If you’ve ever felt an ounce of pity for Coyote, this one’s for you.

Somewhere in the American Southwest, Wile E. Coyote (Speakus Inabilitus) has spent a lifetime trying to catch the Road Runner (Quickius Delicious), categorizing years of failures directly or indirectly tied to products obtained from the ACME corporation. Why did all these products fail so spectacularly? Where did Coyote get the money to pay for it all? And what the heck has this wild animal been eating in the meantime? Most of these questions will never be asked (let alone answered), but a local commercial from the settlement-chasing law firm of Avery, Jones, and Maltese suggests Coyote may be entitled to compensation! Faster than a lightbulb appearing over an animated character’s head, Coyote heads off to the big city to hire Kevin Avery (Will Forte) as his lawyer to take on the biggest corporation in the world… but unfortunately, their head attorney Buddy Crane (John Cena) is already too familiar with Mr. Avery’s tactics.

The copyright for this feature is marked 2023, revealing just how long this completed feature has been sitting on a shelf. Worse yet, the studio making it originally intended to torch it the same way Batgirl and a Scooby Doo movie both were as a tax write-off, but director Dave Green (and everyone involved) refused to let all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into their work die in darkness. Social pressure eventually convinced Warner Bros. to sell the film to Ketchup Entertainment in probably the most meta thing imaginable. The big question remaining for this $70 million production that will finally appear in theaters: is it good?

Will Forte may have top billing, but it’s Wile E. Coyote’s movie, stealing every scene he’s in. Like Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, our story world is one that exists with ‘toons already in it, nuisances at best and second-class citizens at worst, but not as known Hollywood celebrities. Sight gags happening in the background don’t always land, but Coyote’s overwrought schemes and antics make up for it. Viewers may not agree on Coyote’s singular obsession, but he’s all in, utterly and completely, and his impossible ability to pick himself up time after time is infectious. You can feel his failures and triumphs, including the occasional acting out most people would pay money to get away with. Coyote isn’t any mere plaintiff; he’s a mirror held up to struggle, the living embodiment of choosing to keep going when everyone is calling out, “Dude! It’s not worth it! Just let it go already!” How in the animated hell is this so heart-wrenching?

John Cena delivers his lines in the same over-the-top mock-serious way he throws himself into every project, but it’s particularly amusing watching him knuckle under to Foghorn Leghorn, earning his fowl ire over questionable metaphors. Lana Condor as an overeager intern needed more screentime in my humble opinion, but there’s a lot going on here and too little time for everything. No one animator is credited for bringing Coyote to life, all falling under the umbrella of VFX house DNEG for the animation and other visual effects; serious research into the film stockpiles of wild takes unique to Coyote must have been done in addition to new but all-too human expressions fitting his mannerisms. When he tucks his head into his furry folded arms over a blank drawing board before starting all over again, we are all Wile E. Coyote.

Not a perfect film but certainly a perfect family film, it echoes the Looney Tunes insanity of yesteryear with a healthy dose of booing corporate exploitation. The producing studio tried to bury this fun little gem, believing a write-off was smarter than trying to release it to audiences; how funny would it be to become a smash success after rescuing it from the trash heap? Insert overly wicked smile here.

Coyote vs. Acme is rated PG for cartoon violence, some language, and rooting for the underdog (or coyote).

Three skull recommendation out of four