I wasn't really sure what to expect going into this one. Overall, I really liked it! Please note that this review will have spoilers, so if you have not had time to watch the film yet, I would recommend not reading this review until you do if you are looking to avoid spoilers.
The retcon of Coco Diablo being responsible for all the gang's costumes is interesting. I wouldn't want to just consider it official continuity for the entire franchise now, but I kind of think of it like Get a Clue. It works really well as a continuity on its own, but I don't think it really fits with the franchise. I liked the gang's plan for stopping Coco at the beginning of the film, but I feel it's a bit rushed. There's no real buildup where the viewer gets to be shocked like that amazing reveal at the end of "Wrath of the Krampus," it just kind of happens and then it's over with. We have to get into the opening song next, because I got a really good laugh out that "no more ghouls and ghosts. Just helpin' folks!" line haha. I love that the gang is helping out Elias Kingston in the grocery store. How very wholesome of them lol. I thought it was very interesting how Velma was crushing on Coco Diablo. It seems they were perhaps testing out what Velma plans to do in the kids' side of the franchise. From what little I've read online about fan reactions to the film, I do hope that there's not going to be some huge controversy about "omg Velma is a lesbian!" To be fair, Velma does not state she is a lesbian in this film; the film only confirms she is romantically interested in women. It does not retroactively say that her male love interests in the past did not happen, so it's also possible Velma is bi/pansexual as well. Regardless, it was neat they explored it here and I thought it was done in a very natural way. The prison scene was quite intense. John Simms clearly has some anger issues if he has made a Scooby voodoo doll in prison and is poking it in the mouth haha. In the scene where the warden is shaking down Harry the Hypnotist, it looks as if the bars were so wide that the inmate could have fit through the bars. Speaking of that scene, the warden's veins showing in his arms as he's roughing up the inmate was an interesting thing to animate. Although the animation is rougher and more messy in this film than Guess Who was, I feel like it allowed for some interesting details to shine through, like the vein thing. I will say that all the snot jokes with Trevor were gross and unnecessary. I really liked the villains, particularly the Misery Company. The fact that their guts and brains were exposed made them even creepier. Coco Diablo worked was as a villain too, and although I'm not always a huge fan of the "the heroes have to be helped by their old foe" type plots (because I feel they're often predictable), I thought it was done in a fun way here. I'll have to admit I did wonder for a moment if it actually was Coco when they were setting it up to look like it was undeniably her, so the fact that it was the warden was interesting. I love how happy-go-lucky the warden is about carrying out the plan, to the point of him kissing all the clues as he's leaving them. I think that's super cute lol. I also found it funny how he exclaimed "Hi Mystery Inc.!" in a goofy voice when he was caught. It was a shame that the one preview kinda ruined that reveal (although I did wonder briefly if it was Coco). I was also happy they included a more diverse selection of villains here, rather than just all Where Are You villains. It was interesting to see some New Scooby-Doo Mysteries villains that weren't even in costumes retconned. I was interested by the fact they fell back on the "Scooby hates cats" plotline. I feel like they kind of use that trope when they want, but sometimes they drop it. And speaking of cats, it was cool they retconned the Catman. One retcon I was surprised about though was that we see Igor from "A Halloween Hassle at Dracula's Castle" among the inmates. That is a major retcon, since he was never arrested (in fact, the ghouls embraced what he did). Just a random note, as I made quite a few of them as I watched the film, I would have been interested in knowing why Velma got detention lol. Although I overall liked this movie, I LOVED how the last 20 minutes just divulged into random chaos. Random, absurdist humor is exactly my humor style, so it really worked for me. I've talked in several posts about how I stan Sassy Fred, and we can now add Sassy Gators to my list of characters I stan for. I loved how those gators came up out of the sewer just to cross their arms and give the gang side-eye lol. Although I am a cat lover, I didn't love Esteban, although the end had two great scenes with him. The fact that he had a cat computer was super funny. What I most liked though was Scooby rhetorically