Lego Scooby-Doo! Blowout Beach Bash

As far as Scooby-Doo movies go, this one's pretty good. The gang heads to the beach to take a well-deserved vacation and get roped into a mystery involving the ghosts of evil pirates. Shaggy, Daphne and Scooby are upset that Velma and Fred can't pass up the chance for a good mystery and the pair try to prove they can let their hair down.

The mystery in this one is a little more complicated than you typically get from most Scooby-Doo media, which leads to a really good reveal scene at the end where the layers of who did what, where, and how get peeled back bit by bit.

My only question is: why did this have to be Lego branded? Lego stuff barely comes up. Every now and then characters will gesture at the idea that their world is made out of bricks, but almost nobody ever uses legos as legos. There's maybe two whole scenes in the entire thing where it actually matters.

This could have just been a normal Scooby-Doo movie and it wouldn't have lost very much.

The gang is taking a break at the Blowout Beach Bash after solving another mystery. Fred and Velma are determined to prove that they are able to have fun. Once there, they find the vacation spot being abandoned and haunted by a ghost pirate.

This is fine for a Scooby-Doo Lego movie. It would work better if Velma is alone after being accused of not having fun. It works better for Velma than it is for Fred. The hair flipping also works better with Velma than with Fred. Her hair is iconic. Fred is about his ascot. A lone Velma would be a compelling character growth story although that may be asking too much for a simplistic cartoon movie.

Lego Scooby-Doo! Blowout Beach Bash (2017)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

When Fred and Velma are accused of being no fun, the gang heads down to Blowout Beach where they're going to let loose and have a blast. When they get down there they realize no one is there and apparently there are some pirate ghosts that have chased everyone away.

You know, I've loved Scooby-Doo since I was a kid but over the past couple of years I've quit buying the movies and instead I just rent them to see how they are. I'm not a huge fan of the Lego movies and this one here is probably the weakest that I've seen. I'd also argue that it's one of the weakest Scooby-Doo movies that I've seen and it's really too bad that they're changing the series up so much.

I say "changing the series up so much" because do you remember when these cartoons used to be dark and creepy? It seems they just keep getting away from that and instead going for bright colors and really bad humor. Even worse is that the story here is pretty darn weak and I think even a toddler will be able to find out who the guilty party is. The jokes are rather weak and in all honesty the film drags pretty badly even though it's only 77-minutes.

I'm kinda torn on this. On the one hand I have trouble getting into 'Lego Scooby' as a thing, and the story here is really pretty lame; but on the other, there is some very funny dialogue from Scooby and Shaggy. And of course, the regular voice cast of Frank Welker (Scooby/Fred), Grey DeLisle (Daphne), Matthew Lillard (Shaggy), and Kate Micucci (Velma) bring the magic as always. I'm gonna go with 6/10 overall.

I first watched this film when I was in the emergency room after a concussion at 8 years old. As an 8 year old girl obsessed with Scooby Doo, I fell in love with the film. I got it digitally a month or two later, and watched it constantly. I hadn't seen it in many years. Ever since I decided not to use streaming services as often, I bought it on DVD but hadn't watched it. Yesterday, I decided to see it. It wasn't outstanding, but it was still nice to watch. I liked the concept and the silly little gags and the voice acting. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they got all of the original voice actors from the Scooby gang. Overall not a bad watch.