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Digimon Cyber Sleuth Review

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Digimon has always set the bar very high for its games. I’ve played quite a few of them and they have all ranged from good to amazing. Digimon Data Squad was an all star title for the PS2. I actually only gave it a score of 7 back in the day, but now (With the power of nostalgia goggles I suppose) it’s easily a 9. Looking back at it, that was really the first big Digimon RPG that I played. Digimon World DS followed suit and that one was a lot of fun thanks to the fast paced turn based style. That one’s easily at least an 8. Digimon Racing was more on the mediocre side, but we had Digimon Rumble Arena 2 and World 4 to compensate. (I’ve still got to go back to World 4 at some point) I wasn’t a huge fan of Digimon Dawn back in the day and ended up selling it because I didn’t like the concept of having to devolve my Digimon before Digivolving them. I still don’t like that mechanic, but I’m mostly over it since I do enjoy grinding up the levels nowadays. Cyber Sleuth is another excellent installment in the franchise and you can make a solid case for it possibly being the best Digimon game.

Part of what helps Cyber Sleuth really rise up the video game charts is how long it is. The story mode took me around 48 hours to complete although I did spend a good amount of time leveling up and finding new Digimon evolution routes. Through the course of that time, it’s easy to get used to all of the characters and become more invested in the plot. It’s an advantage over shorter games like Knack. I’d like a sequel to this game although the next Digimon title seems like it’ll be a stand alone story once again. I’ m sure that I’ll grow to like the new characters by the time I beat that game, but I will miss these guys for a while. I still don’t have the Platinum trophy yet, but I’ve got my sights on it and I’m definitely getting closer. The toughest one is definitely going to be the 30 online wins trophy since I don’t have PS+. I’ll have to wait for the next free weekend, but that should happen soon.

Cyber Sleuth fully embraces the futuristic sci-fi feel that comes with the concept of Digital Monsters and it greatly enhances the overall experience. The soundtrack is easily the best one that I’ve seen in Digimon and ranks as one of the best video game soundtracks ever. Prelude to a Bloody Battle, Royal Knights theme, and Eater theme are three in particular that I recommend looking up. They really steal the show. There are also several themes that play during the mystery moments to help build up the hype. As I’ve always mentioned in the past, a good soundtrack can always help a game make it to the next level of quality.

Meanwhile, the graphics are solid. I wouldn’t say that they are amazing of groundbreaking this time, but everything looks fairly sharp. There is a noticeable lack of animated cutscenes though and I would have liked to have seen more. We never really got to see a fight in the middle of a cutscene and that would have certainly been a blast. Ah well, I suppose that’s something that can be improved in the next game that’s coming up.

As for replay value, there is certainly a lot of it. Not to mention that the game also has a lot of initial value considering how long the main campaign is. Once you finish that, you can work on grabbing all medals and trophies for the PSN. There are also many bonus missions that you can grab from your Digimon or a few more side missions where you help people out. There’s also the 8 part DLC mission pack where you help a girl save the world from the 7 Deadly Sin Digimon and also find out a twist about your computer correspondent. There’s even a Colosseum cup challenge where you can fight many characters that you’ve met through the game in very challenging matches. Yes, a lack of value is something that you’ll never hear regarding Cyber Sleuth. It’s a game that will last you quite a while.

As you’d expect, the gameplay is your traditional turn based title. You get to have 3 Digimon on the field at once, but you can command up to 11 in your party. When 3 die, you throw in three more, but you can also substitute mat any time. You’ll want to have some fast Digimon on your side since having extra turns is crucial to winning. You can have the strongest Digimon in the world, but it won’t mean a thing if you can’t get a single turn. Towards the end, the computer may have 7 turns before you get one and that can get very dangerous. I had to completely re tool my team. One trick that you’ll want to be familiar with is the Tactician USB with Gold PlatinumNumemon. You can get hundreds of level ups in minutes with that strategy which greatly reduces the amount of time that you’ll need to spend leveling up. It’s a must.

I’ll basically skip Terry in the characters section since he doesn’t have much of a personality. To clarify, he doesn’t talk much, but you can tell that he is a hero. He tries to save the villains while risking his life and always comes across as a team player. He can act a little oddly at times like pointing out that someone was drooling over a good food item, but otherwise he is solid. Kyoko is Terry’s boss and she is the one who gets him into the detective gig. She has a lot of connections and likes to throw out some real world knowledge in the game. She’s a charismatic character and her coffee gimmick works well. An important thing is that she can also fight when necessary.

Arata is Terry’s friend and he is very similar to Sasuke. He starts off as the tough and aloof rival who has a tragic past. He helps out the team quite a lot and really want to get to the bottom of the mystery involving the Eaters. He wants to save his friends, but slowly he realizes that more power is necessary. He is being left in the dust of Terry and Nokia so he sets off and slowly starts to be corrupted. He goes as far as to eat one of Terry’s Digimon friends and it’s hard to see how he’ll go back to the side of good. Terry gives him some hero speeches and everything, but it is hard to forget what he did to the Digimon. Arata’s a solid character, but he really didn’t get a whole lot of responsibility for his actions. He got off a little too easy.
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Nokia is another one of Terry’s close friends and she wants to be friends with as many Digimon as possible. When she finds out about the Digi Eaters and the Digi World going into ruins, she decides to amass an army to protect them. She gets a very large role in the plot as a result and even gets a Mega level Digimon before Terry and Arata. She becomes the heavy hitter for a while and that was unexpected. She’s actually a better character than Terry and Arata by the end. Her plan’s a good one even if it is a little naive since you certainly can’t trust everyone. Her one downside is that she can be way too overconfident about how attractive she believes herself to be and constantly rubs it in when talking to her two friends. Aside from that, she’s always eager to fight (When she has the upper hand) and sticks up for Digimon through to the very end.

Yuuko is another one of Terry’s friends although she joins in a little later. She starts off as a mysterious figure with another tragic past, but gradually she becomes one of the main characters. She is rich and has connections to the shady organization which helps the group out quite a lot. She’s more reserved than the others (Even Arata) so it takes her a while to get used to how everyone acts. By the end she starts to embrace her emotions a lot more, which makes things a little tricky for Terry at times since she threatens him quite a bit. Her character arc is a good one even if she sometimes has to slow her pace down to let the main characters keep up.

Matayoshi and Date are a Detective and Cop who help out from time to time. They can both be quite annoying though and usually their appearances are the signal for filler to come so you just want them to go away. They do nothing, but slow down the plot. Another problem is that they both have to obey orders so they put Arata in a bad spot and really set him up to turn into a villain. None of them have any Digimon either so they end up just being liabilities in the long run.

