Lego Scooby-Doo!: Haunted Hollywood (Video 2016)

Lego Scooby-Doo!: Haunted Hollywood: Directed by Rick Morales. With Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Grey Griffin, Kate Micucci. The Scooby gang try to rescue an old movie studio, which is not only threatened by developers, but a series of movie monsters too.

“Being a huge u0026#39;Scooby Doou0026#39; fan for goodness knows how long, any new show, special or film would be watched with great anticipation. While u0026#39;Scooby Doo Where Are Youu0026#39; is still the jewel of the crown of the franchise, it was interesting to see u0026#39;Scooby Doou0026#39; rendered in Lego.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe first Lego u0026#39;Scooby Doou0026#39; film, after being pleasantly surprised if not blown away by the short special u0026#39;Knight Time Terroru0026#39;, u0026#39;Haunted Hollywoodu0026#39; has both good and very weak elements that make it an interesting but mixed bag watch. It is a long way from the worst u0026#39;Scooby Doou0026#39; film (excluding the television specials of the late 80s, which are very flawed but not that bad, and u0026#39;Arabian Nightsu0026#39;, which is terrible, the only weak one to me is u0026#39;Monster of Mexicou0026#39;. However, all the other u0026#39;Scooby Doou0026#39; films are much better. Especially u0026#39;Zombie Islandu0026#39;, u0026#39;Witchu0026#39;s Ghostu0026#39;, u0026#39;Big Topu0026#39;, u0026#39;Goblin Kingu0026#39; and u0026#39;Mask of the Blue Falconu0026#39;, the rest are decent to very good.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eStarting with u0026#39;Haunted Hollywoodu0026#39;su0026#39; issues, the film doesnu0026#39;t have enough story for the 75 minute running time, making it feel over-stretched and making one think that a half an hour special would have been better.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDespite saying that u0026#39;Knight Time Terroru0026#39; felt too short and rushed, that had a much stronger mystery, much more going on, more atmosphere and felt too hasty for a special so a feature length would have been justified. The mystery has its moments but can feel bland and some of the film feels padded, not all of it necessary, with a fairly obvious reveal.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOf the gang, only Shaggy and Scooby work properly. The other three lack agreed distinct personalities, Daphne particularly is bland and her rock star subplot would have worked and easy to relate to if it didnu0026#39;t wear thin too early.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLastly, some of the character designs are wanting, especially for Daphne and a couple of the monsters. Even for Lego they look blocky and their movements arenu0026#39;t particularly smooth, Daphne apart from the hair and clothes could have been someone else entirely.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHowever, other elements do work very well. Character-designs aside, the Lego animation is very nicely done. Itu0026#39;s very colourful and atmospheric, with some of the visuals also being inventive. The music is both dynamic and groovy, with a lot of energy and a haunting undercurrent.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA good deal of the writing is fun and smart, with witty in-jokes, endearingly goofy jokes (although a few of the puns go overboard on the corniness) and nostalgic homages to past horror films that are so much fun to recognise. Itu0026#39;s quirky and a few thrills and scares, thanks to the villains being pretty creepy.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are some decent supporting characters, particularly Drella Diabolique (brilliantly voiced by Cassandra Peterson.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eVoice acting is very good. Frank Welker shows no signs of being long in the tooth despite voicing Fred since the very beginning way back in 1969, so nearly 50 years and he is going strong. His Scooby voice took some getting used to, having been so accustomed to Don Messick since forever, but itu0026#39;s definitely grown on me. Matthew Lillard is a worthy successor to Casey Kasem, a very difficult feat that he pulls off with ease, he is hilarious and an immensely likable goofball.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eKate Micucci does well as Velma, though the writing for the character is not the best. Grey DeLisle has to work with Daphne being bland but that doesnu0026#39;t stop her putting effort with the character regardless.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn summing up, a slightly above average mixed bag with an air of disappointment. 6/10 Bethany Cox”