Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost

I thought that this latest "Scooby-Doo" movie was pretty enjoyable. As far as "Scooby" films that feature celebrities go, I thought that this was probably the best one the franchise has done yet. Whereas the two WWE crossovers mostly felt like wrestling commercials, this one feels much more like a real movie, even if it has its flaws.

I may be a bit biased here, since I am a huge fan of The Food Network. Getting to see Bobby Flay and Giada de Laurentiis be a part of the adventure and working with the gang was pretty fun, and we got some decent humor out of them. I liked the idea of Fred being Bobby's nephew.

The storyline was fairly interesting with some good fictional lore thrown in there. The film is really well-animated and the atmosphere is pretty nice. I also enjoyed seeing a lot of tasty looking food on screen.

As for negatives, I wouldn't say that all of the jokes hit. The "shhhh" gag that ran throughout the movie, in particular, was beaten into the ground. I found Shaggy and Scooby rather annoying in this one (as to be expected from "Scooby-Doo" movies these days), and the film kind of dragged in some places.

All in all, I mostly enjoyed this one. It's far from the best movie in the "Scooby-Doo" franchise, but it's also pretty far from the worst. Recommended to fans of the franchise and fans of The Food Network.

RATING: B

Being a huge Scooby Doo fan for goodness knows how long, any new show, special or film would be watched with great anticipation. While 'Scooby Doo Where Are You' is still the jewel of the crown of the franchise, one where most of the shows and films are watchable and more, a vast majority of the Scooby Doo films have a huge amount to like and are worth watching at least once.

'Scooby Doo and the Gourmet Ghost' may not be one of my favourite Scooby Doo films, do prefer 'Zombie Island', 'Witch's Ghost', 'Big Top', 'Goblin King', 'Mask of Blue Falcon' and 'Stage Fright' in an extensive series of films where the only one to not do much for me was 'Monster of Mexico'. Do consider it one of the better recent Scooby Doo films though and a very strong contender for the best of the cross-over entries (my personal pick anyhow), with it feeling the most like a Scooby Doo film and the one that balanced mystery and guest stars the best, rather than the latter dominating the former or the gang. Maybe not an awful lot new excepting the setting in terms of story, but the entertainment value and quality is high here.

Maybe there are a few awkward transitions, emphasis on a few, and do have to agree that the shhh running gag repeats itself far too much, one that was slightly amusing the first couple of times, got tired very early on after that and then really grated the other times it was repeated.

Otherwise, there really is not an awful lot to criticise about 'Scooby Doo and the Gourmet Ghost'. The animation is great, colourful, suitably spooky and sometimes imaginative. Everything is beautifully drawn and meticulously detailed, with rich, atmospheric colours and a lot of care and time clearly went into how the characters were drawn and move. Music is both dynamic and groovy, with a lot of energy and a haunting undercurrent.

The writing is smart and clever, as well as very funny. There are some endearingly goofy jokes (in classic Scooby Doo fashion, while also feeling current) and witty quirkiness, lots of classic Scooby Doo elements (most of them in fact) and other nice little touches like Bobby and Giada's very cute cats and the valet. The story is mostly very compelling, with the right amount of upbeat goofiness and creepiness without being too cheesy or too scary. There are plenty of clues and surprises are plentiful too, thanks to the many twists being clever and not too foreseeable. Unlike most Scooby Doo films, the ending actually surprised me. Loved the culinary setting, which is so colourful and leaves one's mouths watering and wanting to dig in and learning more about Fred.

Really enjoyed Bobby and Giada and felt they added a lot to the film while not dominating too much. The ghost is awesomely spooky as well. The gang are on good form and true to character, especially Shaggy and Scooby. The voice acting is also very well done, Bobby and Giada put a lot of spirit into their voice-work while Matthew Lillard is particularly spot on as Shaggy.

Summarising, not quite delicious but very appetising and tasty all the same. 8/10

Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost is probably the best scooby doo original movie to come out in the past two years. The movie is very likeable with a well written story with some sudden twists and turns that keep you gessing who the Red Ghost. Fun for adults and their kids, great family movie. Also the movie gives us some new background information on Fred's family. Bobby Flay works really well in the Scooby doo crossover type film.

Scooby and the gang travel to New England, where Fred's uncle, celebrity (apparently?) chef Bobby Flay (voicing himself), has inherited a historic colonial inn and turned it into a state-of-the-art culinary resort. But as the grand opening approaches, it seems the ghost of Bobby's ancestor has other ideas, scaring away workers and sabotaging high-tech food preparation equipment. Good job a gang of 'teenage mystery solvers' are on hand!

Beautiful artwork and animation, very good story, atmospheric setting, and one really creepy looking ghost. Flay does well, as do fellow celebrities (?) Marcus Samuelsson, Giada De Laurentiis, and Maya Haile, all of whom voice themselves. Regular voice cast Frank Welker, Grey DeLisle, Matthew Lillard, and Kate Micucci are, of course, note perfect.

One gripe, sound mixing. A few times the tail-ends of comments made by the leads are lost to fade, or other speech/sound drowns them out. I had to replay them a few times to catch what was said. But the script is good. Shaggy and Velma get some great one-liners. At 77 minutes long, it could have done with another five minutes. But this is a solid entry in the Scooby-Doo canon (using that word loosely!). 8/10.

This Scooby-Doo is one of the better new age Scooby films. It follows classic plot structure and incorporates a fair amount of classic gags from the original series. 'Uncle Bobby' (Bobby Flay) is a fun crossover character who you don't need to have any background information on in order to enjoy his addition to this mystery. Scooby-Doo and the Gourmet Ghost is wonderfully animated and voiced, has a handful of 'blink and you miss it' visual gags and one-liners that will make you chuckle out loud, and is a coherent mystery for those who like to follow along at home.

The creaters did the gang right with this one. If you can get over the fact Scooby gets along with cats in this movie, this will be one to add to you watchlist.