Kishibe is one of the main villains and she certainly gets a huge role. Whenever someone has a huge role, they typically get a big plot twist. Nokia, Arata, Terry, Kyoko, Kishibe, and Yuuko all have very big plot twists by the end. The twist certainly helped me take Kishibe a lot more seriously than I had. Post twist, Kishibe is a cool villain. Before that I couldn’t take her very seriously, but her plans certainly were well thought out. Suedouis the other big antagonist. He wants to remake the world so that there is no sadness, but to do that he has to erase free will and force humanity to evolve. He’s certainly a villain even if his motives aren’t the usual “Destroy the world.” goals. He’s an annoying villain since he is extremely weak, but the heroes never try to stop him and just tolerate his existence the whole time. He does help them unravel some mysteries after all, but it would have been nice to have seen the heroes try to arrest him or something. He gives out a lot of meta speeches by the end and explains the Digi Eaters origin. See, they are multi dimensional beings who have limitless power and even Digimon can’t stop them. It’s all decently interesting, but in the end it’s not as if it matters all that much aside from wiki purposes.

Zaxon is one of the big hacker groups who stand in the way of the heroes at times. Their leader, Yugo is reasonable, but most of the Zaxon members are corrupt anyway. Zaxon tries to stop the main villains on their own though, which makes for a very epic level since you had several groups fighting at once. Kishibe’s group, Zaxon, Terry, Arata’s group, and Nokia’s posse. It was certainly one of the best parts of the game and I always like to see multiple groups duking it out at once. It adds in an extra dynamic since it’s not just a classic 1 vs 1.

Jimmy Ken is an annoying villain. He speaks with a lot of slang which must come across very oddly in the original Japanese version. His theme is catchy, but he’s mostly just a thorn in the hero’s side. He never actually contributes to the plot either so you can think of him as a pre arc boss. The game is so long that it can afford to have a bit of a long pre arc while the plot slowly starts developing in the background. Even so, I was glad when he completely disappeared as the plot really started going.

We can’t forget about the Royal Knights either. Seeing as how the humans sent the Eaters into the Digital World where they started eating all of the inhabitants, it makes sense that the Digimon King would send out a counter attack. The Royal Knights mission is simple, they must destroy the Human World to stop the source of the Eaters. Let’s face it, the human world isn’t ready to repel this invasion so it is up to the main characters now. Once this plot started, the game had reached its Apex of hype. We got a lot of really cool themes and also some epic cutscenes. Naturally, I had already enjoyed the game quite a bit before they showed up as this was at around Chapter 11 I believe, but the game’s second half really took off. The Royal Knights are great characters and even if they always end up being on the antagonist side, they are quite the epic group. If they ever attacked as one, they would be nearly unstoppable. Plus, it’s hard to blame them being so upset with the humans after so many Digimon were massacred by the Eaters. The humans are always causing trouble on other planets.

Finally, we have the Eaters. They eat data so they are very dangerous for Digimon to battle. One hit can be fatal and their sheer numbers are impressive as well. The big Eater Queen is even more deadly than the rest and made for an epic final boss. I remember the boss being super easy though thanks to the super grinding and some of the earlier bosses had been trickier. Ignoring that though, it was a climactic way to end it all. The humans will be glad to have the Eater threat gone as well. A big of a running gag is that humans kept on dying throughout the game. Terry was always to slow to save anyone so the body count by the end is incredibly high. It was actually pretty funny at certain points, but the humans should have really ran a little more. The Eaters are incredibly slow after all.

Then we’ve also got the crossover characters. Mirei is actually a main supporting character as she gives out quests from time to time and is in charge of the Digi area where you can train your Digimon. She even gets some character development in the final DLC quest as she lets the power get to her head and temporarily turns evil. The power was simply too much for her. She doesn’t have much of a personality though so you may not have much of an opinion on her by the end. Sayo joins the cast thanks to the DLC missions as well. She’s the main rival in the Digimon Dusk/Dawn game (I still need to go back and complete that one!) and she gets a lot of hype as being very powerful. Her Dianamon did beat all of the Legendary Sin Digimon on her own after all. The fact that she wasn’t supposed to defeat those Digimon is still pretty baffling and I don’t buy it. Sayo seems like a good character even if she may be overconfident, after all..that’s a good quality to have.

Rina is the final big crossover character and she’s from one of the big Digimon titles that never made it to the U.S. She’s definitely very scatterbrained and overly cheerful, but that doesn’t mean that she can’t fight. Rina can hold her own against any of the big fighters in Cyber Sleuth and she is the only reason that the heroes were able to take down the fastest member of the Royal Knights. Her Ultra VForcemon (Close enough) proved to be the strongest Digimon of them all. Her world doesn’t look as interesting as Cyber Sleuth’s though, but it was cool to have her as part of the cast. The game went all out with the crossover effect.
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Overall, Digimon Cyber Sleuth is a great way to spend 50 hours. The plot is very engaging and the game feels like a lot of effort was put into it. (Unlike Star Fox Zero) If you want even more of a challenge then you can always try out Hard Mode. I’m not sure that I would recommend it unless you have a lot of time to burn though. The game gets significantly harder and the opponent’s health bars go up as well. Boss fights can take around an hour and if you don’t have the best possible team with you, it could be game over. I’ve heard quite a few stories about how insane hard mode is, but you would definitely have some serious bragging rights if you can pull it off. I now await the next Digimon game and in the meantime, maybe I’ll finally get around to getting Digimon Championship!

Overall 9/10

Now You See Me Review

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It’s time to watch a film about magic! This is a bit of a team film as several magicians who are the best at what they do are grouped together to perform tricks that have never even been attempted before. Obviously the stakes are high, but these guys are ready. Unfortunately, there are dozens of plot holes and plot twists that don’t make sense. The writers took all of the easy routes during the film when it comes to explanations and it ultimately makes you feel like there was not a lot of effort put into this title.

As for the plot, it revolves around this team. The magicians find a magical orb at a mysterious apartment that they were all sent too via playing cards. These cards were expertly handed to them as they were in places that nobody should have been able to get to all that easily. The challenge isn’t told to the viewers until the very end, but it involves stealing a lot of things and crushing the lives of several people. What’s in it for the magicians? The thrills and the chance to join a mysterious magic group of legend.

That’s their side of the story. On the other side, we have Dylan, an FBI agent whose mission is to capture these guys. They may not have been a threat at first, but they rob all of the money from a large bank’s vault and then they steal millions from their boss. Their last trick is set to take place in New York so Dylan must use every tool at his disposal to win. To his dismay, he has a partner for this case from Interpol and he fears that she (Alma) will slow him down. His ego is certainly fairly strong.

At the very least, this isn’t the kind of film that I found dull in the least. The pacing is very quick and most of the dialogue is fairly snappy and entertaining. There is a lot of banter to be found here. Given the nature of the film, there are also a few chase scenes like the ones on the ground and a car chase as well. We even get a big hand to hand fight scene between Dylan and one of the magicians where the guy is pulling off things that shouldn’t even be possible thanks to his magical skills. It’s the kind of action that you want to see in a summer blockbuster. Unfortunately, this gets held down by many other elements.

