Rating: **
Review Date: 9/6/16
Cast: Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Grey Griffin, Kate Micucci,
Cassandra Peterson
A totally unnecessary Lego animated movie featuring the gang from "Scooby-Doo." Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) and Scooby are tired of being live bait all the time, so they resolve to give up their weakness for Scooby Snacks. After solving another "man in a mask" mystery, Shaggy flies off the handle and eats a mountain of hamburgers, which unwittingly wins him a vacation trip to Hollywood. Naturally, the entire gang (including a starstruck Daphne) goes along and the final stop on their sight seeing tour is the legendary Brickton Movie Studio. The studio has fallen on hard times and is on the verge of bankruptcy, which is only made worse by the presence of - wait for it - vengeful ghosts on the movie lot. So, Mystery Inc. has another case on their hands. Much silliness goes down as Fred (Frank Welker) attempts to direct a romantic comedy, Daphne (Grey Griffin) tries to get her big Hollywood break, Shaggy and Scooby pig out on craft services, and horror hostess Drella Diabolique (Cassandra Peterson) helps out wherever she can. She also delivers the film's only funny line when she refers to Shaggy's goatee as a "chin-stache."
First of all, it's little more than a standard Scooby-Doo mystery that's about an hour too long. Secondly, there's no reason to involve the Lego aspect at all, as the film makes no meaningful use of the brand (apart from the overused interchangeable hair gag). It certainly looks pretty and it's interesting to see the Scooby gang rendered in 3D, but the whole thing seems pointless. The voice talent is excellent and the characters don't stray from their classic roles, which also makes you wonder why the Lego brand is involved. Curiously, the short bonus feature "Knight Time Terror" makes much better use of BOTH properties, and plays out just like a regular episode of Scooby-Doo. I'd recommend watching that and skipping the main feature altogether.