Review: Coyote vs. Acme is an unabashed love letter to Looney Tunes
Review: Coyote vs. Acme is an unabashed love letter to Looney Tunes
影评：《歪心狼对战ACME》：一封写给《乐一通》的赤诚情书
It took three years, but Coyote vs. Acme is finally in theaters and delighting audiences of all ages with its irresistible blend of slapstick humor, pointed satire, and even a warm fuzzy here and there. We’re happy to report that the film was worth the wait. (Some spoilers below but no major reveals.) 历经三年等待，《歪心狼对战ACME》（Coyote vs. Acme）终于登陆院线。影片融合了闹剧幽默、辛辣讽刺，甚至还带有一丝温情，令各年龄段的观众都为之着迷。我们很高兴地告诉大家，这部电影值得等待。（以下内容包含少量剧透，但不涉及核心情节。）
The film is based on a well-known satirical piece by Ian Frazier (also titled “Coyote vs. Acme”) published in The New Yorker in 1990. Development of a film version didn’t start until 2018, but some pretty talented people worked on the script, including James Gunn. Small wonder that Warner Bros.’ bizarre 2023 decision to shelve the film in order to take a tax write-off sparked outrage both within the industry and among fans online. 本片改编自伊恩·弗雷泽（Ian Frazier）于1990年在《纽约客》上发表的同名著名讽刺文章。电影版直到2018年才开始开发，但剧本由詹姆斯·古恩（James Gunn）等才华横溢的创作者操刀。难怪华纳兄弟在2023年为了抵税而搁置该片的荒唐决定，会在业内和网络粉丝中引发轩然大波。
The concept alone is sheer brilliance: Wile E. Coyote, after decades of ACME equipment failing him in his efforts to catch that darned Road Runner, decides to sue the corporation. He chooses Albuquerque personal injury lawyer Kevin Avery (Will Forte) to represent him against Acme’s hotshot corporate lawyers, led by Buddy Crane (John Cena)—who just happens to be an old law school buddy of Kevin’s. 影片的构思堪称天才：歪心狼（Wile E. Coyote）在几十年来使用ACME产品试图捕捉那只讨厌的“哔哔鸟”（Road Runner）却屡屡失败后，决定起诉这家公司。他选择了阿尔伯克基的人身伤害律师凯文·艾弗里（威尔·福特饰）作为代理人，对抗由巴迪·克兰（约翰·塞纳饰）领导的ACME精英企业律师团队——而巴迪恰好是凯文法学院的老同学。
Kevin has made a number of personal injury claims against Acme over the years on behalf of his cartoon clients, usually settling out of court for small sums. That’s what he expects will happen with Wile E.’s case—until a clerical error results in filing a massive lawsuit against every Acme product. Acme unexpectedly (and suspiciously) offers a very generous settlement. But the coyote has other plans and rips it up, forcing the matter to trial. 多年来，凯文曾代表他的卡通客户向ACME提出过多次人身伤害索赔，通常都是以小额庭外和解告终。他本以为歪心狼的案子也会如此，直到一次文书错误导致他们对所有ACME产品提起了巨额诉讼。ACME出人意料（且可疑地）提出了一份非常慷慨的和解协议。但歪心狼另有打算，他撕毁了协议，执意将案件诉诸法庭。
The problem is that Kevin is not a trial lawyer and only has his intern niece Paige (Lana Condor) and partners Sal Maltese (Tone Bell) and Dottie Jones (Martha Kelly) to assist him. The Road Runner is the only eyewitness to Wile E.’s many Acme-related mishaps and unlikely to show up in court, given that it is well-nigh impossible to catch. Acme also has a deep, dark secret related to something called “Project Sisyphus” and the disappearance of an Acme product development scientist back in 1992. And they will do anything to protect that secret. 问题在于，凯文并非出庭律师，他只有实习生侄女佩奇（拉娜·康多饰）以及合伙人萨尔·马耳他（托恩·贝尔饰）和多蒂·琼斯（玛莎·凯利饰）协助。哔哔鸟是歪心狼多次ACME事故的唯一目击者，但鉴于它几乎无法被捕捉，它不太可能出庭作证。此外，ACME还隐藏着一个深不可测的秘密，涉及名为“西西弗斯计划”（Project Sisyphus）的项目，以及1992年一名ACME产品研发科学家的失踪。为了保护这个秘密，他们不择手段。
