Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob

Have been a big fan of Scooby Doo since single digits. Love most of the incarnations, especially 'Scooby Doo Where are You' and 'The Scooby Doo Show', and even like a couple of the negatively received ones better than most (personally considered 'The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo' underrated). Most of the animated Scooby Doo films range between good and great, especially 'Zombie Island' and 'Witch's Ghost'. Didn't care for every single one of them, 'Monster of Mexico' didn't do much for me and 'Return to Zombie Island' was a real disappointment.

There was no doubt about seeing 'The Sword and the Scoob', not just because of Scooby Doo completest sake but also the idea was truly fascinating and pretty unique for the franchise. There is also nothing wrong with being different and different has come off well, 'Goblin King' was a change of pace also and am personally quite fond of that. 'The Sword and the Scoob' turned out to be highly enjoyable and well done. Not on the same level as 'Zombie Island' and 'Witch's Ghost' but infinitely better than the previous two Scooby Doo films.

Good things are many. The animation is vibrantly colourful and atmospheric, everything looking smooth and the backgrounds are rich in detail. The music had groove and atmosphere and didn't sound outdated or out of place. The voice acting is on the money with no exception, especially Matthew Lillard who has proven himself to be a more than worthy successor to the immortal Casey Kasem. Not as good, but the best Shaggy voice actor since as he is the only successor to nail the mix of funny, endearing goofiness and likeability.

Referencing is smart and nostalgic, never feeling thrown in, random or cheesy. 'The Sword and the Scoob' has a lot of funny writing that also flows and has heart. Shaggy's lines are especially fun. The throwbacks to the past are done with respect and affection for classic Scooby, which was a delight for this fan. There is a nicely paced and engaging story, thin on mystery but not over obvious and benefits massively from the colourful and nostalgic medieval setting and the imaginative and non confusing time travel. As well as some nice creepy conflict. Scooby and Shaggy are nailed and Velma is at her least annoying and true to character in a while. Did enjoy Daphne's stronger and more quirky personality and it gels a lot better than in 'Happy Halloween Scooby Doo'.

Not everything works. Merlin's character writing is far too silly and this is the least likeable and actually pretty obnoxious interpretation of King Arthur in recent memory. Am aware and appreciate what the film was trying to do, but for me it didn't work. The ending is too much of a tacked on cheat and is too neat.

Once again, Fred comes over as rather wet and borderline sappy. Where is the more resourceful leader that makes the decisions of the earlier incarnations?

Concluding, highly enjoyable. 7/10.

In all honesty I haven't seen an enjoyable Scooby Doo in a long time. This was.... okay. Different from the classic scooby doo's, ending felt a bit like ' they had to squeeze in a bad guy somewhere' moment. I think this is the new standard of scooby doo and from all the bad 'creative' ones, this one was okay.

Nice return to form.

Like any long series with many different iterations some direct to video Scooby Doo adventures are better than others. This is one of them. Really liked the humour, the 2D animation style is perfect (3d , lego, and stylized2d is all not as good as this style). It kept it consistent that probably all the monsters are eventually debunked at the end. Much like you know who is guilty in a columbo episode from the start but how you get there is the fun.

Nice references to a classic "Thundarr the barbarian" by the same creators. Hopefully this might mean they are finally going to revive this series too.

We rented it via internet and it was well worth the price.

Highly recommended.

After solving another mystery, the gang goes on vacation in London. They drive the Mystery Machine into the countryside and arrive at a town which is the former site of Camelot. Somehow, they are brought back in time and they wake up in old Camelot.

This is animated Scooby-Doo adventure. It maintains the standard Scooby tropes. It has its fun. It's one more episode. It's not going to break any new ground. The fantastical is explained in a ridiculous way and the mask is always pulled off.

These straight to DVD Scooby-Doo films are always a bit hit and miss, but they do tend to be a bit more 'out there' than the TV series.

Sending the gang back in time is a neat idea, but there are some very long, plodding scenes, and everyone, medieval or not speaks as if it's 2021, which is jarring.

At least Fred isn't a total idiot for a change, but this wasn't one of my favourite outings for the gang.