It’s rare to see such a zany, meta, big-budget family film that feels equally fun for both kids and adults. This wasn’t the vision director Joe Dante had in mind, but I still think it turned out pretty great. B