The second act begins at the 20-minute mark with our first "music video" chase scene. This battle with the ninjas is accompanied by a painfully titled song, "Doing The Samurai" (wait till I tell you about the next one). Like we've become accustomed to in the previous series and films, this scene includes clever costume changes, fooling the bad guys, and general slapstick humor. The difference here is that the ninjas actually steal the Destiny Scroll. Or, I should say, they think they do. It turns out that our gang still has the "real" Destiny Scroll and they use it to find the Sword Of Doom. The movie turns into much more traditional riddle-solving at this point. These are the fun moments of the film and I wish they could draw out the "mystery" aspect of it a little more. Solving a mystery doesn't always mean unmasking a bad guy. Sometimes it's more entertaining to have the clues put in front of the viewer and give them time to unravel the riddle. Here we are led to a Green Dragon where another riddle quickly leads us to the Sword Of Doom.
The discovery of the Sword of Doom lends itself to an almost too painfully recreation of the booby traps in Raiders Of The Lost Ark. As the gang is running away from the big rolling rock, you know exactly what is going to be on the other side. Of course, the Black Samurai is waiting and takes the sword. A chase ensues that seems like it will be the second "music video" but at the 40-minute mark, the Black Samurai is caught and unmasked. Just the "whatchu' talkin' 'bout, Willis", every character gets in their catchphrase in this scene, including the "meddling kids" line. All of the beats of a "normal" episode have been fulfilled. The movie could be over. That is . . . until they are attacked by robot ninjas.
The third act begins at the 50-minute mark with our second "music video" chase scene. The battle with the robot ninjas for the Sword of Doom takes place to the upbeat tune, "Domo Arigato, Sayonara" As painful as the song sounds, the action is pretty well choreographed. This time, our boys aren't successful and the "real" Black Samurai is going to have the Sword of Doom. Up to this point, the story has remained grounded in the "real" Scooby-Doo universe where monsters and ghosts are men in masks. It's at this point that I really checked out on the plot. Much of the excitement and action of these films is the comedy of the chase and the thin but fun mysteries that need to be solved to save a farm or hotel or museum.
Article comments
1 - emily
i like the movie scooby doo and the samurai sword a lot. I am a huge fan of scooby doo because it's real funny. MY favourite scooby doo movie is scooby doo and ghoul school.