Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery

Not the best Scooby Doo film or among the best, but still great entertainment from start to finish. Some of the story can feel over-stretched, the film could easily have been shorter and still be effective, and the final solution did feel over-complicated, a lot goes on but some of the explanation is rushed. The animation is top-notch however, there is so much detail in the backgrounds that has a uniquely interesting style, all the characters look great and the colours are warm and vibrant. The soundtrack is still groovy with some very catchy moments, and the writing, a vast majority of the story and characters hit the spot excellently. The writing is goofy but of a endearing and hilarious kind that is remarkably true to that of the classic Scooby Doo, and there is a lot of heart. The story never feels dull and the mystery is a good one apart from some padding and an over-complicated final solution, plenty of suspense and the clues as ever are very fun to spot. The ghost bear is a solid and initially scary villain that could have been utilised more, though you do know straight away from the usual formula that it is a person behind a mask, unlike some people here the culprit wasn't that obvious to me. The cross-over of Scooby and WWE worked excellently, I'm a huge Scooby Doo fan if not so much wrestling but the smart dialogue, chemistry between characters and colourful characterisations really worked. The Scooby Doo characters don't disappoint, Shaggy and Scooby have the lion's share of the funniest moments and the best bits are hilarious, but their friendship has a lot of heart to it. Velma(whose personality since the Sander-Schwatz outings has taken some getting used to), Daphne and Fred are likable and do things that are interesting and different to one another. The WWE characters are a huge amount of fun with their personalities as colourful as in real life without being exaggerated yet don't swamp the gang too much, the balance between the two are just right. The voice work doesn't disappoint, Matthew Lillard and John Cena standing out particularly but it is great from all the voice actors and is actually one of Wrestlemania Mystery's strongest assets. All in all, lots of fun and excellent as a cross-over. 8/10 Bethany Cox