DTV Wonders: Scooby-Doo Return to Zombie Island

The first movie I have ever reviewed gets a sequel, and this by far the most recent release date I have ever reviewed a movie, as it is just over two months old. I have hardly reviewed anything from this decade. I did not expect a good movie, but I hoped for one. Instead I am remembering the good old days when Arabian Nights was the worst movie I have reviewed, as this movie sadly stinks. The plot is unfocused, the characterizations are downright awful, the humor is mixed, the moral is bad, the story is incomplete and full of retcons. Thankfully the action is pretty good along with the animation.

Despite hating this movie I really like the opening. The art is good and atmospheric for mystery and terror with good images from the first film. Thankfully I see Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, and Grey DeLisle are back but Mindy Cohn is not Velma anymore. She has been replaced by Kate Micucci, and her voice sounds off. Part of it is the main cast has been the same since 2002 except for Casey Kasem and Lillard alternating for Shaggy until kasem got too old, and I got so used to the old voice. Micucci sounds too young and cheerful too often. The creators are trying for an eccentric Velma, but everyone else does that better.

The plot starts with with Fred regretting selling the Mystery Machine. Huh? Wikipedia, TV tropes, save me. This is a sequel to Curse of the 13th Ghost too where they sold it. I just lost all suspension of disbelief. This Fred, the version obsessed with his van (like in What’s new Scooby-Doo) sold it?

While nonsensical in a nice touch he has a dream about catching various villains from the original series in The Mystery Machine giving some good action. He wakes up in a the malt shop. Meanwhile, Velma is mad nobody in the group reads her blog (relatable) and wants to solve “unsolved capers.” This will be a big problem later.

In a weird stupid subplot Shaggy and Scooby make the other three promise to not solve any mysteries unless they tell them too for a long vacation.

This is incredibly Stupid and forced. I presume the creators did not watch the original show where Shaggy and Scooby were also heavily interested in solving mysteries, after all they always stayed with their practically suicidal friends.

Sucky Sheriff Bronson Stone tells them to just to be kids and not solve mysteries. They were adults in the first movie! Why make this retcon in a sequel where they were adults. Part of the early movies is they were about holding on to the childlike state of wonder and curiosity despite the cynicism coming from adult life. Now it is impossible to think of the two movies as happening in the same universe.

Discount Svengooglie wait.. she is a real horror movie host. Elvira appoints a random audience member for a vacation with three friends and a pet. Shaggy wins. The gang does not check this obvious set up due to the promise. I thought the moral would be that sometimes you have to break a poise to do your greater duty, but they are actually presented in the right for doing this even well after Shaggy and Scooby tell them to solve the mystery due to the zombie attacks. The promise subplot is just a stupid subplot to pad the runtime and nothing else. In the meantime they go to Louisiana not knowing it is Louisiana thinking it is Hawaii with oddly fake looking trees. How did Velma fail geography? The mosquitoes alone should reveal it as Louisiana. Fred keeps seeing the Mystery Machine and does not check due to the stupid promise.

Two greeters tell them “Get Out” like the first movie’s warning. We never see these two and the captain again until it is revealed they are the villains. Weak, weak, weak, twist. I have seen several Scooby-Doo movies and every other one used their longer run time to establish multiple suspects and actually show some character for them. Sometimes a helper was that unimportant but not the main villain.

To get some sense of plot going a cat creature claws a plastic palm tree nearly killing them. It is way more cat like than the last movie giving some needed differentiation. There is then a surprisingly good scene showing mysterious and fake parts of the island which is clearly Moonscar Island to everyone.

Alan, the best character, finally shows up.

The hotel manager, Alan, has placed cameras everywhere, there are plastic palm trees, a few other small things, and the guest book has missing pieces. Wait. why would there have even been a guest book from the last visit when it was not a hotel? Then again this is a world with a haunted bone. Then Shaggy and Scooby say not to investigate in spite of their own love of mystery solving and danger to their lives. They even saw the cat creature and do not care.

They are making me root for the cat creatures.

In a recap of the first movie they say Daphne worked at tv show for a Summer, not years. Stop with the retcons. Velma mentions the villains, a very minor character, but not her crush from the first movie. Even worse they now call the “cat creatures” “cat people.” Ironically these cat creatures/people are more creature like and less people like.

This is said to just be cheap makeup. How did the hand come off?

Shaggy and Scooby are chased by zombies who look like living swamps instead of people. They beg the others to solve it, but they refuse and then we get to the part that really made my head hurt. Velma says “As a woman of Science I know there is no such thing as ‘zombies.'”