For starters, Danny is one of the magicians and he’s pretty unlikable. His first scene is him having a one night stand with someone before shooing her away because he has to get to a meeting. Not a great introduction. His overconfidence is good as he messes with the cops a lot, but it’s just irritating to see the cops simply have to back off. They know that this guy is a burglar and he’s also taunting them so that’s reason enough to keep him locked up for questioning for a while.

Another one of the magicians is Henley and her thing is that she’s good at escaping impossible situations like being chained up in an underwater tank and then appearing in the audience. Naturally, she can’t resist quickly stripping before jumping into the tank. There’s a really unnecessary romance plot between her and Danny that goes nowhere and probably never will since her character is not going to be in the sequel.

Merritt is next on the list and what if I said that he was the worst member? He is good at hypnosis to the point where the film has to sacrifice even more realism. Just by talking to you for an instant, he can get you to do whatever you want. He uses his tricks of mind reading as well to humiliate everyone all the time. Despite this, he doesn’t realize that he’s the desperate one as he even asks Henley if she wants to have a one night stand. Whenever he’s on screen, you can get ready to face palm. Why is this black mailing individual one of the four horsemen? (The name of the magic group)

Finally, there’s Jack. He’s the youngest member and he’s great at slight of hand. He can pick any lock and he can magically use the handcuffs that are on him to cuff someone else in the blink of an eye. It’s all really a big stretch of disbelief if you ask me. He’s the best member of the group, but it’s practically automatic. He has no huge faults that hurt the character and he takes all of the big risks while the other members try to get somewhere safe while they still can. They’re not exactly dependable as you can see.

Luckily, Dylan’s a likable protagonist. He always looks and sounds tired, but it gives the impression that he has been doing this for a while and that he has experience on his side. He knows how to talk tough to all of the villains even if he ultimately ends up getting humiliated a lot of the time. He’s the main reason why the film is a blast. His only failing is that he tends to blame everything on Alma and yells at her for basically no reason whenever he’s stressed. Alma should have just left to work on her own after a while because I know I wouldn’t bother with someone like that. Especially when he has to keep on asking her for help since he doesn’t believe in magic.

The main fault with this film aside from the unlikable magicians is the large amount of plot holes. Honestly, you could write a whole 1000+ word review on just that aspect. In the end, we are led to believe that the magic is basically real to an extent. There’s no other way to justify how the magicians pull off so many feats. They hypnotize someone to rob a bank, they can fight off professional FBI agents with their tricks, They can leap from speeding cars and have time to exchange a dummy in their place that looks incredibly realistic to the point where nobody can tell that it’s a fake even at close contact, They can make completely real looking illusions, They phone in the dates for their robberies and where they are taking place, but the police don’t want to close the building or cancel the show, etc. They are able to take down the FBI and Interpol and the citizens of New York are actually cheering them on. Are you kidding me? It’s one thing for Americans to cheer someone illegally walking on a tight rope. It’s another to cheer about someone robbing people (Robbing a bank is essentially robbing a lot of citizens as well) and making lives miserable. I just don’t see that happening in real life to be honest.

There’s also a big plot twist about who the real leader of the 4 Horsemen is and it makes no sense in context to the rest of the film. There’s no way that the film can justify this in a way that will satisfy me. Sorry guys, I’m just not buying it. It turns the film upside down, but not in a good way. The only good part about this was that the tough talking Thaddeus was finally taken down a notch. He made for a good rival to the FBI in following the magicians and I liked his overconfidence, but he had to go at some point. His back and forth with the other old guy was one of the best scenes in the film though. Both of them are supremely confident and have a lot of resources, but only one could come out on top…or maybe none of them. The way that it all happens was pretty interesting and the scene where Thaddeus loses is funny. See, if you ignore the lack of realism, the final twist is hilarious. If you think back to all of the other scenes in the film while already knowing the twist…..well you just have to feel bad for the FBI. This looks pretty shameful on them.

Overall, Now You See Me is a film that should and could have been great. Becoming a good film is a three step process after all. 1. A film should be enjoyable. Check! 2. A film should have likable characters. X. 3. A film should minimize negatives:Extreme Violence, Sensuality, Language, Terrible Dialogue, Bad Pacing, etc. X. So, this film simply couldn’t follow those 3 rules. As it is, I wouldn’t really recommend it. It can make for a decent way to spend your evening, but there are simply better ways to do that. The sequel should be intriguing since the magicians are on the run. I’m looking forward to that and it looks like the big team up’s going to happen. The interesting thing is, I don’t think you would even realize the end twist just judging from the trailer of the second film so that was actually handled pretty well. On a final note, remember that you should never tell a group of teenagers all of the right passwords to your super complicated Swiss bank account which holds millions of dollars even if they claim that they only want to know it for a game they’re playing…that scene was just sad. Dylan’s boss in the FBI had the best line in the film, which basically encapsulates your opinion of the FBI’s handling of the case. “The level of incompetence displayed on the case, that’s a magic trick in and of itself. Abracadabra, I’m takin’ over…”
 I reeeeeally loved that line, even if the character proceeded to get embarrassed in the very next minute. When watching the film, that’ll be your reaction as you can probably think of better ways to handle the situation.

Overall 5/10

It Came From Outer Space Review

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It’s time for a really old sci-fi film. This one came out even before the original Godzilla film! It’s an intriguing alien story that holds up pretty well although I admit that some things could have been handled better. A fight between the humans and aliens definitely would have been a blast, but maybe once we finally make a big budget sequel someday that’ll happen. This is still a fairly entertaining film that holds up well.

Putnam has never been the most reputable man around, but he had a good career and made some friends in the astrology biz. That being said, these “friends” quickly leave him after he claims that a UFO landed and buried itself in a canyon. Putnam’s not going to stand for this…so he slowly drives away. When he gets home, he realizes that it’s not over as two men who by all accounts should be dead have reappeared. The aliens have done something to the real McCoys and slowly start to take down other humans in the area. What can Putnam do to prevent this alien invasion…and does he even want to aid the humans?

So, it’s a classic invasion film at its core. Slowly, but surely the aliens start to kidnap various humans and nobody knows where they could be. The aliens claim that they’re in good hands, but can we really believe that? Putnam certainly does and it’s part of why he’s such a terrible character. They even kidnap his friend Ellen, but Putnam continues to listen to their demands. The cops won’t have any of this though and Sheriff Matt decides to make the tough calls as he storms their base.

