DVD Review: Scooby-Doo and the Samurai Sword - Page 3

From this point on, Shaggy and Scooby train to become samurai, meet a green dragon and find something called the Sword of Fate. The plot and effects are all overblown through the third act. What really works in a film like Chill Out, Scooby-Doo is the return of the human element to the stories. Battling ghosts and dragons with mystical weapons is best left to the Anime side of the aisle. The movie ends with a nice circle back to the beginning of the film, but the lessons of friendship and loyalty that are promised in the beginning are wasted by the sheer size of the story the writers try to tell in the end.

A terrific start for 2/3rds of the film is wasted in an overdone ending. I don't figure this is the end for the Scooby-Doo direct-to-video franchise. Alien Invaders and Cyber Chase couldn't kill it, I don't think this one will. I hope that the new series coming out will encourage a return to more mystery stories. It's a fantastically fun universe to play in - the writers know all of the beats they need to hit and it's fun even when you know they're coming. I hold this series to a little higher standard and I'm anxious to see what movie number fourteen holds in store.

The DVD includes only one Special Feature (I don't count Trailers as Special Features) - "Scooby-Doo Dojo!". What promises to be a look at the world of martial arts, is in reality, a disappointing feature that spends most of its time trying to teach kids moves that are so basic, you'd cover them in your first five minutes of a Free Pass at your local martial arts gym.

Article Author: Cinema Sentries

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