Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (Mini-DVD)

The characters have been modernized and they poke fun at their old selves who they encounter in a video game where they are battling a computer virus.
Great up to date music and the same old Shaggy and Scooby hijinks.

This is one the several movies in the poplar cartoon Scooby Doo movie series. A word of warning this movie has several parts with mild cartoon violence, mild scary images and mild thematic elements which might make this movie to dark and intense for kids under the age of 7 unless supervised by at least two parents or guardians. In this movie Scooby and the gang go to Hawaii were and ancient tike god is terrorizing the locals can scobby and the gain stop this terror and solve the mystery find out in the exciting conclusion.

SCOOBY DOO
AND THE CYBER CHASE

I was in Wal-Mart the other day when I noticed a Scooby Doo movie was on sale for $4.88, so naturally I had to get it. I remember when I was a kid I loved Scooby Doo so I couldn't pass on this at such a low price. The film is about Scooby and the gang going to visit a friend of there's that is creating a game based after their mysteries. After arriving there they find that a cyber ghost called the Phantom Virus is terrorizing the place so naturally they decide to try and catch him. The thing is, they get zapped into the computer game which some how can transfer real things in and out of it by using a gun looking thing. Once in the game they have to travel threw ten levels seeking Scooby snacks in each to go to the next. To be honest the idea is great but it was executed poorly, if it would have been done correctly it could have been as good as the Scooby shows I watched growing up. They even brought back some villains from the old classic episodes like the Creeper, so the potential was there. I guess the fault rests on the shoulders of writer Mark Turosz and director Jim Stenstrum, they did pretty good I guess but could have done better. In all this was a decent film but compared to the ones I grew up watching this doesn't compare,

If you follow my reviews, you know that I really liked "Zombie Island" and "Witch's Ghost," and that I didn't care much for "Alien Invaders." While this 4th chapter is possibly a step up from "Alien Invaders," it fails to reach the dramatic and suspenseful and even comical levels of the 1st 2 chapters. Scooby and the gang go to meet a friend at a university. After a somewhat tense moment with an uptight but possibly virtuous security guard, they meet their friend Erick, his friend Bill, and their professor. They explain the existence of a phantom virus (that we have already met). And we are told that someone must have created it. Many sparks of Scooby's former days are gone, and even the appetites of Scooby and Shaggy don't bring the laughs they once did. (Compare their eating scene here to their much better one in "Witch's Ghost!") Well, Scooby and the gang somehow get zapped into a video game. While this may work for some, it doesn't work for me. Perhaps I am too old school, but this takes away too much credibility. To be sure, "Zombie Island" and "Witch's Ghost" did cross the boundaries of believable in some ways. But the major difference is that they kept the story plausible for so long, and then gradually eased the implausible aspects in. It's often a challenge, but it can be done. (It just isn't in this 4th chapter.) On the plus side however, this enables the gang to go through a series of different adventures while we wonder who zapped them in. Sadly, another mistake is that it becomes virtually obvious who did it in the very 1st of several levels. Call me a perfectionist, but they could have AT LEAST waited until the 2nd level before they gave any clues. (Let alone such an obvious one!) If we are willing to overlook this, we may find it interesting to see the gang go from the moon, to Ancient Rome, to the age of dinosaurs, and a number of different adventures. Finally, they reach the last level Cyber Land. After meeting their cyber doubles (who for the most part look like the Scooby gang from the original episodes) they learn that they must defeat the monsters on the last level to exit the game. I'll admit it was nice to see some monsters from their past (including the Creeper and the Tar Monster). As we approach the danger point of revealing the ending, it's somewhat anticlimactic seeing that even a fool would have known so long ago who created the virus. As I said, this 4th chapter is acceptable, but not great. Young children will probably like it, but the cutoff age may be surprisingly young. Fortunately, the later Scooby movies were to improve. Thank goodness for the excellent 5th chapter "Legend of the Vampire" and the surprisingly good 8th chapter "Aloha Scooby Doo."

I usually could solve the mysteries within 10 minutes. But this movie kept me guessing. It was really funny to see the characters more modernized in this, and what the retro counterparts looked like. The kids love it; they had asked to watch it twice this week. They can never get enough of Scooby, most of the DVDs related to this famous dog are close to being worn out.

While this was a fun movie, the only complaint that I had about it was Shaggy's voice. I know it's not Casey Kasem, and it's too obvious. But once you get past that, it's not a problem. The other characters are voiced decently (they have had plenty of people voicing Velma and Daphne, but if they replaced Fred's voice, it would be a gaping hole--Frank Welker's voice is very key to the character). It's nice to know that some things don't change (like Fred being "all-ego"). But the idea of seeing him sans-ascot was pretty gutsy (that ridiculous red ascot MADE Fred in the original series!). Scooby-Doo sounded the same, and he was just as love-able as ever (I never liked the cartoon much until I was the live-action film, but I ALWAYS loved Scooby!!!). Velma, however, is still my favorite character--she's smart, and sometimes has great one-liners. Daphne, for once, isn't the damsel-in-distress---she's resourceful and smarter than her cyber-counterpart. Fred was pretty cool, and Shaggy, as always, is a scene-stealer, but he's Shaggy--he doesn't need a reason.

Other than that this was a decent film--plenty of laughs, and lots of adventure. If you like vintage Scooby-Doo, then this movie might peak your interest. The animation is great-and just as colorful as the original! It's a cyber chase film definitely worth a look at.