All right, let’s get into why Putnam is such a bad character. He basically lets the aliens walk all over him and then stomp him further into the ground. The aliens fired the first shot and Putnam suspects that they murdered one or two of the humans at the very beginning of the film. He suspects this and yet…he’s hardly alarmed. They later tell him that everyone’s okay, but why is he so happy to help them? If you listen to the first threats, then bigger ones will surely surface and it’s a vicious cycle. Putnam needs to try and stop these guys, but the only thing he does is throw a punch at the Sheriff and try to slow down the police. Even when the aliens start trying to destroy him, Putnam doesn’t really recognize them as a threat the way that he should. I definitely did not like this guy at all.

The aliens were also rather odd. They were portrayed as being a little misunderstood and they were relatively peaceful. Really? That’s not the way that I saw it as they were quick to attack the humans and fired at the main character. They also decided to blow up the Earth when things were not going their way. They had real forms so it’s not as if they needed to attack the humans. They decided on their own that the humans would be hostile and fired the first shot, but that’s ultimately just their justification and not a very good one either.

The humans were pretty embarrassing with how they handled seeing the aliens true form though. The thing may look a little grotesque, but certainly not enough to make a person yell or faint. Nobody took it in stride and you would think that someone would be a little brave. Ah well, at least Putnam was able to dodge a ray blast and take out one of the aliens so the humans didn’t look completely powerless here.

I’m also going to give Sheriff Matt some props here. I thought that he was easily the best human here and at least he tried to do something about the aliens. He went along with the demands for a little while thanks to Putnam, but he eventually realized that something had to be done. He would have made for a much better main character than Putnam, but sometimes it’s good to have the best character be the rival.

You will have to stretch your disbelief quite a bit here as characters are taken down by the super slow alien monsters who have no business taking down any adults on their own. Not without a good blaster anyway and I’m not sure if they have it set to stun here. Putnam spends a lot of time driving around and picking up clues. If only he knew that he was basically just being played here.

Overall, It Came From Outer Space is a good movie. It has that retro feel that is always enjoyable and the writing is fairly good. Even though there are aliens and sci-fi elements, it’s fairly calm and you can almost call it a slice of life where aliens show up. I was glad that the aliens had a true form and that they could actually fight as seen in the end, but I didn’t care for them as characters. Maybe it was the fact that they were pretending to be good guys or the fact that the film never called them out on it. Putnam didn’t do the film any favors, but while he was an unlikable main character, he wasn’t super awful or anything like that to the point where he would bring the experience down. It was an entertaining alien flick and it felt pretty short so the adventure never ended up dragging on. I’d recommend checking it out and then you can see if you agree with Putnam’s view on this one or with Sheriff Matt.

Overall 7/10

Lego Scooby Doo Knight Time Terror Review

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It’s time to take a look at a Lego Scooby Doo film. Legos aren’t my favorite animation style to say the least, but they beat the puppets so I’ll take it I suppose. The special did feel incredibly short so that’s a good thing since it would have still dragged on a little if the plot had been boring. It’s a standard mini Scooby Doo adventure so the mystery’s fun and I still like the main cast. They get the job done and don’t pull their punches. That’s what I like to see from the heroes.

They head to a mansion where there is supposedly some treasure that’s been hidden. Unfortunately, the Mystery Gang may not be able to make it there alive since there is a mysterious Knight that haunts the castle. He has an axe and isn’t afraid to use it so one good hit would mean curtains for Fred and the gang. They’ll have to get to the bottom of this before something dicey happens!

The Knight was pretty hype. He actually had a lethal weapon and he had a good chase scene so I’ll give the villain a thumbs up. In a Scooby Doo film, you always want a villain who’s hardcore, but still has enough character to pull off the comedy moments. For the rest of the gang, they’re about the same as usual. Fred’s still the best member as he takes charge and never backs down from a good mystery. The gang wouldn’t have even heard about the treasure if not for good ole Fred. Daphne doesn’t really get a role this time as she mostly stays on the sidelines and allows Scooby and Shaggy to do the hard work.

They’re classic as per usual. Since Legos still don’t have enough parts to actually eat food, it wasn’t surprising to see that the heroes did’t get to eat this time. I’m sure that they could have bluffed it with some cut aways and shifty camera angles though. Shaggy did try his best to stop the Knight, but it proved to all be for naught. The villain was simply too strong this time. I do wish that Shaggy and Scooby would fight a little more, but I suppose that such a big change might be too much for the fanbase. The status quo would never be the same after that.

Unfortunately, Velma once again reminds me why she is the worst member of the group. She falls for yet another guy in this special and the romance is handled poorly as expected. It’s crammed in for no real reason and just serves to bring the whole thing down. Luckily, the subplot isn’t on screen for very long since the actual special isn’t that long either. We can’t forget about the suspects either although I didn’t bother trying to guess who it was this time. I privately figured that it was the nice assistant, but turns out that I wasn’t right on the money this time.

The first suspect is the owner of the house. Maybe he wants to collect on the insurance by scaring everyone away. There’s also the two guys in the monster costumes. Maybe they finally cracked and have decided to take things too far. Finally, there’s the nice assistant, but you can rule her out from this equation. Choose wisely since your bragging rights are on the line this time. There’s not really anything to say about the soundtrack of the animation. It’s legos so you know how it looks and the soundtrack is basically nonexistent this time. It works well enough, which will have to do. It’s not a bad soundtrack by any means.

Overall, Knight Time Terror is a good Scooby Doo special. Lego has really gotten popular over the last few years. I think Scooby Doo probably waited a little too long to jump on the bandwagon, but Lego’s still got a lot of products coming out so it’s not toooo late I suppose. If you like the Scooby Doo films then you’ll like this one. If you don’t, then this won’t change your mind either. At the very least, just remember that this is only around 20 minutes, if not shorter. It’ll be over in the blink of an eye and the plot never drags on so you don’t need to worry about that. Prepare yourself for the mystery!

Overall 7/10

ScoobyDoo and the Beach Beastie Review

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It’s time to review the final special from the 4 Scooby Doo specials marathon. This special sees the group head to the Beach for some much needed RnR, but things don’t turn out that smoothly because a Water Dragon has begun to attack them all. Saddle up guys because we’re in for one epic show! The gang’s really going to have to bring their A game this time…not that they usually don’t of course!

See, Fred was traumatized because nets are and always will be his life. That’s the real reason why the group needed the RnR in the first place, but they took Fred to a net hotel, which may not have been their best move. That’s when the Water Dragon shows up and wrecks the place, which leads to our usual array of suspects. We’ve got the shady hotel owner who admits that he is a little crazy and he certainly has the motive. An accident of this scale could get him quite a lot of insurance money. We’ve got the owner of a dog who has ensnared Scooby Doo with her chibi charm. Perhaps this is just a tactic to get the heroes to lower their guards so that she can steal the place. There’s also the owner of a rival company which is getting some water exhibits soon…one of them uses solidified water. Hmmmmm. There’s also the dog owner’s husband who lately has no time for her and the dog, which has made them all tense. So many suspects and so little time!