Looney Tunes fans will delight in the many cartoon cameos and clever references to the franchise’s storied history, right down to the names of the main human characters. Kevin Avery is named in honor of animator Tex Avery; Sal Maltese, after screenwriter Michael Maltese; and Dottie Jones after animator Chuck Jones, who co-created Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. 《乐一通》的粉丝们会为片中众多的卡通客串和对该系列辉煌历史的巧妙致敬而感到欣喜，甚至连主要人类角色的名字都暗藏玄机。凯文·艾弗里的名字是为了纪念动画师特克斯·艾弗里（Tex Avery）；萨尔·马耳他得名于编剧迈克尔·马耳他（Michael Maltese）；多蒂·琼斯则得名于共同创作了歪心狼和哔哔鸟的动画师查克·琼斯（Chuck Jones）。
But there is heart as well as humor in the film, and an inspiring message: Wile E. is very much the plucky underdog, picking himself up after every failure and trying again, and again, and again. It’s that dogged perseverance that gives the chase meaning, even if he’s doomed to never succeed in his quest. 影片不仅有幽默，更有温情和励志的内核：歪心狼是一个勇敢的失败者，他在每一次失败后都会重新站起来，一次又一次地尝试。正是这种顽强的毅力赋予了这场追逐意义，尽管他注定永远无法完成捕捉目标。
Apparently, director Dave Green (Earth to Echo) had a life-size Wile E. Coyote puppet made so the actors had something to perform alongside and shot most of the scenes twice: once carefully choreographed, followed by another more spontaneous take. The effort paid off, as the human and animated performers blend seamlessly. (One sly moment involves Judge Troppogrosso, played by Luis Guzman, choosing a cartoon gavel over a real one since it was a “toon case.”) 据悉，导演戴夫·格林（《地球回音》导演）制作了一个真人大小的歪心狼木偶，以便演员们能与之对戏，并且大多数场景都拍摄了两次：一次是精心编排的，另一次则是更具即兴感的。这种努力得到了回报，真人演员与动画角色完美融合。（其中一个巧妙的瞬间是路易斯·古兹曼饰演的特罗波格罗索法官，因为这是一起“卡通案件”，他特意选择了一把卡通木槌而非真实的木槌。）
Green also opted to blend 3D and traditional 2D animation—reserving the former for shots where he needed better control over lighting and shadow—so it even looks like a classic Looney Tunes cartoon. And the overall tone is pitched exactly right in this unabashed love letter to the beloved cartoons. 格林还选择将3D与传统2D动画相结合——将3D用于需要更好控制光影的镜头——使其看起来就像一部经典的《乐一通》动画。在这封写给挚爱卡通的赤诚情书中，整体基调把握得恰到好处。
“All of them were just so funny to me because they were violent and they were irreverent. They weren’t saccharine: they were sarcastic and subversive and weird,” Green told IndiWire. “That was always the fabric of what Looney Tunes was to me as a kid and in the DNA from the very beginning. And so, in making this movie, we tried to carry that torch the best we could, and speak as much as we could with that tonality and that voice, and keep it weird and keep it smart and sophisticated and dark and funny.” “它们对我来说非常有趣，因为它们充满暴力且玩世不恭。它们并不甜腻，而是讽刺、颠覆且古怪的，”格林在接受《IndiWire》采访时说。“这就是我儿时记忆中《乐一通》的本质，也是它从诞生之初就自带的基因。因此，在制作这部电影时，我们尽力传承了这种精神，尽可能用那种语调和声音去表达，保持它的古怪、智慧、复杂、黑暗与幽默。”
Mission accomplished, Mr. Green. Seriously, we owe Ketchup Entertainment our gratitude for rescuing this gem from the shelves of studio obscurity. And their gamble seems to be paying off, based on the film’s solid opening weekend: Coyote vs. Acme racked up nearly $16 million, even with Spider-Man: No Way Home and The Odyssey still in the theatrical mix. That bodes well for its future. OK, it won’t break any major box office records, but it’s the strongest opening yet for a Ketchup film. Coyote vs. Acme is now playing in theaters. 格林先生，任务圆满完成。说真的，我们得感谢Ketchup Entertainment将这部瑰宝从制片厂的尘封中拯救出来。从该片首周末稳健的表现来看，他们的赌注似乎得到了回报：《歪心狼对战ACME》斩获了近1600万美元的票房，尽管当时影院里还有《蜘蛛侠：英雄无归》和《奥德赛》在竞争。这预示着它未来可期。好吧，它可能不会打破任何重大的票房纪录，但这是Ketchup公司迄今为止最强劲的开画成绩。《歪心狼对战ACME》现已在影院上映。