Critics reviews

I rewatched Joe Dante's repudiation of the godawful Space Jam at Metrograph‘s Warner Brothers animation series, and found it as revelatory now as it was in 2003, when I named it my favorite film of the year. Ad man Joe Pytka was doing little more than extending the Warner Bros. brand by forcing Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, et al into a Michael Jordan basketball vehicle. Dante, with a skeletal spy film structure embraces the dada doodling that defined the best of the Termite Terrace output.

The film is rich with hilarious throwaway gags, including less-than-flattering portrayals of the Acme and Warner brass (featuring Ron Perlman as VP of Never Learning), a hilarious Michael Jordan cameo, and the mind-searing image of Heather Locklear writhing around on a Vegas stage surrounded by dwarves in plastic Yosemite Sam faces.

It's remarkable that Joe Dante, one of the most personal directors working in Hollywood, has never had or sought to have [an "a film by"] credit on his pictures... I don't know who controlled the final cut on Looney Tunes: Back in Action--which seems even more personal than Small Soldiers--and the screen credits don't tell us much.