Science is what you can observe.You have seen real zombies. By definition as woman of science you then believe in zombies. In fact since the creators confirmed this is in canon with he first four movies you have been rescued by zombies, attacked by cat creatures, used voodoo to battle the cat creatures, helped rescue real aliens, been attacked by a sentient computer virus and unknowingly helped an evil version of Nathaniel Hawthorne raise a witch who made hordes of things turn into monsters including that awesome turkey. This is an unintentional parody about how contradictory and and dumb militant skepticism is.

Contrary to what many remember Velma was not skeptical of supernatural in the original series. From episode 3-

Velma (scared): There is a very logical explanation for all this.

Shaggy: Quick, tell me.

Velma (scared): The place is haunted.

Shaggy: thanks a lot.

Or from “Scooby-Doo meets Batman”

Daphne: Velma, we people know those aren’t real skeletons?

Velma: Right.

Daphne (starts running): But just in case they are.

Velma (running too): Right.

Fred: Don’t be silly. Would you just listen…

The girls grab Fred and cary him away.

Fred was the most skeptical in Where are You and Zombie Island. This is typically his role. Velma constantly for the rest of the movie insists that it was never supernatural and just imagination playing tricks. Then explain Witch’s ghosts and Alien invaders. Admittedly even my beloved Mystery Incorporated made this mistake (or did it?)

The stupid promise is finally ignored, as they wait for the zombies (way more than three or four despite it being four people in costumes) as they take apparently hours to walk around 100 feet. Nothing to compare to that amazing scene in the original film where the camera does a slow 180 degree turn of all the zombies after the lightning bolt strikes the water.

At least the trap is cool resulting in the actors being unmasked, as Alan is a film director. This some hidden footage movie he was making. The gang agrees to just make the movie with him. They probably want to se if he is breaking any labor laws. A cat creature puts the mansion on fire but the sprinklers put it out. Still some mystery at the halfway mark.

While making the film it is revealed Velma nicknamed Moonscar Island “Zombie Island” despite not believing in them. There is some commentary about Hollywood only wanting franchises. It would be fumier if this as that or at least somewhat original.

Skeptic Velma is still annoying. Fred and Daphne are aware she is in denial, but I think it is just set up for another movie that I have no interest in seeing after this, as each movie has to be able to stand alone. Velma trying to solve unsolved mystery arc goes absolutely nowhere, yet she insists they do not change details about the supernatural existing for the movie.

Mystery Inc is introduced to a prop Mystery Machine that is a monster truck. I like the new look and scenes. Fred’s stunt double is useless as a character or suspect. He cannot be the villains due to constantly being attacked by all of them, and I only brought him up to explain there possibly being two Freds in some screenshots. t also confused my family who came late and all left early. My six year old cousin only lasted a few minutes.

There are just too many scenes of them making a movie that are almost all pointless but at least it is way more entertaining than the first half of the movie.

In this movie’s defense this shot is great, and I love using it over and over.

54 of 79 minutes in and real plot finally starts. Cats attack. This is not scary in a cartoon. Neither is seeing our heroes kick and punch cats making them seem heroic. Fred and the stunt double are literally hitting the little guys with shovels. At least Alan is filming and not attacking them.

Alan and I are more intrigued by his movie than anything else.

We get a very good scene where Alan destroys the ferry so they have to stay to finish the movie. Fred rescues the new Mystery Machine giving a very good chase scene. There is sense of danger, and Alan is more interested in filming than his own safety. It is the best scene. Unfortunately they make it pointless by just leaving the van monster truck for another chase on foot for a few unfunny gags that just make the villains look weak. If you want to cash in on Zombie Island then keep the tone somewhat.

The first film had an amazing climax. Here we get the cliche of heroes dress like monsters scaring them into confessing and surrendering. It sucks. To make it worse they then say the legend included that cats guard Moonscar’s treasure (no mention of that in either movie before), and find it for a horrible joke. Alan wants out of movie business despite caring for it more than his own life. It is just out of character for more jokes about cash grabs from a cash grab. Then more stupidity as Velma declares the cat creatures from the first one are the same people from this one and the zombies were “swamp gas.” Then motivational music plays, as I just want it to end. Discount Sheriff Mayor Jones shows up angry at them for solving mysteries and saving lives. It was picking up steam only for a terrible ending.

In a twist it is revealed that the black cat creature is most likely real. I should like the ambiguity on the Cat creature but it comes of as a stupid last second twist to sound smart. Not to mention that thing still has to kill at least one person every year by the rules of the last movie.

The Sheriff especially sucks and all the side characters suck except Alan who is carrying the movie on his back. The plot is awful, and the main characters are done terribly (Except Fred who is done fine at least with an insignificant arc).

On the bright side the animation is surprisingly funny, some of the jokes work, and some action scenes are good. It is at least better than The Fox and the Hound 2.

I need to review something with good humor and something for Thanksgiving in just a few days.

