LEGO Scooby-Doo! Fantasmi a Hollywood

Lego Scooby-Doo: Haunted Hollywood (2016)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

After bringing down the Sea Creature, Scooby and the gang head to Hollywood for a vacation. They end up at a famous movie studio known for their classic horror movies and before long a zombie, a mummy and a headless horseman are running loose.

LEGO SCOOBY-DOO: HAUNTED Hollywood has a lot of very good stuff in it but it also has some weak stuff that keeps it from being a lot better. I will say that as a classic horror film fan it was great seeing the various homages made to the old movies. The studio here is obviously meant to be Universal with one of the main characters meant to be Lon Chaney while the name is a wink to Boris Karloff. Even the posters shown here are copied from famous movie posters. The Son of Zombie film poster here is the same as that for SON OF FRANKENSTEIN.

That stuff is all fun but the mystery itself is rather bland and even at just 75 minutes the film seems long at times. There's a running gag dealing with Daphnie wanting to be a "star" and it's rather boring and gets very few laughs. I'd also argue that overall the film lacks many good laughs. The animation and vocal work is nice but as a whole there's just something missing.

You can't expect much from a direct-to-video, CGI, Lego movie. And it seems almost appalling that Warner bros. would allow a film like this to be made or that someone would even conjure up the idea for this movie in the first place.

But surprisingly enough, I didn't hate it. I mean don't get me wrong, it's not a good movie, but its not nearly as bad as the premise led me to believe.

First of all, they did manage to get the official voice cast together to make this. That alone improves the film. The movie also has a pretty classic Scooby-Doo plot that is executed fairly well. On top of that, they managed to pull off the comedy. The jokes were good and they even had some pretty clever Lego-inspired gags throughout.

But of course, this movie does fall short in a lot of areas. Besides the funny bits, the script was poorly written. The supporting characters were throw-away consisting of an unsettling and unappealing tour guide, an off-brand Elvira, and not one, but two generic J Jonah Jameson ripoffs.

The ending was also completely predictable, they didn't give Velma anything to do throughout the film, and they mis-characterized Daphne by giving her a craving for fame. A trait I don't recall from any of the other movies/TV shows.

In the end, this movie obviously isn't great, but also isn't a train-wreck and I'm sure your kid will love it if they like Scooby-Doo and have a weird thing for Legos.

The gang catches the sea creature at the lighthouse. Scooby and Shaggy accidentally win a hamburger eating contest. The prize is a trip to Hollywood and a tour of Brickton Studios. The old studio is on the verge of collapse as it gets away from its horror roots. It is haunted by a Headless Horseman and the gang has a new case.

The title says it all. It is exactly what it is. It's Lego. It's Scooby-Doo. It's their standard mystery with their traditional running around. It has all the Scooby tropes. I do worry about some of the older horror references.

Being a huge 'Scooby Doo' fan for goodness knows how long, any new show, special or film would be watched with great anticipation. While 'Scooby Doo Where Are You' is still the jewel of the crown of the franchise, it was interesting to see 'Scooby Doo' rendered in Lego.

The first Lego 'Scooby Doo' film, after being pleasantly surprised if not blown away by the short special 'Knight Time Terror', 'Haunted Hollywood' has both good and very weak elements that make it an interesting but mixed bag watch. It is a long way from the worst 'Scooby Doo' film (excluding the television specials of the late 80s, which are very flawed but not that bad, and 'Arabian Nights', which is terrible, the only weak one to me is 'Monster of Mexico'. However, all the other 'Scooby Doo' films are much better. Especially 'Zombie Island', 'Witch's Ghost', 'Big Top', 'Goblin King' and 'Mask of the Blue Falcon', the rest are decent to very good.

Starting with 'Haunted Hollywood's' issues, the film doesn't have enough story for the 75 minute running time, making it feel over-stretched and making one think that a half an hour special would have been better.

Despite saying that 'Knight Time Terror' felt too short and rushed, that had a much stronger mystery, much more going on, more atmosphere and felt too hasty for a special so a feature length would have been justified. The mystery has its moments but can feel bland and some of the film feels padded, not all of it necessary, with a fairly obvious reveal.

Of the gang, only Shaggy and Scooby work properly. The other three lack agreed distinct personalities, Daphne particularly is bland and her rock star subplot would have worked and easy to relate to if it didn't wear thin too early.

Lastly, some of the character designs are wanting, especially for Daphne and a couple of the monsters. Even for Lego they look blocky and their movements aren't particularly smooth, Daphne apart from the hair and clothes could have been someone else entirely.

However, other elements do work very well. Character-designs aside, the Lego animation is very nicely done. It's very colourful and atmospheric, with some of the visuals also being inventive. The music is both dynamic and groovy, with a lot of energy and a haunting undercurrent.

A good deal of the writing is fun and smart, with witty in-jokes, endearingly goofy jokes (although a few of the puns go overboard on the corniness) and nostalgic homages to past horror films that are so much fun to recognise. It's quirky and a few thrills and scares, thanks to the villains being pretty creepy.

There are some decent supporting characters, particularly Drella Diabolique (brilliantly voiced by Cassandra Peterson.

Voice acting is very good. Frank Welker shows no signs of being long in the tooth despite voicing Fred since the very beginning way back in 1969, so nearly 50 years and he is going strong. His Scooby voice took some getting used to, having been so accustomed to Don Messick since forever, but it's definitely grown on me. Matthew Lillard is a worthy successor to Casey Kasem, a very difficult feat that he pulls off with ease, he is hilarious and an immensely likable goofball.

Kate Micucci does well as Velma, though the writing for the character is not the best. Grey DeLisle has to work with Daphne being bland but that doesn't stop her putting effort with the character regardless.

In summing up, a slightly above average mixed bag with an air of disappointment. 6/10 Bethany Cox