Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy (DVD) – Movie Review
Scooby-dooby-doo! After solving the mystery in the world of wrestling, Scooby-doo and his friends return in a new adventure. So grab your Scooby snacks and get ready for this Frankenstein-inspired ghost-busting story.
When Daphne isn’t helping the Scooby gang with unmasking ghosts, ghouls, and monsters, she’s hosting her own Internet show about fashion. Sadly for her, her show is interrupted by Velma’s family lawyer, who bares the urgent news that Velma has inherited the family fortune. Once they meet up with the lawyer, the family fortune turns out to be a castle in Transylvania. Transylvania, Pennsylvania that is.
Velma however doesn’t seem interested in the mansion and decided to donate it away. Just as the gang is leaving, they are confronted with the ghost of baron Von Dinkelstein. This spooky individual wants to make sure our heroes do not go to the castle and ends up doing exactly the opposite.
It turns out that the people living in Transylvania, Pennsylvania are stuck in the 19th century. Their main export are torches, which says enough about the level of industrialism. Immediately after their arrival, the group and the townsfolk hit it off on the wrong foot. Apparently, Velma’s ancestor, the baron who was a mad scientist, attempted to create a monster. Let’s say it was the Dinkelstein monster (get it, it sounds like Frankenstein?). Unfortunately, the creation of the monster leads to some bad blood between him and the town and results in the destruction of the monster. It also leaves the baron scarred.
Now, years later, the ghost of the baron seeks revenge.
Now, I have to admit that I never was a big fan of the whole Scooby-Doo franchise. Even as a little kid who would still wake up voluntarily at 7 am, I never found it that interesting. Group meets ghost, they run a bit, group catches ghost, ghost says “My plan would’ve worked if It wasn’t for those meddling kids”. Even back then it was always the same pattern. Mind you, for my 8-year-old mind, the Power Rangers were something different every week, so yeah, let’s not talk about being consistent.
So how was it, the first Scooby-Doo experience in about 20 years? Well, not too bad really.
The voice acting is pretty good, with everybody from the WrestleMania movie retaking their roles: Frank Welker (Scooby-Doo, Fred), Matthew Lillard (Shaggy) – who also took up the role in the live-action films, Mindy Cohn (Velma), and Grey DeLisle as Daphne. Unlike the WrestleMania movie, there aren’t any guest celebs doing speaking roles, so they’re carrying the whole film and succeeding at it.
The plot then. Well, I was surprised. This is a Scooby-Doo adventure that knows what all the Scooby-Doo adventures are like and puts some effort in mixing it up. The beloved Mystery Van gets destroyed in the first 10 minutes of the movie, elevating the ghost of baron Van Dinkelstein from a baddy of the week to a proper challenge. Especially Fred is hit hard by this cruel loss. A lot of other Scooby rules are twisted and turned in the movie, making it actually pretty different from the (very predictable) Sunday morning cartoons.
Music is present, adding tension chords where tension is needed and making more humorous sounds in funny situations. It’s never truly spectacular or terrible. The intro tune is pretty great though.
The humor itself was pretty good. I do reckon that if you are of a younger age you will find the movie is a lot funnier than it was for me. Still, it got some chuckles out of me, which was pleasant.
One major downside, that or a major sign that I’m becoming old, was the fast editing. I’m all for a movie with a high tempo, but there were quite a few scenes were short images flashing on the screen, which was fun the first two times that it happened, but started to really drag after the 5th time.
Conclusion
This last addition to the growing number of Scooby-Doo films (we’re at 22 and there’s no sign of stopping) is somewhat special. It takes quite a lot of liberties with the whole standard Scooby-Doo story, which results in a fresh outlook on a well-defined history. The acting is good and an added bonus are two extra episodes, which come along with the DVD.
Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy (DVD) - Movie Review,
No Comments