asking Esteban "do you like me?" to which after not speaking the entire movie, Esteban speaks in a deep voice and says "No!", but then they both agree that they don't like each other and shake hands haha. I really liked Trevor's Mystery Machine design! One thing I will say though, I am getting a bit tired of "the Mystery Machine blows up" plots. They've done it in Return to Zombie Island, Happy Halloween, and now this one. I wasn't really that bothered by it here; I guess I'm just saying that I'm at the point where I feel like they've done enough of those and should perhaps give it a rest after this film. I liked the bit with the prisoners escaping at the end. The "I know but this is a family movie!" comment from the Warden was funny. Given this information, I can only assume he was going to shout the f-bomb if it wasn't a family movie lol. It was really neat to see the gang wearing the classic monster costumes. I'm unsure why Captain Cutler believed it was the real ghost of Captain Cutler...you could even see Velma's face through the costume lol. It was cute how Fred wore his ascot over the Knight costume. Speaking of which, I have so much appreciation for Fred's casually saying "Hey Mr. Wickles! What a night for a knight!" It gives off such casual sass and I love it haha. Speaking of Sassy Fred, I also think the fact that the Mystery Machine rearview mirror reads "Objects in mirror are probably Fred Jones" also has major sassy vibes lol. One plotline I felt they could have expanded upon more was Daphne questioning her role in the gang. I thought it could have been a good plotline, but they just mentioned it once towards the beginning and it's never brought up again until the end. I wish that plotline would have been developed more. The fact that Trevor was actually a random surfer dude in a costume was hilarious. Definitely the kind of random humor I enjoy. The one joke I didn't really enjoy, other than the snot jokes, was Scooby breaking the fourth wall to say "this whole franchise is named after me!" That's more of a personal preference than anything and I don't think the joke was objectively bad, but it felt a bit cringey to me. I realize I'm sort of divulging into random comments now rather than giving a cohesive review, but I have some remaining notes. It was cool how the 10,000 Volt Ghost costume looks kind of like Phantom of Vasquez Castle when it is just the suit that's not powered on. I've got a long comment to end us off here about that wishing well lol. First of all...where did Fred get that wad of cash?!? Secondly, I love how the ending is just Fred and the gang laughing nervously as they throw dollar bills down a wishing well. I genuinely don't think they could have thought of a weirder ending and I just adore it haha. I absolutely get why they did it, but I honestly think it would have been even slightly better if there was no monster eye at the bottom of the well. The ending should have just been the gang aimlessly throwing dollar bills down the well as they slowly have an existential crisis lol. It'd be dark, but also random and amusing as heck haha. I can't make a GIF since digital download sites don't allow screenshots, but somebody needs to make a GIF of that scene of them throwing dollar bills down the well as they nervously laugh, and caption it "Capitalism be like..." hahaha. Anyway, that's my review for the film! I really enjoyed this film even a bit more than I thought, especially the last 20 minutes of it for its random chaos. I don't think this is what I would have expected when we first heard about the Trick or Treat project in August 2021, but I am very satisfied with what we got, even if it's the only Scooby movie or show we get this year (and it likely will be).
53 Comments
ScoobyVerse
10/4/2022 08:24:58 pm
Ace Decade- The Diabolical Disc Demon
Reply
10/4/2022 08:43:00 pm
Thank you so much for this list! I didn't fully recognize everybody with the different animation so it's great to have this list. I hadn't recognized Ace, Rosey/Gilly, Pops, Alice, Parker or Cecil. I love that they chose such unique picks for the villains for once rather than just sticking to Where Are You villains.
Reply
Matt
10/5/2022 12:43:22 pm
Have not seen the movie yet beyond the Velma stuff so I have not read the review, but I can say I never expected to see Parker or Cecil again so that is really crazy
Reply
Matt
10/5/2022 12:44:55 pm
Also makes me wonder if the writers favorite seasons are the Scooby Doo Where Are You seasons, Scooby Doo Show season 2, and New Scooby Doo Mysteries. Alice Dovely is the only one who doesn’t fit in there
Becker
10/5/2022 01:00:14 pm
I think you mean TSDS season 3, not 2. There's Dr Grimsley, Ace Decade and Julie from TSDS season 3 there. I'm just really glad modern Scooby is finally paying homage to the great NSDMy.