As always, the special is around 20 minutes give or take so the pacing is solid. The animation is solid and the soundtrack is nonexistent, etc, etc. I may as well not repeat myself from the last 3 specials right? The water dino is pretty hype since it busts into the Hotel and is actually there. No smoke and mirrors this time folks, since we have solidified water, this dino/dragon is actually a very real threat. There’s definitely quite a bit of plot hax about the design once we find out the twist though. Are we expected to believe that nobody noticed a person in the center of the dragon? I don’t think so!

Unfortunately, this film was bogged down by a really annoying subplot involving good ole Scooby. As mentioned earlier, he takes a fancy to another dog and then decides to stop being pals with Shaggy as he even gives away his Scooby Snacks. If the other dog had any personality and if she could talk, then maybe (I doubt it) this plot would be more bearable, but as this dog seems rather generic and forced into the plot, it just comes off as unnecessary. Luckily Shaggy drags Scooby back to reality by the end, but trust me when I say that this was a pretty rough side plot.

Another iffy scene is when Velma grabs the owner’s priceless necklace and then uses it as bait for the monster without any actual plan. Granted, we find out that the necklace was a fake, but the owner didn’t know that and there would be no way to prove it if Velma had actually lost this prize. That would have been quite the blow to the team’s public relations image and that’s why you should solve cases without putting innocent items in the line of fire.

Naturally, a good chunk of the main plot was about helping Fred to cope with his obsession with nets. He prefers to dodge the issue by running away and yelling, but eventually everyone admits that he’s actually got the right idea. Nets are the future and we just have to learn to accept it. This does lead to a plot hax moment where Fred turns the brown VHS cords into a clear net that looks nothing like his materials, but we can assume that he gave up and just grabbed a proper net. That still works when it comes to my head canon.

On a final note, this film definitely cements the fact that the Mystery gang depends on Fred. Without him, they were toast since the rest of the members couldn’t think of any good strategies to deal with the water monster. They were simply out of their depth by that point. The Fred plot would have been even more intense if they had gotten his old rival from the prequel show, but I’m going to assume that they’re saving him for a huge film that’ll come out and rock our world. The other Mystery Inc. members are good as per usual with the exception of Scooby Doo.

Overall, This was a solid Scooby Doo film. The Scooby subplot was disappointing, but you can’t go wrong with a Fred plot to headline the story so go check this one out! Technically, the film is consistent as always and throwing in the cool villain and original locale makes for a fun special. It’ll be over before you know it and the experience should be a good one. Just sit back and enjoy the adventure. I’m not sure when I’ll be checking out the next Scooby Doo special or film, but there are always more of them out there so stay tuned!

Overall 7/10

Scooby Doo Ghastly Goals Review

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It’s time for a soccer adventure this time! The group heads to Brazil to enjoy the soccer festivities, but they’re quickly sidetracked by the mystery ongoing. It seems like a good time of just watching the big Brazil vs USA game is out of the question. The Mystery Inc. needs to solve this case or they will have let down the Soccer community! I also have to give myself some props here because I immediately guessed that the gang was in Brazil. Most impressive eh?

The villain here is a Jackal type creature who is strong enough to break the Soccer Balls with his fist. That’s no small feat if you ask me and it shows that this guy is not to be taken lightly. Luckily, Scooby Doo and friends are up to the task for a change and they actually engage the villain in a good ole fashioned game of Soccer. After all, it’s personal this time. The Jackal was a good villain, he lacked the Oomph that the Water Dino and the Mecha Mutt had, but I’ll take him over a Scarecrow any day of the week.

Unfortunately, Scooby Doo committed one of his biggest blunders in franchise history. He caused the U.S.A. to lose in the big battle against Brazil. Not only was it completely against the rules for Scooby Doo to suddenly switch Nationalities and fight under the opponent team, but we all know that the U.S.A. should have won the match. They were pressing hard and had the momentum. Why would Scooby Doo do such a thing!? It was a tragic moment to be sure.

Let’s get onto the suspects. The facts as we know them are as follows. There is a super scientist who has invented a way to make rubber stronger. If you inject a Soccer Ball with this fluid, it’ll launch across an area with tremendous speed and it won’t stop going for quite a while. This leads to quite a few plot hax moments towards the end as the Mystery Inc gang pass the ball to each other and suddenly it is moving at normal speed. The film thought that I wouldn’t catch this, but they were wrong! So, this Soccer Ball is now the target of the Jackal and it’s too bad since the ball was owned by a pair of kids who just wanted to have some fun.

Two suspects are naturally the scientist and his assistant. They may be using this as good publicity for their collective genius. There’s also the tough security officer who won’t let them see the doctor without an appointment. This guy plays by the book and the Mystery gang don’t agree with those methods. We’ve also got the owner of the stadium who runs a tight ship, but that may be where the problem is. Maybe this is just an excuse for him to sue someone. Only one person can (typically) be the culprit…it’s only a matter of time before Scooby sniffs him/her out!

As always, the animation and soundtrack are solid. Every scene is vibrant and colorful. It’s no Transformers the animated movie, but this film doesn’t resort to becoming a Flash animated film and stays with the tried and true formula. I can’t remember any tunes so maybe calling the soundtrack “solid” is a little strong, but it works well enough I suppose. The food always looks delicious and that works for me.

See, it’s hard to animate a good slice of pizza at times. To date, the Arthur cartoon did the best job of animating it by showing off how much cheese there is supposed to be in a slice. We get some pizza here as well, on a stick. I think this is probably just a super exaggerated account of the food options over in Brazil, but I wouldn’t mind eating all of these things on a stick. The Pizza still looked great and I’d take the burgers as well. I’m pretty hungry right now so I would certainly take one of those options right about now.

The special is only around 20 minutes so it’s very fast. The plot never has a chance to drag on and it’s one of the perks of these TV specials as I mentioned earlier. Everything moves at a fast pace and this has had some success for films as well. Just look at Yugioh 3D Bonds Beyond Time. That’s still the best film of all time and it’s incredibly short. Quality defeated Quantity in this case. These specials can easily take on some of the Scooby Doo films. It’s definitely a franchise that continues to do a good job getting the characters in new/interesting situations.

I haven’t talked about the main characters in a while since they never really change. That’s an intentional thing since you don’t want to mess with a good thing, but it’s safe to say that Fred’s still the best character. He has his sad moments, but so do the rest of the gang. For the most part, he does a good job commanding everyone and thinking up the plans to ultimately save the day. Shaggy is classic since eating all of the time sounds like it would be a blast. I never cared for Velma all that much and I’m not a big fan of Scooby Doo either. Daphne’s good, but it’s always annoying when they make her act like a flirt instead of the hardened reporter that we’ve come to know from Zombie Island. I still wish we could get a hardcore rival character like the one from the Pup Named Scooby Doo show. That guy was classic!

