Scooby Doo and the Monster of Mexico

Rating:
Summary: A Weaker Addition
Review: Back again in the brand new slicker animation form, the Mystery Inc gang head down to Mexico to visit Fred's e-mail pal but get caught up in the Chupacapra mystery as said beast begins terrorising the locals. It's not very good as the plot is practically discarded in favor of endless running around scenes and over-indulgence in set pieces.

The recent Scooby Doo feature-length animations have had decent stories, nice atmospheres and a couple red-herrings. It's very post modern and has certainly help revamp the franchise. But Monster of Mexico feels very dated and 60's. The gang are back wearing their old clothes instead of the modern gear they wore in the first four animated movies.

The ending is no surprise and completely unsatisfying. I don't like it. I wish for the next one to be a little more sophisticated. I mean children are intelligent and they deserve intelligent entertainment. Monster of Mexico may have been okay back in the 60's but in the modern day it's quite poor.

The DVD has a great 1.33:1 picture and a rather good Dolby 5.1 soundtrack. The extras are rubbish apart from the commentary by Shaggy and Scooby which is actually a really neat touch. I was excited at the Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman trailer featured here but it's 20 seconds long and shows you nothing. What's the point?

Rating:
Summary: Seething mad at this film...
Review: Following a torrent of scooby movies to be released on video and DVD comes "Scooby-Doo an the Monster of Mexico," a film that highlights the legend of El Chupacabre, the Mexican Bigfoot. All the same, the Legend of the Vampire totally insulted the vampire myth, and so I didn't expect this new one to be any different. For that reason, I waited until it was being played on the cartoon network before watching...
Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico
Here's how it ranked...
Sound: 3.5/5
Like Legend of the Vampire, this movie used a lot of the songs from the original series, and a few new ones, but unlike Legend of the Vampire, the original songs in this series were stereotypical to the point of being annoying. Hence the additional half-point down from that film.
Graphics: 3/5
The same grade that I gave the graphics in "Legend of the Vampire" and for the same reasons. This movie uses graphics that were just not as good as they could, or logically should have been, and were barely even better than those seen in the original series.
Story Concept: 3/5
Slightly less cheesy than the concept in Legend of the Vampire, but no less cynical towards the supernatural. Scooby and the gang visit Mexico for no real reason except to be in time for a mexican halloween, where they encounter El Chupacabre, and find out that there's a plot brewing. But as in the last movie, and the series, there were no real monsters. This creature was really just some woman in an animatronic suit. That was annoying, and I'm glad I didn't spend any money on it for that reason alone.
Story Presentation: 3/5
Similar to Legend of the Vampire in presentation, cause and resolution, except that the pleasing scenes of Daphne and Velma hanging out as they did in that movie were dropped in favor of scenes of the entire gang as stereotypical (and somewhat insulting) mexican tourists. Like in Legend of the Vampire, there is no real monster, but to make things even worse, Velma makes some comments near the end about monster stories that really cheezed me off. Her acts of superhuman strength in mid-movie were balanced off by the fact that they spent that whole section of the film getting chased my monstrous stone statues and tourists; a part which had nothing to do with the rest of the movie, and was seemingly added just to extent the length. The words of many of the bit-part characters got on my nerves too. I simply found the movie distasteful. Yes, it's scooby, and like Legend of the Vampire, it's funny scooby material, but it was presented too much like an episode of the series, and not enough like something worth making a movie over.
Acting: 5/5
Perfect grade here, because who plays Velma, Shaggy, Daphne and Freddy like their original voice actors? Like in Legend of the Vampire, the original actors returned, but again, it's a shame they had to pick a film like this to lend their voices to.
All in All: 3.5/5
I enjoyed this movie more than alien invaders, but less than Legend of the Vampire, because honestly, Legend of the Vampire at least had A LITTLE nostalgia to it and didn't go overboard into cheesy behavior and unforgivable puns like this movie does. However, this movie had no thrills at all, and was really just a silly little romp through a country which was, at best, a caricature of a real one. Frankly, I wanted more from Scooby, but it would be a lie to say I had EXPECTED more. This film is most comparable to Legend of the Vampire in general mood, pace and result, but it's sillier and less respectful, so if that's your cup of tea, have a ball. Otherwise, you may join me in a boycott of this movie. Toodles.

Rating:
Summary: Finally, a Good Scooby-Doo movie
Review: I've been a fan of Scooby-Doo since about 1978 and I have recently been very unhappy with how Warner Bros. has seemed to destroy everything Hanna Barbera made so great. Hanna Barbera cartoons have always had a certain feel to them, that was very distinguishable from a Warner cartoon, but since Ted Turner merged with Aol the Scooby franchise has seen some rough times. Finally, and being a hardcore fan, I can say Finally they have made a good Scooby movie. While I will always favor the darker, more stark look of the first three series, this atleast has a Scooby feel and plot. The last movie they put out, Legend of the Vampire, was so misguided it became boring. This movie, though, has a great feel...and i will even overlook the fact the main monster is a rip off of the old Jaguara!!! Enjoy the movie Scooby fans, my guess is Warner got more lucky than anything else.

