Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon

This is one of the best Scooby doo movies ever. I thought it was an interesting movie with an interesting story.

I didn't like the first WWE movie much at all, and this is certainly a step up in quality. We don't spend as much time getting into depth of clues and the mystery as I'd like, but there were plenty of red herrings and uncertainty in what was going on. The animation is solid, and the race sabotage is a classic setting that works well, a throwback to the What's New episode The Fast and the Wormious. The dialogue felt off and it doesn't feel like the gang is ever really together solving a mystery. Fred is presented as getting really into cars but then works on a car all night and sleeps through much of the action, ends up doing very little in the movie. This is a clear step backwards for Daphne as a well-realized and nuanced character, as she is presented as the traditional superficial Daphne of old. Her minor fights with Velma are silly and don't seem worthy of their screentime. Shaggy and Scooby definitely have the funny lines they always have (the bad toaster line and the accepting being called skinny man and dead meat were great) but several times their dialogue and animation looked a bit off. Shaggy was more of a scaredy caricature than usual (which says something), and in general they didn't quite have the energy I expect from them. We get introduced to a vast swath of WWE characters, and it ends up feeling like quantity over quality, as most are a one-dimensional caricature. It hits all the notes and feels like a regular Scooby movie, but I don't think it rises above a generic Scooby movie at any point, and the relative weakness of the gang's characters here keep it a 6 for me.

Scooby-Doo! And WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon (2016)

** (out of 4)

WWE mastermind Vince McMahon is hosting the biggest stars in a race but soon a mysterious phantom driver shows up causing major injuries to legend Dusty Rhodes. Soon Scooby and the gang must join forces with The Undertaker to try and bring down this phantom.

As a life long Scooby-Doo fan I must admit that over the past few years I've been renting any new movie instead of buying it. I don't know but it just seems like these films are being made to make money more than making an actual good film. The latest trend is to team up with various WWE stars and it just doesn't work here and I doubt fans of either group are going to be happy with this release.

There's actually very little "story" on display here and I'm positive most 2-year-olds watching will be able to guess who the "bad guy" is without any trouble. Another problem is that the Scooby gang are pretty much thrown into the background and really don't factor into these very much. The WWE guys get a lot of attention but the entire story with the race cars is just boring.

What makes this even worse is that it's doubtful fans of either series are going to be happy. Scooby and the group are downright boring as they're pushed to the background. The fans of WWE aren't going to enjoy the lack of wrestling matches. You mix the two together and there's just nothing here that's entertaining.

WWE is hosting an off-road race. Scooby and Shaggy are big fans and Vince McMahon gives them a food truck to operate. Gearhead Fred brings the girls. Vince McMahon asks the gang for help when a curse seemingly descends upon the race.

I know some WWE, but non of the new people. This is much more for WWE fans. The gang are being fans of the wrestlers. I don't know anything about wrestlers racing trucks. It seems more like Mad Libs exercise. I would think that WWE personalities are more set up for a haunted house adventure. There are also too many of them. There is a more basic issue. This is much more interested in the race than the ghost hunting. The racing is not compelling at all. The ghost hunting needs more non-WWE characters as suspects. I'm sure that WWE fans will like the cartoon versions of their favorite wrestlers.

I'm a Sheamus fan, and I enjoyed seeing him in an animated version in this movie. Hopefully Scooby and gang with have more WWE movies with Sheamus in it. All the Sheamus fans will enjoy it.