Overall, This was a solid Scooby Doo film and probably the best one out of the 4 specials that I saw. The hard hitting Soccer action is always intense and it was good to see Scooby and the others have a more active role in going up against the villain. Typically they’re too scared to try any of this so they finally realized that when together, the Mystery Gang is a force to be reckoned with. I’d definitely recommend it if you want to see a quick, but fun adventure.

Overall 7/10

Scooby Doo Mecha Mutt Menace Review

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Time for the next Scooby Doo special! This one looked a little more interesting immediately because we’re getting a Giant Robot Dog! Are you hyped yet? It’s essentially the return of the Zoids and as that was a very underrated franchise, it’s good to see it make a comeback. I can safely say that this villain was a lot more intense so get ready for some fights.

Scooby and the gang were having a good ole time when they happened upon the convention. They were aiming to win this one with Fred’s new trap that throws you into a glued net after disarming you of all metals. Instead he catches a shifty lady who is the daughter of one of the world’s greatest scientists. She quickly becomes the first suspect since all new characters foot the bill and she seems to want to make an enemy out of Daphne. (Unintentional I’m sure…) The Giant Robot Dog that her father owns goes on a rampage though and disappears. Her father dashes away and the cops aren’t so sure of what’s about to happen next. We also learn that the father didn’t actually invent the dog and one scientist is resentful of that. Hmmmmm. There’s also a creepy scientist who likes the daughter and isn’t afraid to admit it, but nobody takes him seriously and he makes a big mess of things whenever he is around. The show makes him as exaggerated as possible so it’s hard to find him even remotely likable.

Let’s get the technical aspects out of the way from the get go. The animation is good as always. We actually get some laser blasts and punches thrown so that’s always great. Everyone looks sharp and the character models are accurate. The soundtrack is pretty standard, but it gets the job done. That’s what count I suppose. Scooby Doo is technically consistent and has been for a very long time at this point.

Naturally, the big draw for the film is the villain. The giant robo dog is great. He can fire lasers and has quite the large amount of raw power. With one slap, he was able to knock Scooby Doo’s large dog robot through a lot of canisters and dented a wall. It was probably the most action packed moment that we’ve seen in Scooby Doo in quite a while. A good villain can always up the stakes for a film…and the intensity quite a bit. That’s what the robot did here.

One plot that wasn’t quite as good though was the one between the daughter and Fred. Why do we need a fake/forced romance here when we all know how this is going to end. At least Melanie played the friend zone card right away, but Fred didn’t really get the memo and it can get a little sad. Haven’t we seen this very same plot many, many times over the years. It never gets interesting to be honest, but it’s not as terrible as the Velma romance that we got back in the day. Now That was very wince worthy and hurt the film. This plot doesn’t really hurt the film since it’s not all that bad, but it doesn’t exactly help it either.

Another thing that I found a little iffy was how Shaggy and Scooby enjoyed the space food so much. I’m not saying that it’s terrible, but the goop just doesn’t look visually appealing. Give me a nice pizza or a Cheeseburger any day! They better enjoy it though because for 3 months that’s all that they’re going to get. Let’s ignore the ramifications of how this looks for the space station since it doesn’t really matter. Isn’t this a super tragic ending for the two? Being alone in space for 3 months without any supplies is really sad. They’ll have the food rations of course, but with their appetite, I have to wonder if it will last. Also, if this was going to be an unmanned rocket…then maybe there is no food. In that case, I’m going to assume that chronologically this is the final Scooby Doo film and they didn’t live through the experience. Ah well…better luck next time I suppose! Meanwhile, it was good to see Fred’s genius showed for once. He actually invented something practical and useful so just think about that for a second. He’s an excellent/capable leader as well as a genius apparently. No wonder he’s the leader of the Mystery Gang, he’s certainly earned it as this point.

Overall, This was another solid Scooby Doo special. The mecha fights were definitely the best scenes to be found here. The ending is also actually a little tragic when you think about it and was quite unexpected. I definitely recommend checking out this one. It’s really short since it’s also about 1 episode’s length so the pacing is always very smooth. You’ll be missing out if you miss out on this one.

Overall 7/10

Scooby-Doo and the Spooky Scarecrow Review

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It’s time for the first of four Scooby Doo specials that I recently saw. It’s always interesting to see these because they are essentially really compressed Scooby Doo films. The formula is still in tact, but everything must happen at a very rapid pace, which actually turns out well since it captures the meat of the story without any of the fluff. It’s a little tougher to take a stab at who the culprit is though because sometimes you won’t see all of the suspects until it is almost too late. Even though the time varies a whole lot, I like to make my guess at the first commercial break and it turns out that I was right on the money for this one. It was a pretty proud moment in my rather impressive detective career.

So, the gang was having a good ole time as per usual when they find out that this town is having an issue with a Spooky Scarecrow. Legend states that this guy is no mere mortal and he actually survived being sliced by that fork-type weapon from the farms. As a result, Halloween is cancelled. The Mystery Gang is going to have to work quickly or else Halloween will never make a return and then they’ll have to go somewhere else for their candy.

There are a few suspects right off the bat. The Mayor is a little shady since he clearly needs more sleep to get rid of the dark rings under his eyes and the guy seems shady. There’s also the chief of police who is always ignored by the mayor so she may have an axe to grind about all of this. She is helping to block off the cornfield so the Mystery Gang can’t start sleuthing. That’s a little iffy eh? There’s also Billy Bob, or something like that. He’s always fairly cold to the heroes and only says “Yup” and “No” so maybe this guy has something to hide. Who do you think the culprit is?

As always, the animation is quite good for Scooby Doo. It’s not as if the company is hitting it out of the park or anything like that, but everything is smooth and appropriately detailed. It’s what I’d expect from Scooby Doo and it isn’t experimenting like some of the previous movies/specials. (Puppets…I don’t think so!) The soundtrack is also what you would expect at this point. It’s suitable for the scenes and that’s what I like to see.

The villain wasn’t quite as intense as some of the others, but the fact that he does have a pickax of sorts makes him a real threat. I would put him in my top 50 Scooby Doo villains….well, that’s not saying much. He was probably my least favorite from the 4 specials today, but at least he wasn’t a bad villain. Now that would have been sad! Meanwhile it was fun to see all of the corn snacks in the special. They’re definitely not very appetizing next to other tried and true classics like Pizza and burgers, but they will do.

