Scooby-Doo! and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery (2015)

Boring

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Blistering performances.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

OMG. I swear, I thought I was watching a vintage Scooby-Doo! movie from the worst era of marketing-driven, Hanna-Barbera whoring-their-characters animated drivel. No, it's NEW. They actually spent money to make an homage to the low point in children's programming, the greed driven 80s when everything on Saturday morning TV was hawking a toy or breakfast cereal or in this case, a stupid rock band trying to remake themselves in comic books once the first bloom of fame had faded. What you're subjected to in childhood is obviously powerful, since a lot of people seem to like this. Sorry about the brainwashing, folks.

Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK)Rating: 3.4/5 starsA creepy amusement park. A spooky witch. Crowds of innocent people fleeing in terror. This looks like a job for the greatest crime solvers in history...KISS? That's right, Scooby (voice of Frank Welker) and the rest of the Mystery Machine gang take a back seat while the famous rock band investigates haunted happenings at their own theme park. But when this case proves to be too much for even Gene Simmons (a.k.a. The Demon), Paul Stanley (a.k.a. The Starchild), and the rest of their band to handle, you can bet that the hungry hound and his pals will be there to help give evil the heave-ho."Scooby-Doo! and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery" carries on the celebrity crossover tradition that's had our canine crime-buster run into Batman and the Harlem Globetrotters in previous years. That the powers that be waited so long to bring about this team-up is no less weird than the pairing itself, but the flick brings a self-aware silliness to the table that excuses many of its more far-fetched moments.As a matter of fact, with all of the references to their songs scattered about along with a dig on their own brand-merchandising gimmicks down the years, and the soundtrack blasting said tunes constantly, KISS fans are liable to get as much enjoyment out of this movie as would Scooby fans, if not a bit more. Unfortunately, this is also sort of a problem, for while the rocking music and psychedelic animation are great, the presence of Scooby and the gang ends up downplayed as a result. There really isn't much of an investigation towards unfolding the mystery, which is a downer as along with all the madcap chase sequences, goofy fun, and witty humor the Mystery Machine gang has always been synonymous with unearthing good, old-fashioned, interesting mysteries; sort of living up to their moniker. This time they just assist KISS in chasing the easily-identifiable villain around before a rather unceremonious unmasking at the end. Still, "Scooby- Doo! and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery" is about on par with most of the eponymous pooch's escapades even though it doesn't scale the heights of some of the gang's superior outings (like last year's "Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery" for instance); it's really simple and zany, but it's a harmless and genuinely funny little ditty all the same, and scores extra points for providing pure nostalgia to KISS and Scooby- Doo fans alike.

Content: Super-Awesome. Other than 1 or 2 of the McFarlane action figures and a handful of the McFarlane comic books, I really have never owned any of KISS's stuff. I neither loved nor hated their music, but admired their merchandising strategy and as someone who spent the 90′s working in a Heavy Metal record store, we made sure to order every crazy KISS item we could.But after watching this movie it is hard to not be a KISS fan. I found myself singing Rock N Roll All Night while cutting open the packaging. KISS songs are peppered throughout the movie and they all sound great. The cartoon versions of the band are thinner and younger than their real-life counterparts and possess super-powers. Everything the band does in this movie is mind-blowingly cool.The Scooby Doo end of this movie is spot on and done to perfection. And when Shaggy and Scooby take The Demon's advice, I cheered very loud because it was super-cool. Fred and Daphne have some great stuff with 2 love triangles involving The Star Child and the scientist lady that makes Fred pull out his creepy evil smile at one point. Velma gets some one-on-one time with The Spaceman as she grips tightly to hold on to her skepticism.Only having read a few of the Psycho Circus comics, I am not sure what lore other comics created for KISS, but this movie expands the mythos surrounding the band in exciting, imaginative and fairly logical ways. The titles of Songs, Albums and more take on deeper meanings. The movie keeps pushing the boundaries on what you could possibly expect from it.Bruce Kulick did tweet a post about how this movie does give a shout out to past members of KISS. There is a screen-shot and if you are familiar with the lore of KISS, it is right there.Special Features: Good. KISS Cut-Ups is just out takes of KISS doing some promotion for this movie. The finished version of which is not on this release. These bloopers are not really funny.Are You A Scooby or a Shaggy? is KISS, Abby from NCIS and Jay & Silent Bob saying if they relate more to Scooby or Shaggy. Points to Thayer for his out of the box answer, even if he can't land on the exact name.Trailers: Nothing new. Opens with Legos: DC Heroes: Attack of the Legion of Doom. (first seen on Tom & Jerry vs Jonny Quest) and Tom & Jerry vs Jonny Quest. In the Special Features section trailers for Scooby Doo vs WWE and Lego Dimensions which may be a video game, but the trailer features Joel McHale. (Amazon has 2 different trailers, one feat. Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown.) (BTW DC Lego movies have more action and less dumb comedy than Star Wars Lego movies.)Blu Ray special features also include 2 episodes from the 3rd season of Scooby Doo Where Are You (Part of the Scooby Doo/Dynomutt Hour) S03E04 To Switch A Witch and S03E11 The Diabolical Disc Demon.Buy/Don't Buy: Yes. Buy. This movie does not disappoint in any way. I want more. This is a great format for KISS. Our passport to the KISS realm is the Scooby gang so KISS gets to be mysterious. I would love it if Warner Animation created a Hanna Barbera-style cartoon series for Cartoon Network with a group of Mystery Solving Teens who summon KISS whenever they find themselves in trouble. Like the Godzilla Power Hour with the trouble alert.

This film is almost all around bad. The plot is bad, the unmasking at the end isn't properly explained of why the villain did what she did, and to say this is a kids' film, it was Un- entertaining. Not many kids would know who Kiss is and the fact that this is Scooby Doo makes it even worse as it is supposed to entertain young children. Yes OK, the cinematography is good, the visual effects are good and the voice acting is good. But the jokes fall flat. The plot is dull. The whole film leaves loads of unanswered questions. I watched this film on Movietube, if you want to watch this film watch it on there. It is not worth wasting your money to buy this film. It is the worst Scooby Doo ever made! I cannot express how bad this film is! The only thing good about it is the visual effects and CGI. They were borderline great. But that is it! This film suits older audiences who do not care about the logics of the film and actually understanding the plot. Not little children.