Joyeux Halloween, Scooby-Doo!

Crystal Cove is putting on a Halloween parade hosted by Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. The rest of the Mystery Inc. gang is after the Haunted Scarecrow while Scooby-Doo and Shaggy hide in the van. It turns out to be Dr. Jonathon Crane aka the Scarecrow who had recently escaped from Arkham Asylum. Scooby-Doo and Shaggy do save the day as Scooby shoots down Scarecrow's drones with Halloween candy.

I haven't seen Scooby-Doo for many years. I didn't realize that they are now in the same cinematic universe as Batman. I wonder if they are going to be in the next Batman movie with R-Pat. The first fifteen minutes is the most compelling and memorable for that fact. The rest is a bit muddled and it can't get more jaw dropping than catching Scarecrow. Come on! Scarecrow is a solid Batman villain. I can't believe the kids caught an actual Batman villain.

While I didn't abhor them as some fans did, Curse of the 13th Ghost and Return to Zombie Island were certainly lesser Scooby entries, and I have been eager for a return to form. I'm not sure I'm prepared to go that far with Happy Halloween, but it is passable. The visuals are good, and the tone is excellent. It's fun to see Scarecrow here, and the ominous Halloween vibe comes through strongly. The mystery is decent, though I wouldn't say it's as much of a focus as I'd like, and the solution is a cool one but comes out of left field. The side characters aside from Scarecrow simply aren't very interesting - I have absolutely no idea why Elvira continues to hang around, as she was absolutely useless, and if they're aiming for relatability, if I didn't know who she was there's no way kids today do. Mike and his daughter were throwaway attempts at comic relief, and Bill Nye was a cool idea but felt more like a shoehorned Guess Who appearance than a cohesive addition. As always, the main tension is on the characters, and the script for them is the biggest problem with the movie: the humor feels extremely forced, as if it's desperate to stay relevant and capture the attention of "hip" modern kids. Daphne, who has been my favorite character in several recent movie and show iterations (shout out to Be Cool Daphne, the legend), is mind numbingly stupid and pointless here. She does nothing at all related to the mystery, makes a bunch of ill-fitting jokes and slang trash talk, and then has a bizarre obsession with becoming Elvira I did my best to ignore. Fred is fine, and Shaggy and Scooby are undoubtedly the bright spots of the movie, as the only ones with comedic lines that actually work, as they highlight the absurdity of the situations. Velma isn't as grating as she has been in previous movies, and I appreciate that they try to develop some depth to her here, but the mind palace was overemphasized and the realization that Shaggy and Scooby can be good for something doesn't seem to hit home as well as the writers thought it would. The many easter eggs and throwbacks were lots of fun, I do really like the idea and tone, and the mystery was a great idea if just fine in execution. The character troubles (primarily Daphne and Elvira just being terrible) and lack of development of the mystery hold back what could've been a very good movie.

Ok, so not the worst movie. Probably the worst Scooby Doo movie out there, but at least it's still watchable. The guest stars and side characters have more likability than the main cast, sans Velma who absolutely dominates, to the point where the movie is almost about her. Bill Nye was an absolute treat, as wasn't Elvira, both of which are extremely likable and quirky in their own ways here. Shaggy and Scooby get dummed down a bit, but at least they're still funny. It's Daphne and Fred who really get nerfed, with the former being absolutely unacceptable (Fred was already a bit to late to be saved.) The villain is good, with a rather good twist and is still scary enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. Although there are some references in there that one would swear are just to prop up the movie. Overall, watchable, with this really being Velma's time to shine, but don't count it as a must watch.

After an awfully disappointing "Scoob!" Mystery Inc. is back!

We paid $17 for this and we want at least $16 of that back. This was the worst Scooby ever made. The plot made no sense. Most of it was a roadway chase scene. The characters were just bizarre, especially Daphne who veered from imitating rap stars to worshiping Elvira. Save your money.