On a final note for the analysis, it was good to see the Mystery Gang get some respect here. The police chief quickly realized that they were experts of sorts in the monster biz after they professionally handled the situation with a Net Launcher. That’s what I’ve come to expect from the gang and let’s face it…after about 30-50 years of catching ghosts from all around the world, their reputation should precede them at this point. Even in a small town like this one that doesn’t seem too heavy on computers, the legends of Scooby Doo and his friends should be quite well known.

Overall, This was a good Scooby Doo special. It played it close to the belt here as it is almost the definition of your average Scooby Doo adventure. It’s fun and goes by very quickly, but nothing really stood out. No worries, that will change for the other specials as they all typically have at least one gimmick that makes them fairly original. If you’re a Scooby Doo fan, then you’ll definitely enjoy this one. If you’ve never heard of Scooby Doo and have no idea what you’re about to get yourself into..you should still enjoy it as a fun little mystery. Although you won’t be able to appreciate just how good of a tradition this series is either.

Overall 7/10

I Confess Review

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It’s time for a retro film from Alfred Hitchcock. The style is certainly a little different from his other films in the sense that you wouldn’t necessarily know that it was by him. Most of his films are more mystery centered whereas here you do know who the villain is the whole time and the tension is on whether Logan will crack under the pressure or not. It’s a fun film where you have to decide if he’s making the right move or not.

The premise is fairly simple. Logan is a Catholic priest and one day he finds out that the man whom he hired to work at the church murdered a man. Unfortunately, the murderer is the one who told him while in the confessional box. It is strictly forbidden for a priest to use any knowledge learned during this period so Logan must decline to help the police with the investigation when they ask him who the murderer is. Unfortunately, the evidence now makes it look like Logan is the murderer and he can barely provide a defense for himself. Is this the end of the line for him?

Keller is the actual murderer and he evidently doesn’t care if anyone likes him by the end. He’s always trying to make Logan look bad and also doesn’t seem very remorseful for murdering someone. He goes crazy by the end to conveniently help the police realize the truth, but the character isn’t ultimately all that important in the story. Logan can shut him down at any time. As mentioned earlier, it really comes down to whether or not he will abide by the code.

His faith is strong and he never ends up buckling and telling the police what he knows. He does a good job in his Catholic beliefs. I’m a Christian myself and luckily we have no such custom. I definitely don’t fault Logan for not talking since he did well according to his beliefs, but I felt like he could have handled the situation a little better. Aside from not wanting to talk about anything relating to the murder, he also didn’t want to talk about anything related to Ruth, which caused more issues. This meant that he did not even want to create an alibi for himself and effectively made himself look all the more guilty. Not to mention that he tried to dodge the questions and sidetrack the arguments a lot of the time.

Even if he didn’t outright say that Keller was the killer, Logan could have easily explained that he knew who the killer was, but couldn’t say because of the confessional rules. That would have at least given the police something to go with and I don’t believe that this is against the rules. Of course, it could come down to the fact that Logan may have thought of this as “cheating” the rules. It’s like a “lie of omission.” I still don’t believe in the concept, but many do consider it to be a form of lying and essentially cheating the concept of a lie. You’re telling a lie without actually saying anything. If Logan subscribed to that way of thinking, then maybe he felt that he couldn’t even admit that this had anything to do with a confessional. I personally disagree with his stance.

I do think that ommissions are not the same as lying. Take for example the classic example used for the lying debate. 2 Nazi’s walk into your apartment and you are hiding Christians in your attic so they say “Are you hiding Christians in the house?” You have quite a few options without actually lying and they all involve sort of skirting around the whole lying concept. One option is to respond via a technicality. Maybe your home is an apartment, a villa, or something that’s not technically a house. Then you can easily respond with a No and it’s not a lie. You could use an exclamation like “What” “How dare you accuse me of such a thing!” which is not actually lying, while still insinuating that you are saying no and then depending on what they follow up with, you can say no to the question without saying no to the original one. There are many such loopholes that you can exploit in many scenarios, but it does boil down to the fact of whether or not you consider this to be cheating the rule. By the way, I am of the side that believes lying is the better course of action than telling the truth in that case. You are committing a sin no doubt, but saying yes means that you will be killing the people in your house and taking away their choice of life. If it’s just your life on the line, then by all means it’s best to tell the truth and proudly accept your fate as a Christian. When other people are in danger, then self sacrifice is the concept that I subscribe too (Whether or not you have the courage to back up your tough words is another story though) and you are willingly sinning, but I believe that it is different from simply sinning for personal gain. You will have to answer for each and every sin, but I believe that the lives you saved and your willingness to repent and move on from the situation is counted as well.

Back to the film, if Logan believes that admitting to the confessional being the issue of why he can’t talk to be a loophole of the Catholic rule, then he naturally cannot even say this since it would go against his beliefs. It all depends on his feelings on the subject. Either way, he was definitely put in a tough spot, but Logan was a good character. I got worried when he was stranded with Ruth for a night, but he did a good job and handled the situation appropriately. Logan’s a solid lead character and while his actions were frustrating, he did the best that he could.

Most of the other characters were pretty annoying or unlikable. The only other really good character would be the detective. He did a good job of grabbing the facts and showing the other characters who was really in charge of the situation. You could almost root for the guy if you didn’t know that he was already on the wrong side. He meant well and that definitely counts for something. The Prosecutor was also decent and he knew how to have a good time. He would have won the cup game if not for the phone.

Naturally, Keller’s not a likable villain. He comes across as rather petty. His wife was better even if she acted a little too late considering that Keller never seemed like the most respectable guy out there. The other priests didn’t help Logan out all that much, but they were likely praying for him. They were just in a tough spot since it was hard to help him and they definitely understood his plight by the end of the whole ordeal. I did like the priest who had the bike with him, that was a fun gimmick to have.

Meanwhile, Ruth was surprisingly very antagonistic for most of the film. Her treatment of her husband was very uncalled for and she could never rebound from that. She married him for no real reason since she claims to have never loved him and immediately tried going back to Logan only to find out that he had put up the friend zone already. Sometimes, the friend zone card can be quite effective and it’s always great to see it played during a film. It’s one of the ultimate moves to pull in real life as well.

Overall, I Confess was a solid film. The mystery was already known, which always forces a different approach for a mystery. The courtroom drama was intense as always, although without a real defense, it was more one sided than I would have liked. I certainly recommend this film if you’re looking for a classic tale of whether the world can crush you enough to make you relinquish your beliefs or if you can find a way to persevere. It’s a good adventure with a well thought out plot. I don’t remember all that much plot hax at the moment, but I’m sure that I could think of some if I focused!

