I wasn’t going to see this one. Animation mixed with live action has a rough track record, and I had no reason to think this would break the pattern. Then I checked IMDb, saw a 7.9 with a few thousand ratings behind it, and figured the crowd knew something I didn’t. So I took the family.
I still can’t explain that score. Coyote vs. Acme is a genuine mystery on that front, because what I watched didn’t come close to matching the enthusiasm.
The first ten minutes are great. There’s real affection for the old cartoons in there, callbacks that made me sit up and think we were getting something special. I was hoping for this generation’s Space Jam. That’s the bar, and it’s a fair one given the material. The movie never gets back to that opening.
Then the story thins out and the pacing collapses. It feels like it runs a full hour past where it should stop. My kids got restless because it’s too slow for them. I got restless because the jokes aren’t sharp or frequent enough to carry an adult through the dead stretches. I honestly couldn’t tell you who this was made for.
The cast is the saving grace. They’re clearly having fun, and that goodwill keeps things watchable when nothing else is happening. It’s not enough to build a movie on, but it’s something.
If it’s on your list, move it down. There are better ways to spend two hours with your family.
