LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION was Joe Dante's live action tribute to the Warner Brothers cartoons he loved as a kid, made in respect to Chuck Jones, the famous animator who had recently died. Dante went on record to say how much he had hated SPACE JAM for ruining those cartoon characters (and it's hard to disagree with him), so this was his chance to make amends. The problem with the film is, ironically, Warner Brothers themselves. They refused to give Dante much in the way of creative control so what we get is largely a generic piece of junk. Certainly the scenes involving the constantly mugging actors Brendan Fraser and Jenna Elfman are largely wince-inducing and never have you seen such irritating lead characters. And the less said about Steve Martin's villain the better - what on Earth was that all about, anyway?

Where LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION shines is in the cartoon characters themselves. Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny share equal screen time and they're a real hoot when thrown into the real world. Even better, this must be the ultimate 'reference' movie of Dante's career; there are bit parts and supporting roles for literally dozens of Warner-owned cartoon characters, new and old (mainly old). Catching the references is ever a delight, but there are also some imaginative highlights in the main plot, too. The sci-fi attack by classic sci-fi monsters is great stuff, and the chase through the paintings in the Louvre is hilarious. Sadly, the dumb humour and main actors drag this film down quite considerably, but Dante's heart is in the right place and the references make it worth a watch.

Using a similar idea to 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit', Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are real actors in this live action animated world. WB VP Kate (Jenna Elfman) has enough of Daffy Duck and fires him. She orders security guard DJ Drake (Brendan Fraser) to eject the Duck but chaos ensues. DJ gets fired also. DJ is a stuntman wannabe whose father Damien Drake (Timothy Dalton) plays an action superspy Bondlike icon. It turns out that Damien is actually a real superspy and has been captured by Chairman of ACME corp (Steve Martin). DJ and Daffy go to Vegas to rescue him. Meanwhile Bugs without Daffy isn't doing so well and Kate is about to be fired herself. She goes in search of Daffy with the help of Bugs. In Vegas, DJ contacts another superspy Dusty Tails (Heather Locklear). Then they discover the secret base Area 52 with Mother (Joan Cusack) where they find out about the secret Blue Monkey Diamond.

It's a lot of chaotic sarcastic ridiculous Looney Tunes story. It's fun for about 30 minutes which is the duration of most Saturday morning cartoon runs. Then it gets way too tiresome. The nonsensical story is not worthwhile to follow. It's one sight gags after another. Brendan Fraser works well with the cartoon characters with a touch of heroism. That's his basic move anyways. He even references 'The Mummy'. Steve Martin plays the ridiculous chairman. It's so ridiculous that the character should probably be a cartoon as well. Its constant unrelenting bombastic nature never lets the audience off the ride and gets monotonous.

I wasn't expecting this film to be as good as it was. It was funny, original and just really entertaining. It does have its flaws, the story has a tendency to become a tad too loud and a little uneven in pace and Steve Martin does overact as Mr Chairman. But along the way there is some great dialogue, very good visual effects and a great music score from the late Jerry Goldsmith. The Looney Tunes characters are stellar, thanks to the lively vocal turns from Joe Alaskey, and have some classic scenes like the chase through the Louvre where they leap into paintings and transformed into the style of artists like Salvador Dali and Edvard Munch. The live acting was not bad at all, Brendan Fraser is an appealing lead, and Jenna Elfman has her moments as Kate. Overall, this is a good film, and I do think it is better than "Space Jam", but I did like that film too. 8/10 Bethany Cox