Overall 7/10

Scooby Doo Moon Monster Madness Review

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I finally got to check out one of the newest Scooby Doo films the other day. I tend to like most of the films a lot and the worst ones are usually still a little enjoyable. I did not appreciate the terribly animated one or the musical, but the films tend to have a decent amount of quality behind them. That being said, Moon Monster Madness still surpassed my expectations as it ended up being one of the best Scooby Doo films out there! I could not believe just how good it was. We got some great tense scenes and the whole parody of alien plots gimmick that this film had worked out quite well. It doesn’t mean that all of the comedy plots worked out and the film had a plot hole or two as well, but for the most part, Scooby Doo was a complete success!

The gang has been invited to go to space! Some of the world’s most popular figures are going aboard and the Mystery Inc has been invited to represent the average person so everyone could feel like this new space adventure was welcoming. The suspects include a football player, a host for a news program, an astronaut, two older astronauts, and a millionaire who basically funded this whole thing. Naturally, all of them should be suspected immediately and a fun exercise that I do when watching a film like this is that I’ll make everyone choose a suspect right from the get go. I voted for the Football player since he’s kind of the obvious pick, which meant that maybe people wouldn’t want to vote for him so then the film would actually make him the villain. You always have to be 3 steps ahead of the writers, but the problem is that you may stay ahead of them sometimes, which ends up backfiring.

Right off the bat I can mention that Velma was really unlikable in this film. She spent the whole film just being jealous of Daphne and it got old as soon as the plot started. Velma’s a petty character, but she takes it to a whole new level here. Whether it be insulting Ridley or ridiculing Daphne, Velma has no sense of bashfulness or the self-dignity to keep it together without resorting to…insults. She’s easily my least favorite member of the crew and that was true before this film. The adventure did her no favors.

Daphne wasn’t even rude to Velma if you ask me. She was having fun hanging out with her new friend, but she wasn’t actively snubbing Velma or trying to be upset. She’s just oblivious to the fact that Velma is being shunned and while she should stand up for Velma or make a noticeable effort to keep throwing Velma into the conversations, it’s no reason for Velma to get so heated. Instead of being happy for Daphne, Velma is immediately jealous and shows how she obsesses over test scores. Daphne is critical to helping out the heroes at the end of this film as she shows off her true talents. I wouldn’t have minded if a plot twist about the test scores hadn’t happened though, it would have been a nice moment for her.

Fred’s gimmick leads to a bit of a plot hole, but he still proves to be the best member of the gang. He doesn’t know how to turn the speaker on in his suit so he can’t hear others talking. This leads to him repeating what the others are saying or just making random statements when he feels like it. Fred often takes the lead in these adventures and still does think up the game changing plan, but I could have done without the suit plot. It was interesting to see him annoy the old guys over and over again. In a sense, that’s what Velma should have been doing. If she really wanted to hang out with the popular crowd, then she should just pretend not to notice all of the snubs and insults that the other characters are throwing at her. Velma can move past all of that and pretend to be oblivious. It’s a successful strategy as I can verify.

Shaggy and Scooby are pretty true to form as they eat a lot and try to defend themselves from the alien. The chase scene on the Moon is more intense than usual as they even fire a rocket at the creature. That’s not the kind of action that you would usually expect from Scooby Doo, but it works nicely here and shows how powerful the alien is. Scooby and Shaggy keep it together through thick and thin. They’re still not as fun as Fred, but they gave a good role here.

There’s another intense scene in the film where the Football player breaks out into song and gets very emotional. I actually enjoyed the scene and thought that it was handled pretty well. It gave the football player another level of depth and made him one of the more impressive supporting characters. He even tried to fight a little in the big battle against the robot. Uboat was a little rude for no reason at times though so he wasn’t exactly flawless.

The two retired Astronauts weren’t bad. They never took direct shots at Fred even though he constantly irritated them. Their decision to leave Fred and Daphne in cold storage was pretty dangerous, but it all worked out in the end I suppose. The fashion astronaut was essentially the overly nice character. It may be a little tough to buy her act, but for the most part she seems like a good character. One may wonder if she is really oblivious to how Velma keeps getting shut out of the action and I don’t buy that either, but I suppose that you never know. The character is actually pretty interesting though and she’s not one dimensional, which is good.

I can’t say that I really enjoyed the plot between the rich guy and his brother though. So…the brother stayed on the space station by himself for years…just because it was his job? Maybe it was months, but that doesn’t matter, I would have just been clocking in 9-5 and then heading home for the weekends. At the very least, I’d want some Domino’s pizza delivered. It just felt pretty iffy even if the rich guy said that he now understands the true meaning of friendship. That being said, the rich guy wasn’t bad. I like how he came to the launch site with a suit made of money. Now that’s an awesome publicity stunt right there and I hope that someone pulls it off in real life as well.

The news guy flirted with Velma a little too much so I can’t say that he was a great character. It’s a shame since he could have almost fooled you into thinking that he was main character material with his personality. He’s a go getter and isn’t afraid to jump into the fray. It would be neat if he believed in his job a little more though. Ridley was a great character and it was good to see someone who knew how to fight aliens. Her subplot of being able to talk sci-fi with the rich guy’s brother was also poorly timed and written, but that doesn’t happen until the end. Until then, Ridley shows why she is the world’s foremost expert on Xenomorphs. She’s always ready for a fight and the name is iconic.

We even have a robot on board who is pretty interesting. He always tries to keep up with the human customs, but it just doesn’t work. The characters aren’t very sympathetic, but why should they be. The robot actually threatens Scooby and Shaggy in a surprisingly grim scene and there’s a plot twist at the end that makes the whole thing even more intense. I could have done without the twist, but it was certainly interesting.

There are two big villains here aside from the suspect who is guilty of course. One of them is a giant robot, which made someone exclaim “Pac Man!” The similarities to the two characters are uncanny and it’s one of the highlights of the film. The fight scene was fun. Of course, the villain who really stole the show was the alien, which was a homage to a Xenomorph. The creature tanked a missille that was shot and it can move very quickly. This wasn’t your average Scooby Doo villain and it’s a main reason as to why the film was so good. Even without the robot or the monster, the action scenes really have a lot of tension to them and the stakes are pretty life threatening for once. The heroes have to think fast amidst the falling debris and one by one they are picked off.

The animation is as solid as can be expected. Scooby Doo’s never been known for its animation and it’s certainly not something that will knock your hat off, but it’s good enough. Everything can clearly be seen and while the animation doesn’t take any risks, it can handle a talking scene as well as anyone. There’s even a epic soundtrack here as well! Get ready for some surprisingly fast paced themes and epic pieces of music that are fitting for battles of such magnitude.

Overall, This was a great Scooby Doo films and it easily ranks up there as one of the best. I have been debating for a while on whether this really is the best Scooby Doo film or not. Zombie Island, Cyber Chase, The Wrestling one, The Blue Falcon, and even the classic Witch films are all fairly strong contenders. It’s a very deep discussion with a lot of areas to think about, but I’m fairly confident that this one can hold its own. Check it out and you won’t be disappointed.

Overall 7/10