Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
64
(32 sources)
64
(32 sources)
-
100
Premiere
It's flat-out comedy all the way, head-spinningly clever (you'll be talking about a sequence set in the Louvre for weeks) and always engaging. For my money, it's the comedy of the year. Read Full Review » -
88
Baltimore Sun
Replete with so many wisecracks, puns, double entendres and visual jokes that you almost need a flow chart to keep up with them all. But try; the effort is definitely worthwhile, and the results are hilarious. Read Full Review » -
83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The film is an across-the-board charmer that should appeal to children as well as their parents, aficionados of animation and old-movie buffs who will be challenged to sort out the blur of seemingly hundreds of classic film references. Read Full Review » -
80
LA Weekly
The movie looks like it cost a fortune, with Dean Cundey's glistening widescreen compositions and Bill Brzeski's towering, storybook sets providing the backdrop for seamless visual effects. What's more, it's equally rich in ideas. Read Full Review » -
80
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80
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80
The Hollywood Reporter
It will never be confused with the groundbreaking "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," but when it comes to a zippy live-action-meets-animation kid flick with plenty of grown-up gags, Looney Tunes: Back in Action does not disappoint. Read Full Review » -
80
Slate
A nutty, zany, wacky, unruly, spastically hilarious hodgepodge that hits at least twice as often as it misses—which is a big deal, since there are more gags per square foot of celluloid than in any film since Joe Dante's "Gremlins 2: The New Batch" (1990). Read Full Review » -
78
Austin Chronicle
Fraser, Martin, and the rest of the flesh-and-blood characters look like they’re having a ball, which translates instantly to the audience as well. Read Full Review » -
75
Chicago Sun-Times
Not as inspired as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" but in the same spirit. It's goofy fun. Or maybe we should make that daffy fun. Read Full Review » -
75
ReelViews
So jam-packed with self-referential humor, pop culture cameos, and nods to some of the greatest moments in animation, that it's almost impossible not to like it. Read Full Review » -
75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Fraser and Elfman are goofily endearing even if they seem more sincere acting opposite the rabbit and the duck than they do each other. Read Full Review » -
75
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70
Los Angeles Times
Looney Tunes doesn't have much on its addled mind other than pure entertainment, and on this level it succeeds quite nicely. Read Full Review » -
70
Village Voice
Dante's masterstroke is to make the movie as visually and narratively unhinged as its source material. Read Full Review » -
70
Film Threat
Is Looney Tunes: Back in Action a great achievement in animation? No, but I think that's the point of the film -- that the old cartoon characters and drawings are more human than the visual miracles produced by Disney and Pixar. Read Full Review » -
63
New York Post
The meta jokes come thick and fast - some clunk, but there's no time to mourn - and the references are far from limited to the Warner Bros. world (at one point, Bugs exclaims, "Whaddya know - I found Nemo!"). Read Full Review » -
63
USA Today
Even when the movie works, it's so much like having Daffy Duck assault your face that you want to buy a box set of elevator music for the calming drive home. Read Full Review » -
60
The New York Times
If the movie has loads of nerve, its ambitious fusion of cartoons and live-action comedy is only fitfully amusing. Read Full Review » -
60
Empire
Best of all, an astonishing sequence in which Bugs, Daffy and Porky Pig leap from painting to painting in a breathless chase through the Louvre sufficiently demonstrates just how much life modern animation techniques can breathe into these timeless characters. Read Full Review » -
50
The Onion (A.V. Club)
With the exception of its bland leads, Back In Action's frenetic plot serves as its biggest weakness, but it at least provides the framework for two Tashlin-worthy setpieces. Read Full Review » -
50
TV Guide
Fraser's goofiness matches that of the animated characters and he cheerfully pokes fun at his celebrity persona, while Elfman is oddly appealing as a strong woman who must seek help from a wascally wabbit. Read Full Review » -
50
San Francisco Chronicle
Fraser and Bugs Bunny are the highlights of this pleasant but unoriginal film. Read Full Review » -
50
Washington Post
Has its funny moments, but all too often it's a corny, lackluster film in which humans pretend (not always convincingly) to interact with cartoons. Read Full Review » -
50
New York Daily News
I've laughed harder during a single "Road Runner" cartoon than I did throughout Back in Action. Read Full Review » -
50
Salon.com
There's a reason why Looney Tunes cartoons were six minutes long. Stretched out over an hour and a half, they're wearying. Read Full Review » -
50
Christian Science Monitor
The film is preoccupied with whiz-bang adventure rather than storytelling. There's also too much cartoon violence for young kids. Read Full Review » -
50
Miami Herald
Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck might want to talk to their agents about looking for better material. Read Full Review » -
50
Variety
A not-inventive-enough romp that belches out gags at a rapid-fire clip but connects so sporadically as to leave the audience enervated but only sparingly entertained. Read Full Review » -
50
Dallas Observer
A mind-numbing, achingly post-modern advertisement for itself, which attempts to distract us from its highly merchandised nature by constantly referring to it. In other words, it's morally corrupt, but your kids will love it. Read Full Review » -
50
Chicago Tribune
You never lose awareness that Fraser and, particularly, Elfman are acting alongside creatures they can't actually see, and you constantly think you should be having more fun than you are. In the end, you want to ask the filmmakers: Is that all, folks? Read Full Review » -
42
Entertainment Weekly
There are flashes of wit -- Speedy Gonzales muttering about political correctness and an arty chase through the Louvre. But there is also random flatulence, a.k.a. the stink of desperation. Read Full Review »
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