Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery

Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK)

Rating: 3.9/5 stars

Fantastic nostalgia all the way through. Fans of the old Scooby-Doo animated series will love this. It has all favorite mystery solving gang back in familiar pseudo-ghost territory, doing what they always do best. And keeping them company are everybody's favorite WWE stars – past and present. This makes it a combined trip down memory lane.

But make no mistake, this is a Scooby vehicle all the way and the WWE stars are present only to add additional chutzpah to the proceedings (after all its a combined Warner Bros. and WWE Studios production). It has all the ingredients of the classic animated show we grew up with and came to love so dearly. Everything from the mystery van, to the archetypal character traits of Scooby and his pals, to outlandish plots and villains masquerading as diabolical urban legends are there to make it a fun-filled adventure ride.

What's more, these elements are presented with careful development, madcap planning, and precise execution, reminiscent of some of the crime busting gang's most famous TV episodes. The Director, "Brandon Vietti", and the writer "Michael Ryan", merit special praise for this. Even the gang's most famous dialogues such as "Jinkies!", "Nice work Scoob!", "Zoinks!", "Let's split up gang", and "Scooby-Doo, where are you?" are thrown in for added measure. Yet, the characters themselves take a few amusing digs at some of the more obviously silly parts of the show, like how they never change their attire. Along with the brilliant scripting and direction, the animation flows seamlessly considering the constraints of a direct-to-video feature.

In true Scooby-Doo fashion, I'll sign off by saying that this is one of the mystery gang's "grooviest" adventures yet, and while it's a must- see for all those who enjoyed the show, even neutral fans are bound to enjoy this full-length, animated, direct-to-video feature to the hilt.

Not the best Scooby Doo film or among the best, but still great entertainment from start to finish. Some of the story can feel over-stretched, the film could easily have been shorter and still be effective, and the final solution did feel over-complicated, a lot goes on but some of the explanation is rushed. The animation is top-notch however, there is so much detail in the backgrounds that has a uniquely interesting style, all the characters look great and the colours are warm and vibrant. The soundtrack is still groovy with some very catchy moments, and the writing, a vast majority of the story and characters hit the spot excellently. The writing is goofy but of a endearing and hilarious kind that is remarkably true to that of the classic Scooby Doo, and there is a lot of heart. The story never feels dull and the mystery is a good one apart from some padding and an over-complicated final solution, plenty of suspense and the clues as ever are very fun to spot. The ghost bear is a solid and initially scary villain that could have been utilised more, though you do know straight away from the usual formula that it is a person behind a mask, unlike some people here the culprit wasn't that obvious to me. The cross-over of Scooby and WWE worked excellently, I'm a huge Scooby Doo fan if not so much wrestling but the smart dialogue, chemistry between characters and colourful characterisations really worked. The Scooby Doo characters don't disappoint, Shaggy and Scooby have the lion's share of the funniest moments and the best bits are hilarious, but their friendship has a lot of heart to it. Velma(whose personality since the Sander-Schwatz outings has taken some getting used to), Daphne and Fred are likable and do things that are interesting and different to one another. The WWE characters are a huge amount of fun with their personalities as colourful as in real life without being exaggerated yet don't swamp the gang too much, the balance between the two are just right. The voice work doesn't disappoint, Matthew Lillard and John Cena standing out particularly but it is great from all the voice actors and is actually one of Wrestlemania Mystery's strongest assets. All in all, lots of fun and excellent as a cross-over. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Kane has returned to WWE City. There is a ghost bear monster. Shaggy and Scooby win a trip to WWE City and WrestleMania. The gang arrives to find a mystery to solve.

This is fine Scooby-Doo while incorporating WWE. I would like some more imaginative names for Scooby and Shaggy. I'm not up-to-date with some of the wrestlers but I do know quite a few of them. This is probably more for the WWE fans.

OK. Despite being a longtime wrestling fan and frankly, of Scooby Doo too, I'm probably not the target audience that the film was made for anymore. That said, despite its wild view of how Wrestling works I thought it was passable.

Having won tickets to WrestleMania, by completing the hidden bonus dance at the end of a WWE game, Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), Scooby (Frank Welker) and the rest of the gang head to WWE City, where the shows emanate from and where the superstars work, train and (inexplicably) live. A ghostly bear appears and threatens to ruin the show, along with an old woodsman, who resents the WWE's arrival in his vicinity.

So, from a technical standpoint "WrestleMania Mystery" isn't great. The animation is cheap and occasionally a bit sloppy, particularly when it comes to backgrounds. The likenesses of the wrestlers is pretty good though, and there are a number of "legends" hidden in some scenes to pick out. The professional actors do a good job with their voiceovers, but some of the WWE guys aren't as successful. HHH particularly stands out as unnatural, along with the Miz - who's given a weird slapstick comedy role in proceedings.

From a Scooby Doo point of view it's actually a decent story. Well.... It's the same Scooby Doo story it always was, but I was convinced that one of the characters, who turned out to be a red herring, was actually behind it. From the WWE's point of view, I'm not sure why they didn't want it to be slightly more realistic; why they were happy to give the impression that everyone would live together, why they want to let any show, let alone a WrestleMania come from this tiny arena. The films production timeframe leaves some interesting selections, would Sin Cara, or AJ Lee have featured so heavily, if they'd have known how their WWE Careers would pan out. No Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston. Bray Wyatt would have made a good foil for the gang.

There are some humorous moments though not enough that I'd recommend picking up the film.

This movie is about Shaggy and Scooby winning a trip to WWE city to see WrestleMania. The gang runs into trouble when Scooby is accused of stealing the WWE championship belt. Some of their new friends must prove Scooby's innocence before it's too late and the mysterious Ghost bear ruins the main event. Daphne (Grey DeLisle) is my favorite character because she is in love with John Cena and it reminds of me of myself when I have a big crush on a celebrity. I love when she confesses to Fred that she gave John her phone number, cellular number, email address and home address. That is pretty funny and cute and - Fred gets jealous. Scooby (Frank Welker) is my second favorite character because I love his voice and he is a better fighter than Shaggy because his moves are so swift and smooth.

I enjoyed the wrestling scenes in this movie, especially when Scooby is dreaming of being in a video game and he is up against a slice of a pizza, two delicious hotdogs and a huge cup of soda.

My favorite scene is Scooby playing the bonus level of the video game by doing Sin Cara's victory dance because Scooby has some nice dance moves. I is really cool to see WWE city animated because you get to experience what it is like to be a wrestler and what it is like to see a fight in the stadium. The upbeat music allows the audience to feel the excitement of the opponents. My least favorite part is the beginning because it takes forever to get to the plot and I is confusing for the first 30 minutes of the film.

The moral of the film is to not allow one's anger to turn into revenge. It's okay to be angry. It is not okay to act on the anger and make bad decisions. Parents should be aware that there are fighting scenes and a Ghost bear before allowing small children to view this movie. I recommend this movie for ages nine year to 18 years. I give this movie 3 out of 5 stars.

Reviewed by Shelby R., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic