It’s impossible to argue with Bugs Bunny. If you don’t love Bugs Bunny then we’re not entirely sure what lurks thumping where your heart should be, but best get it checked out by a witchdoctor. And so heading off to see Looney Toons inspires a weird sort of dread. You know it’s extremely unlikely to represent a career zenith for it’s animated stars (though it may well be for human sidekicks Brendan Fraser and Jenna Elfman), but you want it to be a worthy vehicle for them just the same, and not merely a means to flog a few extra Daffy Duck oven gloves.
Well, despite the we-stayed-up-all-night title, Looney Toons; Back In Action is happily far from being an untidy ink-splatter on the flick-book of anyone concerned, though after Space Jam – the awful Michael Jordan/Toons 1996 collaboration – it may be that our expectations are relatively low. An amiable, fitfully amusing script sees Bugs and co. joining forces with stars-on-the-wane Fraser and Elfman to pursue Acme boss and diamond thief Steve Martin in a live action-animation mix.
The results are suitably kinetic, and though director Joe Dante (Gremlins) infects the proceedings with a considerable degree of mischief, Looney Toons is often less like the untouchable genius of Chuck Jones and more like look-at-me hyperactive wackiness. Not without it’s merits then, but not up there with classic Warner Brothers fare such as One Froggy Evening or Bugs and Elmer battling it out to the strains of Wagner. Then again, it’s unlikely that anything will ever match those dizzy heights, so we should be content that this is eminently likable fare and just hope that next time, a certain rabbit demands greater script control.

90 mins. Cert – PG. Opens February 13