Matt
10/5/2022 04:08:24 pm
Yes that is a typo. Meant to say 3 10/5/2022 05:00:14 pm
Aww bummer. I thought about maybe waiting to watch it until I got the DVD, but I noticed the Velma stuff in the news yesterday which motivated me to see it immediately lol. 10/4/2022 09:31:27 pm
Which streaming service is Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo on?
Reply
whackman
10/5/2022 01:04:52 pm
It's streaming on Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, Vudu, and Microsoft Store.
Reply
whackman
10/6/2022 10:20:58 am
In all honesty I lost faith in HBO Max afer, WBD removed tons of shows from there in the name of a tax write off. I'm amazed at just how fast HBO Max went from being a strong and popular contender to Netflix and Disney, to a joke in less than 4 months. This all Zaslav fault I'm just glad he is glad he is getting sued for causing this mess. Still, this worries me that the WB side might get destroyed after the lawsuit. It's already being torn apart / sold in pieces to other companies, but worst case is most stuff becomes a tax write-off. And honestly, WB and Discovery merging together shouldn't have happened. But if they try to falsely advertise those subscribers again on HBO Max as it has been losing more lately, it's gonna get worse for the company. 10/6/2022 05:33:01 pm
Why is Zaslav being sued? I hadn't heard that this was happening.
Dimitri Brenick
10/5/2022 12:22:38 am
truthfully velma has bigger problems than being a lesbian/bisexual now. I don't think it be too hard of a statement to say velma's character is tainted from recent series/movies. The curse of 13th ghost and return to zombie island both made velma negate 100% true paranormal. then in guess who she basically became a mary sue who could solve the case no problem cause she had found clues that weren't given to the audience. even mystery inc her relationship was shaggy was terrible and undefendable. truthfully i think i prefer scrappy over modern velma. it's also why it was a bad idea to make a spin-off when the character has recently became the least favorite member of the gang as of recent.
Reply
10/5/2022 05:02:41 pm
I can understand why you'd feel that way. I don't like Velma in Curse of the 13th Ghost or Return to Zombie Island either, but I feel like she got a little bit redeemed in Happy Halloween. I guess maybe it just comes from me looking at the franchise as separate entities, rather than "this character was written horribly in this particular series/movie, now they're ruined!" For example, I hate Velma in SDMI season 1, but it didn't make me take a disliking to her in any media that wasn't connected to that. That's just the way I look at it though, and I can absolutely see where you're coming from.
Reply
Amber noel
10/5/2022 10:00:24 am
I really enjoyed this movie it was zany but in a good way it was funny the animation grew on me with how expressive it is. The whole velma lesbian thing is blown way out of proportion it's treated as nothing more than a crush and that's what I liked about it it's not in your face about it it's just treated as a normal thing. The ghostly doppelgangers were very creepy and I liked how some of them had their guts hanging out. The gang dressing up as their past villiains was very amusing. The eye in the well at the end is something I curious about because I thought that this movie is maybe a finale to guess but after seeing that I'm not sure are they setting up something? is their going to be a sequel ?Idk I guess we will have to wait and see. The villiain reveal was dissapointing because a clip spoilt it at first I thought they were keeping the real villain a secret but that wasn't the case. This might sound stupid but in my mind I thought maybe Fred was the culprit idk his arc about wanting a proper mystery got me wondering what if he wanted to create his own and the fact that he was happy to see the doppelgangers.
Reply
10/5/2022 05:07:04 pm
Agreed it was zany in a good way! I also loved how expressive the animation was. The Velma being into women doesn't bother me at all either. It was done in a very natural way. It would be interesting if that monster eye led into another movie or series, but I don't know. I wasn't fully ready to believe it when that clip came out, but I can't believe they ruined the end of the film. That was really stupid of them to show that clip. Your idea of Fred being the culprit would have been cool! I would have enjoyed that.
Reply
Mystery5
10/6/2022 02:45:29 am
I REALLY enjoyed this one. Kinda makes up for a lack of Scooby movies this year til now. Just kinda. Lol
Reply
10/6/2022 07:03:11 am
I'm glad you enjoyed it so much! I would say it fully makes up for the lack of content for me. I wouldn't mind if we get nothing else this year (of course, I'd love if they did give us more content, but I'm satisfied with this).
