My Movie Review on Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico (Plus, a Bonus) · 4:24am Oct 24th, 2022
Hola, Kemosabes.
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporting amigo here with another review.
Today, for the 3rd installment of this year's "Spook Spectacular", I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico".
Here's the rundown of it:
After Scooby-Doo and the gang are invited by Fred's pen-pal, Alejo Otero, they decide to visit him in Veracruz, Mexico. There, they get to meet Alejo's family and attend the "Day of the Dead" celebration with them.
During their stay, though, the gang learns that the town's being terrorized by a large Bigfoot-like creature called El Chupacabra. Unless the creature is somehow caught, Alejo's family hotel will be forced to close due to lack of guests, including tourists who come simply to visit the town.
As stated in my previous review, I wanted to analyze "Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico" next since it was the second out of two Scooby-Doo movies to feature the reprisals of Nicole Jaffe as Velma and Heather North as Daphne. And the second to also feature the Mystery Inc. gang in their original clothe ensembles, if I may add.
Interestingly, I've had a longer relationship with this movie than its predecessor. It was one out of three Scooby-Doo movies that my family and I had in our home video collection, and the 2nd that we had on DVD. I frequently watched the movie as a child because of how crazy I was for Scooby-Doo, and it was also the very movie where I first learned about Mexico. Ever since then, I became fascinated with Mexico and its overall culture.
So, what do I think of this movie from a retrospective standpoint?
Well, similar to its predecessor, one nitpick I've noted was that the film made unnecessary use of outdated sound effects. Not only were they jarring, but they also clashed a bit with the music score. Other than that, there were a couple moments where characters were speaking but their mouths weren't moving, as well as a distance shot where Velma's poncho was a different color and pattern compared to the rest of the scenes where she wore it.
Outside of these nitpicks, though, I found "Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico" to be as wonderful as I remembered it being in my childhood.
For instance, the direction by Scott Jeralds, and the story by Douglas Wood, were spectacular.
Just like "Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire", this movie was incredibly faithful towards the classic Scooby-Doo TV shows, particularly in terms of its tone and style. Taking the place of Mark E. Turosz, Wood showed that he too was passionate for being true to the franchise's roots while giving everything a modern upgrade, which was equal to the continued passion of Jeralds. The comedy was entertaining with a capital 'E', and the overall mystery was intriguing and kept everything together. Regardless of it using the 'fake monsters' concept again, Jeralds and Wood still managed to make everything surprising and unpredictable.
Likewise, the animation was amazing.
I know, the overall quality and visualization was exactly like its predecessor, but still...everything about the animation was impressive in its own way. The animators truly knew how to make something visually stunning even if it's not on a Disney kind of level, especially on a low direct-to-video budget. Their work in creating the secret passage slide and obstacles, as well as the "living" statues, were what I believed to be the animation team's most technically-accomplished of aspects.
The voice acting and characters were as fun as ever, if I may add.
Considering how much screen-time Alejo and his brother Luis had in this movie, including accompanying the Mystery Inc. and helping them solve the case, I really must say that both brothers were engaging and lovable in their own way. They had great personalities and developments, and the performances of Eddie Santiago as Alejo and Jesse Borego as Luis were outstanding. The rest of the supporting performers and characters were great too.
And, of course, the Mystery Inc. gang were as lovable, fun, and engaging as ever, including the performances of Frank Welker as Fred and Scooby-Doo, Casey Kasem as Shaggy, Heather North as Daphne Blake, and Nicole Jaffe as Velma. My favorite part was when Fred's studying of Spanish came in handy for the mystery. Regardless of the comedic mishaps involving his practicing, all that he learned built up towards a valuable moment that showcased both detective work at its finest and a great lesson in learning Spanish. It certainly got me interested in trying to learn the language more, I'll tell you that.
In the end, "Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico" isn't 100% perfect, but it's still a very well-done Scooby-Doo movie regardless. As the final Scooby-Doo franchise installment to feature Nicole Jaffe as Velma and Heather North as Daphne, and their final movie before both of them retired from acting, "Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico" was a fitting sendoff for the both of them.
So, I rate "Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico" 4½ out of 5 stars.
Before I conclude this post, I'd like to share with you all another paint-by-number I worked on a while back:
This painting is called "Cabin Fever", and I worked on it from May 2, 2022 to October 11, 2022. After I completed it, I gave it to one of my church pastors for Pastor Appreciation Day.
So, what do you guys think? Of this review? And this art piece?
it certainly was a creepy story!