Perfect

What Needs to be in Scooby-Doo Return to Zombie Island

As confirmed here and here they are making a sequel to Zombie Island, one of my favorite movies.  In fact, it was my first ever DTV Wonders review.  This makes me think of what a sequel needs to do to recapture the adventure, the tear jerkers, the excitement, and the mystery of the original.

I was not excited about this movie, but the fanbase was. Then the trailer came out.  Here it is.  It did nothing for my excitement, and it left the online fanbase less than pleased.

It looks like they will go back to the island and deal with more zombies or cat creatures there, and I hate this idea.  Putting new supernatural threats lessens the happy ending.  Did they remove the cat creatures and stop their kill count of at least 250 people (most certainly way higher) just for another group to continue it? Does this mean a happy ending is  just that they have to do this again 21 years later, 42 years later, and 63 years later?

Then I thought of this simple question, what does Zombie Island have that almost all Scooby-Doo works lack. Is it that the villains are real?  No one holds the works with just Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy in high regards which featured them running from one dimensional real and boring monsters, thus that is not it.  I thought about the best parts of the movie (Moonscar’s introduction, “It’s Terror Time Again,” driving to the island, and the climax), and I realized this movie has in hordes something Scooby-Doo almost never has, relatable and complex villains.

The villains are what set apart Zombie Island from the rest of Scooby-Doo, and none of them are still alive for a sequel.  They all are sympathetic and/or relatable. The main two villains have dealt with loss, taken their grief up with a higher power, been consumed by vengeance, and they are unable to stop the evilness it brought them.  For the anti-villains the pirates made some horrible mistakes, and now their motives are very ambiguous allowing the audience to see them in multiple ways.  Are they just motivated to get vengeance on the cat creatures and saving Mystery Inc is just a side result?  Are they just wanting to get to the afterlife and saving Mystery Inc is just a side quest?  Are they trying to atone for their past sins and trying to save Mystery Inc no mater how much it results in them getting judo thrown?  Some fans want these questions answered in a sequel, but I do not.  We are Scooby-Doo fans, and we can solve mysteries.  The other zombies are more clearly heroic, yet they are dealing with the horror of getting caught in the middle of a struggle between pirates and pagan monsters, and this mirrors when we get caught in struggles between higher powers that we cannot escape.

The character who seems to end this thought is the most purely evil character, Jacques, but he also has a sympathetic motivation.  Like many of us he is scared of death. This drove him to become a killer that brings his biggest fear to everyone he meets.

Unfortunately I do not think the new movie gets this based on the designs.  This is the zombie in the trailer

Compare this to the zombies in the older movie.

This design makes them look human with the alternating red and white eyes being a major part of the horror (and that one appears to be pregnant). The newer design looks more like the tar monster.

For Return to Zombie Island the creators already have their main characters, some side characters ready, a setting, and they need to recreate the essence of the first movie, the villains.  They need to replace them by bringing them back in an amazing way or make new villains with humanity.

Spoilers for “Scoobynatural” and Mystery Inc. ahead.

Time to analyze where the rest of the franchise has three dimensional villains, as most of them are simply after money.  In “Scoobynatural” and many other episodes the main antagonist has sympathy and is portrayed as right (with mixed results, as they still tried to kill the main characters). The difference is these characters are usually the main antagonist, not the main villain.  Little boy is the problem for most of the episode, but in the end they deal with and defeat greedy man doing a real estate scam.

Mystery Inc has the best case of replicating Zombie Island, but its villains were as a whole very different.  It had three very complex villains, The Freak of Crystal Cove, Mister E, and the conquistador.  All three of them could be with the Zombie Island characters and feel in place.  The conquistador would be a zombie who actively helps the cat creatures, because he deserves the punishment of being a zombie.  The Freak of Crystal Cove would be treasure hunting while avoiding the cat creatures and be fine with anyone else being caught… until one of his only loved ones is in danger, and he then sacrifices himself in contrast to Lena and Simone wanting vengeance for their loved ones.  Mister E would find a way to profit from the disappearances, but he would eventually realize it has gone too far and try to stop it but not after it is too late.

 

“Sometimes the only way to save the environment is to destroy the environment.”

The problem is the other villains are very different. They are two dimensional evil (with an occasional exception). The show normally had a very evil character who was humorously evil due to their current job not paying enough or a very comical reason.  That quote above was a villain’s motivation, and it was hilarious, not scary.  The final episodes are about facing the evil entity and Pericles who each have no redeeming attributes.  Fred’s parents become villains, and they are just horrific.

Each of the best Scooby-Doo works has something to separate them from the crowd.  For Mystery Inc it is the mood, for the original series it is the hidden depths, for Legend of the Phantosaur it is the characterization, for What’s New it was the settings.  For Zombie Island it is the humanity.