Reply
Jayden
10/6/2022 12:48:43 pm
I don't think I've ever watched a Scooby Doo film and thought of it as missed potential and just outright strange...but there's always a first time for everything. The animation was alright. Suspects and mystery were weak. But, the reason I say it's missed potential because the plot is very well done. But, it just needed better suspects along with the pacing being all over the place. The random scenes with the ghosts, them playing cards even though they're robots??? But, the villain designs were cool and unique and I did like the ending it was cool and different. The soundtrack was also pleasant. Now, I've never disliked a member of the gang in an episode/film. But here, velma was insufferable. I could not stand her being legit stupid in this film. This "woman crushing on a woman" thing does not sit well with me. It's a cartoon with characters from the 60's. Stop with the trend references! Overall, a step down from Courage and Happy Halloween but not outright bad.
Reply
Bigscoobydoofan
10/6/2022 03:36:52 pm
You say 'trend references' even though James Gunn originally wrote Velma as a lesbian in Scooby-Doo 2002. But, I digress
Reply
Jayden
10/7/2022 09:19:36 am
That film is honestly garbage and nothing to do with the actual cartoon scooby doo so it's irrelevant. 10/6/2022 05:35:05 pm
I feel like the strangeness worked for it personally. I hadn't thought about the robots playing cards, but that makes it even funnier to me haha. I didn't mention it much in my review, but I really liked the soundtrack too. It sounded great.
Reply
Jayden
10/7/2022 09:20:32 am
Also Trevor was annoying and the fact that he was just some skateboarder was weird and random.. 10/8/2022 09:36:05 am
I did find Trevor annoying at first, but I liked the randomness of him being a skateboarder haha.
JJ
10/7/2022 02:03:50 pm
I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment even the part about Velma, I truly dislike when they try to fit in a show or anything with the trend of today even if he wrote it in 2002. I’m tired of grown men sexualizing cartoons and tv shows, they should have just left the cartoon in the kid’s world. This is so sad. I loved Scooby Doo for so long since I was a kid and now they are messing with the nostalgia
Reply
GroovyHuman
10/7/2022 02:59:52 pm
I've seen the Trick or Treat Velma scenes and would say it's put in there the same way as Shaggy had a crush on Crystal in Alien Invaders. Part of a sub plot for one or two characters. It's still in the kids world, the whole crush thing was romantic and not in the adult realm of thinking. Even though characters are from a certain time period doesn't mean they can't be updated. Like Fred and Daphne in 1969 had nothing to do in the show they actually would not give them a lot of screen time bc they were so bland. But now they have some character. Plus all the Scooby movies, tv shows, and video games aren't all on the same timeline or "universe". So the directors can really make any change they want and put it in a different universe like Spiderman. We should get an "Into the Scoobyverse" movie!
Matt
10/7/2022 06:43:24 pm
Ah, I see JJ, there’s not a problem when Fred and Daphne were clearly a thing even back in 1969, or even the multiple other crushes throughout the years. It is a problem because you think a woman having a crush on a woman is sexualized.
Jayden
10/8/2022 04:02:02 am
100% Agree. 10/8/2022 09:38:34 am
I absolutely agree with GroovyHuman and Matt. If you watched the Velma interview from New York Comic Con, Charlie Grandy mentioned that the series was kind of like their version of 'Into the SpiderVerse' in the sense that it's taking place in a different continuity, and Velma is a different race.
Matt
10/7/2022 06:35:30 pm
If you are trying to insinuate that nobody in the 60s was gay, you are very much mistaken. If you think that someone being gay is a trend, then you are very much mistaken and also quite ignorant
Reply
Jayden
10/8/2022 04:03:07 am
A man and a woman having crushes on each other is normal and okay to be in cartoons. We certainly don't need the same genders being involved in sexual relationships. 10/8/2022 10:04:49 am
Jayden, your comment comes off as homophobic. I'm fine with people discussing whether they liked or disliked Velma's relationship with Coco in this film. It's fine to have not liked Velma's relationship with Coco and I respect that opinion. 10/8/2022 10:13:17 am
What if Norville/Shaggy were a nudist? Please don't take this comment as offensive. I'm only saying this because his character is a hippy.