Rating:
Summary: Scooby-Doo is a child's video hero.
Review: I, for one, am glad that they keep making Scooby-Doo movies. The old stuff is still fun to watch and the new ones are great for me and my nearly 3 year old son. I have to admit though, El Chupacabra from this movie and the ghosts from The Boo Brothers is scary for my son to watch at nighttime so I don't offer it as a choice at night. In this day and age of foul mouths and violence on TV, I am glad to offer Scooby-Doo as a choice for my son.

Rating:
Summary: Scooby Doo Flies High
Review: Kids loved this one. Catchy music, lovely Mexican setting, several character who seem "suspicious" when scary things start happening. The flying statues scene from the ruins kind of confused my kids, but added to the mystery - did the statues really come to life or was it another trick? (the mystery is solved in the end) Scooby Doo and his crew have endured since my childhood and their newer movies are still entertaining for kids today.

Rating:
Summary: Another Fascinating Locale Offers Tricks and Treats for All
Review: The Scooby-Doo movies of recent years have been generally warmly welcomed in our household. They tend to be of two schools: 1) more silly than serious, low on mystery, and catering to a young audience (Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School or Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf come to mind) and 2) more serious than silly, emphasizing mystery, and catering to an older audience (Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island or Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders come to mind). My wife and I enjoy Scooby-Doo and watch it with our children, but we try to stay away from the sillier films. This movie, Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico, looked to be of the more serious variety, so we bought it. Here are my thoughts:

The Animation: The first thing I noticed was that the movie opens with some nice animation eye-candy. (Generally, key scenes seem to begin with some startling visual, such as rippling water or flickering flames.) I thought the quasi-3D animation was a nice change from that seen on some of the previous Scooby-Doo movies.

The Plot: It is a more serious film: Fred's friends from Mexico are being terrorized by a monster of local legend prior to the Day of the Dead. Is the monster real or the fabrication of criminal minds? What differentiates this from the standard Scooby-Doo plot is the emphasis on the Mexican culture. Local customs (i.e. Day of the Dead) are introduced and explained. The folks in the Mexican village are treated respectfully. The gang and the audience learn some Spanish. This intimacy with the culture makes the monster's threat more significant. You do care what happens to Fred's friends and their neighbors. Initially, the plot seemed rather weak: the first half of the film deals with tracking a monster and the second half deals with the mystery. I wanted more mystery, but it seemed to take the gang a long time to realize that some detective work was required. Upon reflection, I see that the pacing was deliberate to allow the locals to contribute significantly to the gang's detective work; it's a group effort.

The Problem: I enjoyed this movie until the obligatory chase scene, which grew increasingly incredible. I thought I had the mystery all figured out--I was disappointed that I was way ahead of Velma so soon--and then found myself confused by the strange events occurring during the chase. Although all is explained later--and more satisfactorily than in Legend of the Vampire--I thought it was too over-the-top. It didn't help that the accompanying song grew rather tedious. Also, it made the movie feel too long.

Overall: I enjoyed this movie, especially its respect for Mexican culture and the Mexican characters, which, not being dumbed down, reacted normally toward some of the weird events, especially near the end. I dislike the obligatory chase scene, but I realize that this is for the young audience (my son loved this part). I would have preferred more mystery, but it does play out rather naturally. Considering the reactions of both myself and my children, I recommend this latest installment in the Scooby-Doo movie series. Although it has its flaws, I think it makes for a pretty good time. Adults will like it, and kids will probably love it.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific Scooby Doo Movie
Review: Upon first viewing of this new movie with my five-year-old son, I was prepared to declare it as somewhat disappointing and meandering.

But when the credits rolled, my son looked at me with a big smile and declared, "That was the best Scooby-Doo ever!"

So, what do I know? I bow to his critique and award this movie a full five stars.

Rating:
Summary: Vera Cruz and Mexico City Views by Scooby and the Gang
Review: We (spouse and children and I) just viewed this DVD tonight and are extremely pleased. The familiar "bad-guy-caught-at-the-end" format is used as well as the typical Scooby Doo format of mishaps with the Mystery Machine, food-hungry Scooby & Shaggy, red herrings, ballads, etc. plus a very mild love-interest for Scooby. The clothes and vocals are just like the original series, too.

What really caught our attention was the similar style to the original televsion series when Scooby and the gang visited various locations and learned things about the places they visited. Having visited Vera Cruz and Mexico City, we were struck by the similarities with the cartoon animation of Vera Cruz and Mexico City. We were also pleased to see Mexico/Mexicans portrayed in a positive way rather than as sterotypes.-There is even some basic Spanish used in a way to educate youngsters.

The cupacabra (evil monster/ goatsucker) which frightened tourists from Vera Cruz was a bit dated, but caused us to recall the scare which griped Mexico a few years ago.

We liked the voices and animation and were pleased to see the familar format of catching the bad guys in the end ("those meddeling kids"...) unlike some other recent Scobby DVD's where the monsters/witches are real. The cultural nuances and theme of "things are not always the way the seem" was also educational.

The only negative about this DVD is that the languages are English and French with Spanish available only in subtitles. One would think the title would suggest a DVD with vocals in Spanish...

Rating:
Summary: Don't listen to robertcrabtree's review
Review: Yeah, this really is a great movie! I'm a HUGE fan of the series
and let me say, Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico is NO dissapointment to the series.