Scoob! (2020)

An attempt to give the Scooby-Doo brand a shot in the arm, Scoob! may fall a bit short for fans due to two main points. And one of those is the fact that the brand never feels like it needs a shot in the arm (and this is from someone who quite enjoyed the live-action movies).

The story starts with Shaggy (voiced by Will Forte) meeting a little Scooby (voiced by Frank Welker, so that is a plus). The two then meet the rest of "Mystery, Inc" before that was formed - Fred (Zac Efron), Velma (Gina Rodriguez), and Daphne (Amanda Seyfried). Years pass by, a montage shows the gang doing what they do (in a wonderfully-recreated copy of the opening titles of the cartoon I grew up with), and life is good. Which makes it a perfect time for the group to be split up, with Shaggy and Scooby meeting the Blue Falcon (Mark Wahlberg), and possibly helping to foil some nefarious plan by Dick Dastardly (Jason Isaacs).

You might have already surmised the other main problem people may have with Scoob! Yes, as seems to be the norm now for companies wanting to get lots and lots of money coming in . . . this film is also an attempt to create some kind of bizarre Hanna-Barbera movie universe. You get Blue Falcon and company, you get Dick Dastardly and Muttley, and you get a small role for Captain Caveman (and whoever thought Tracy Morgan was the best choice to voice one of my favourite cartoon characters was so far wrong that I hope they spend many sleepless nights thinking about what they have done).

The script, written by a few different scribes, works in the first third, generally, before trying to fit the gang into a wider movie universe. Then it all goes to pot, one or two witty, meta lines aside.

The same may be said of the direction from Tony Cervone, although his hands are tied by the script. But everything becomes a long, slow slide downhill once the main mystery comes into play.

The voice voice cast generally do well. It's a shame that nobody offered Lillard the chance to return to the role he made his own, but Forte doesn't do too bad as an alternative. Efron, Rodriguez, and Seyfried are a good match for their characters, Welker does his usual excellent work (which really goes without saying), and Isaacs has a lot of fun as Dick Dastardly. Unfortunately, the rest don't really fit in, be it Whalberg and his companions (voiced by Ken Jeong and Kiersey Clemons), or that unforgivable mis-casting for the Captain Caveman role. And let's not mention the clanging Simon Cowell cameo.

Scooby-Doo isn't a property that you should be able to mess up so easily, certainly not in animated form. But the creative forces behind this film manage it.

Consider my rating generous, with at least one point just for the sweet glow of nostalgia.

4/10
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Ani-MAY-tion: Basil The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Despite my love of both Sherlock Holmes and my love of Disney movies, I am neither an expert nor anywhere near a completist in both fields. But I am still surprised that it took me this long to finally watch Basil The Great Mouse Detective, a film that is, for all intents and purposes, a Sherlock Holmes tale that has the main parts played by a variety of animals. I am also surprised that, according to a few articles I browsed before writing this review, this film was quite a success, so much so that it renewed confidence at Disney in their animation department and helped to start them on their road back to grand success (The Little Mermaid, a few years after this, would see them end the decade in a much stronger position than their starting point, and the '90s had some huge animated hits, such as Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, etc). And I missed that. Even as a prime potential viewer, I suspect I was already trying to sneakily watch more adult fare and dismissed this film as something too childish for me. I don't even recall a big marketing push for it, although I assume that it would have been given the usual litany of ads, featurettes on TV shows, and tie-ins.

Basically, this is a film I kept putting lower down on my list of prioritised viewings because I wrongly assumed it had been a failure. It wasn't then, and it isn't now.

Little Olivia Flaversham (Susanne Pollatschek) seeks the services of the greatest mouse detective in London (Basil, voiced by Barrie Ingham) when her toymaker father is snatched away by a large bat. Bumping into Dr. David Q. Dawson (Val Bettin, portraying the Watson to the mouse version of Holmes), Olivia is guided to Basil and makes her case for help. The detective is initially unmoved by her tale, until he realises that it must be part of a scheme cooked up by the nefarious Professor Ratigan (Vincent Price). What dastardly plan is he hatching that requires a toymaker, stolen clockwork mechanisms, and many toy soldier uniforms? The game is afoot.

Despite not being quite up there with their very best work, and that is a high standard to reach, Basil The Great Mouse Detective is definitely high up in the overall Disney canon. The animation is quite lovely, with some delightful little details in most of the scenes, the script (worked on by many people who were transferring the characters from the pages of "Basil Of Baker Street", written by Eve Titus and illustrated by Paul Galdone) is a lot of fun for all ages, and the voice cast is excellent all round, with Ingham and Bettin a wonderful central duo, Pollatschek a sweet little girl in peril, and Price as ear-pleasing as ever with that immediately recognisable voice, used to great effect in yet another villainous turn.

Like other great Disney movies, this also has some moments that will scare younger viewers before carrying them back into safer territory. It's a perfect mix of thrills, chuckles, and spectacle (including a fantastic finale that takes place around Big Ben).

If you're a fan of fine animated films, a fan of Sherlock, or a fan of both, then you should make time in your schedule for this one. There's even a wonderful audio snippet of Basil Rathbone used.

8/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can get it here.

Ani-MAY-tion: Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave And The Bold (2018)

I've always enjoyed the adventures of Scooby-Doo and co. Who doesn't? Okay, the live-action movies weren't as good as they could have been (second one was better) but they weren't bad enough to stop me from enjoying the antics of the gang. But there have been so many incarnations of the Mystery Inc. adventures that I have never considered them an essential addition to my bulging roster of scheduled viewing entertainment. That all changed, however, when I heard about this crossover with the world of Batman (although this isn't the first time that the two properties have been brought together).

The story is quite simple. Batman enlists the help of the gang on a case that has been stumping him for some time. Things are so crazy that the police even start to suspect Batman and the Mystery Inc. investigators of being the actual perpetrators of the crimes. Who is the real culprit? Well, we all know that's going to be revealed in a finale that will involve explanations and unmaskings.

Here's the thing that works best about Scooby Doo! & Batman: The Brave And The Bold. It gets all of the Scooby-Doo fun right, which you'd expect. That would seem to be the easiest part. But mixing in Batman would possibly change the caped crusader into something a little bit sillier than usual. Not so. In fact, considering the amount of detective work involved, this version of Batman is superior to some other versions I could mention. You may not get many moments of tension or darkness, although a sequence in Arkham Asylum nicely balances the selection of dangerous inmates with a standard Scooby-Doo chase.

The voice cast will be familiar to viewers who have watched any previous adventures in either series. Frank Welker is the famous dog, as well as Fred, Matthew Lillard is Shaggy once again, Grey Griffin is Daphne, and Kate Micucci can deliver a fine "Jinkys" as Velma. Diedrich Bader is a perfectly acceptable Batman, not my favourite but he's okay, and there's fun to be had with John DiMaggio (as Aquaman, as well as some other characters), John Michael Higgins (The Riddler), Tara Strong (Harley Quin, Poison Ivy, and more) and Jeffrey Combs (The Question).

Director Jake Castorena, working from a script by Paul Giacoppo (from a story by James Tucker), does a great job here. Having worked on a number of Batman Unlimited TV episodes, he makes an enjoyable animated feature debut here, one that makes me even more excited to see the upcoming Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

Although this could have been improved in places (I was sorely disappointed to see Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn so underused, for example), it reminded me of how much I enjoy seeing Batman do actual detective work and how much I still love any adventures featuring Scooby-Doo and co. I may have to figure out how I can one day work my way through the many Mystery Inc. adventures that are out there. That will all rely on timing, and a plentiful supply of Scooby Snacks.

7/10

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