Matt
10/8/2022 12:05:40 pm
It is just as normal for two people of the same gender to simply have crushes on each other. It is quite sick how you are jumping straight to sexual relationships for people of the same gender while maintaining people of different genders can have “normal” crushes is just very ignorant 10/9/2022 02:32:01 am
The point that I was trying to make is that Norville/Shaggy is a hippy. Hippies live in communes. Some of them wear less clothes. Some of them don't even wear clothes at all. If nudity were to be presented in the show, it would be in a healthy, normal, non-sexual manner (showering/bathing). The 1996 Disney film Kazaam had Shaquille O'Neal taking a shower in a little boy's bedroom while singing "Stayin' Alive". https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zWmHWz2DYTA
Mr Neither
10/16/2022 05:16:07 am
This is the review I relate to the most. I have nothing against Velma being into women but it's just to distracting here from the actual mystery and with a short movie you don't have the extra time for filler.
Reply
Bigscoobydoofan
10/6/2022 03:34:48 pm
I’m just going to paste my review from discord that I posted on the Scooby-Doo server as apart of my daily Scootober reviews:
Reply
10/6/2022 06:44:45 pm
I loved how fresh the plot felt too! The madness honestly made it more enjoyable for me, but I like that random kind of humor haha. Fred really did feel a lot like his Be Cool self in this episode, which was great! That wishing well scene made me smile the whole time too. :)
Reply
Jacob Staggs
10/8/2022 12:46:32 am
Change by Jimmy Holiday is one of the best songs ever done in the franchise! I'll buy the DVD for that reason alone.
Reply
Shadowscooby
10/8/2022 07:13:46 am
After watching this movie, I pretty much liked it. It was interesting that Coco Diablo was the one who creates all the villains costumes.
Reply
10/8/2022 09:45:39 am
I really liked this film too! Coco was an excellent villain. Velma having a crush on Coco was definitely cute. The opening of this film was absolutely hilarious, particularly the "no more ghouls and ghosts. Just helpin' folks!" line lol. The ghosts of Misery Company were amazing villains and I like how they kind of drew on SDMI for that storyline. It felt like this movie drew from a lot of old Scooby content, between "A Scooby-Doo Valentine," SDMI and some of the old comics.
Reply
SDF
10/13/2022 06:32:43 pm
I found that film really enjoyable. It is the only 2020's dtv i really liked (oh and happy halloween also). I liked the concept of old villains returning it was a great touch. I find a lot of jokes so funny, i liked the chaos of the last minutes and i had a great time.
Reply
10/13/2022 08:43:37 pm
I loved the film too, although I liked all the other 2020s DTVs too. Happy Halloween and this one are my faves, though. I actually feel like I enjoy this film a little more than FrankenCreepy just because of how many more creative risks this film took (all of which worked really well IMO). It was kinda sad that there were villains scared of their own disguises lol.
Reply
Lamont
10/16/2022 12:59:38 am
I honestly really enjoyed this movie! It was a fun ride from the beginning all the way to the end!
Reply
10/16/2022 08:27:19 am
I love that the gang had to do menial tasks for people too lol. I wasn't sure how I felt about one person creating every costume the gang's ever run across when I saw the trailer, but it worked very well. The warden's motive was really cute haha.
Reply
Jakob123
10/23/2022 10:04:05 am
After watching Trick or Treat for the first time I thought it was really good for the most part. It has been quite a while since anyone ever mentioned the town of Coolsville in the SD franchise. Plus I really liked Coco Diablo's character and personality, although I must say the whole Velma being gay gimmick was a bit unexpected not to mention a pretty risky choice by the makers of the film.
Reply
10/23/2022 10:07:04 am
I really liked Trick or Treat too! It was nice to see Coolsville return after so long. I agree with you that making Velma interested in women was a bit of a risky choice given all the backlash around the Velma series, but I thought it worked well and it didn't feel forced in or intrusive to the plot.
Reply
Jakob123
11/9/2022 11:11:19 am
I forgot to mention in my review that the Guess Who art style and animation they used for this film is still as great as it was before.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWildwindVampire Categories
All
Archives
September 2023
|