Looney Tunes: Back in Action

In this Warner Bros. knockoff of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a studio security guard (Brendan Fraser) teams up with Daffy Duck to rescue his superstar dad (Timothy Dalton), with the studio’s head of comedy (Jenna Elfman) and Bugs Bunny in hot pursuit. “Back in action” is right; the movie (directed by Joe Dante at roughly warp-22) never stops to draw breath—or, for that matter, to notice how lousy the jokes are. Fraser coasts in George of the Jungle doofus mode; Elfman is starchy, stilted and humorless; and Steve Martin plays the supervillain in huge glasses and a red fright wig (as if hoping he won’t be recognized). On the other hand, the animation effects really are spectacular, and the film is so full of in-jokes that the DVD will have movie nerds playing spot-the-reference for years.