There’s a part in Megamind where reporter Roxanne Ritchi pleads with our flagging titular villain, “The Master Mind I knew would never have run from a fight even though he knew deep in his heart that he didn’t have a chance in hell of winning it. It was your best quality.” I never forgot it because that’s what rooting for Wile E. Coyote is like.
Perpetual loser Wile E. Coyote is the counter-message to “all life takes is a little determination.” This is a message promoted by my elders since I was a small child. And it’s not true. Well, it is truer than it isn’t BUT … let’s face it; there are always extenuating circumstances… circumstances that have gone largely unappreciated or flat-out ignored by those currently in power. I haven’t come here today to talk about how a lazy, racist, narcissistic pedophile became President. I came here to talk about the fact that Wile E. Coyote never caught that damn roadrunner … but he also never stopped trying. And there’s a certain kudos one has to give to the guy who just won’t give up no matter how he has failed.
Of course, one of the big reasons Wile E. fails is that he keeps using defective products from the Acme company. There’s a whole mountain of contraptions (and we know because the movie showed it) that have failed and injured Wile E. Coyote instead of delivering his prize, and thus we get to today’s film: Coyote vs. Acme.
Kevin Avery (Will Forte) is an ambulance chaser. His “forte” so-to-speak is a quick $300 settlement for Porky Pig in the wake of yet another defective Acme product. Avery has never been to court … until Wile E. Coyote showed up insisting that a settlement will not do. Coyote wants his pound of flesh. Well, here’s the thing – this film has to be a cartoon because normal Americans can’t really get big settlements from huge corporations. That’s why we still watch Erin Brockovich with amazement.
The deal is that Coyote has not only failed in his lifelong goal each and every time he has tried (to catch roadrunner); he often returns with the scars from a failed product. Anyone who has seen a roadrunner cartoon knows exactly what I’m talking about, but -just to be clear- the film gave us plenty of new examples anyway. You either love the hyperbole involved in the roadrunner cartoons or you do not. This is hardly the first time a film has combined “real life” and cartoon to make something kinda cool, but this the first time in what seems like forever, and nobody is lining to re-watch Space Jam 2. The question the film asks is whether something nefarious is happing that make the Acme products deliberately harmful to Wile E. Coyote and other cartoons? Well … is there?
Ok, if I’m being honest, this is not my best review ever; feel free to drop an anvil on me. That seems right, right?
Coyote vs. Acme is a fun film. It will certainly appeal more to those who grew up watching Coyote vs. Roadrunner cartoons. And, yes, this film is hardly limited to this 
Warner Bros. tandem. If you need a little Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd, Granny, Tweety Bird, Taz, or any number of cartoon favorites, Coyote vs. Acme will abide. It shouldn’t be discounted that Forte and his opposite number John Cena are seamlessly green wall acting. There is a cartoon on screen at all times, and yet, you will never get the impression that Forte or Cena are not talking to genuine living beings.
Let me emphasize: this is a fun film. Adults should like it. Kids should like it. There’s plenty of cartoon idiocy, and a few adult-oriented jokes thrown it. Personally, I think this is the best film of its kind since Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Unfortunately, such might be damning with faint praise. Suffice for me to say Space Jam wasn’t exactly a tremendous hurdle to leap over. There will be people who insist this is the best film of 2026.
It isn’t.
But it is fun, and should be enjoyable to most any cartoon-loving audience.
There once was a Coyote, Wile E.
Whose health was in constant jeopardy
For his efforts at a meal
Made this predator feel
Like he’d just been blown to smitheree
Rated PG, 103 Minutes
Director: Dave Green
Writer: Samy Burch, James Gunn, Jeremy Slater
Genre: Silliness
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Do you like it when cartoons interact with real life?
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Do you like it when cartoons interact with real life?
