Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur Blu-ray Movie Review

Demon dinosaurs? Mystery Incorporated? Sign me up...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown September 1, 2011

Not much has changed with Scooby-Doo over the years. Scrappy-Doo and Scooby-Dum have come and gone, the series' ghosts have gone from masks to ectoplasmic goo to masks again, and a slew of self-aware live-action adaptations have risen from the grave, sure. But for all intents and purposes, the tried-tested-and-true Mystery Inc. formula has gone untouched. Fred is still a Duey Do Right gumshoe, Daphne is still Fred's enthusiastic female counterpart, Velma is still the gang's Britannica-born braniac, Shaggy is still a scruffy mopped Woodstock castoff, good ol' Scoob is still the same easily spooked but ever-loyal snack-craving pup with a speech impediment, and the villain of the week -- be it a supernatural medium, scorned blue collar criminal or greedy opportunist -- inevitably dusts off the line kids of all ages have been rattling off in unison since 1969: "and I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!" Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur doesn't lay a finger on the formula, nor does it have to. It may leave adults bemoaning the franchise's stagnancy, but it will leave a whole new batch of kids laughing, bouncing and barking Rooby Rooby Roo!

Ruh roh...

Cards on the table: I switched off the critical core in my brain for this one. It was firing on all cylinders for a few minutes, long enough to take note of a few things (more on that in a second), but there's something about a six-year-old's belly laughs that cut right through a dad's stuffy work ethic. I can't say I was impressed with Legend of the Phantosaur (too much legend, too little Phantosaur), but my son thought it was the funniest thing since... well, whatever we watched last week, so maybe that's not saying much. The story isn't complicated, even though the movie takes its grand time resolving what could have been a twenty-minute, quick-hit TV episode. The apparently independently wealthy Mystery Inc. gang -- Fred (Frank Welker), Daphne (Grey Delisle), Velma (Mindy Cohn), Shag (Matthew Lillard) and Scoob (Welker, as always) -- stumbles across a desert town haunted by a giant otherworldly dinosaur; a creature that was recently reawakened when a team of paleontologists started digging a bit too deep. But things don't quite add up and the gang sets their meddling sights on the nature of the fire-breathing dino.

And there are a string of shifty suspects: batty master of hypnosis Mr. Hubley (Fred Willard), eloquent paleontologist Professor Svankmajer (Finola Hughes), gruff biker Tex (Kevin Michael Richardson), Velma-smitten student Winsor (Matthew Gray Gubler), a pair of corporate troublemakers, and a doctor (Maulik Pancholy) who treats Shaggy for a case of unending screaming. Shaggy gets more help from Mr. Hubley, though, who uses hypnosis to temporarily transform the terrified teen into an unflinching, tough-as-nails fighter whenever he hears the word "bad." Of course, a second "bad" turns him back into his old self, leading to uncontrollable (and, for a six-year-old, uncontrollably hilarious) shifts from Scared Shag to Fearless Shag. While it takes up far too much screentime, Shaggy's transformations are what give Legend of the Phantosaur a healthy dose of heart. Historically, Scooby-Doo! hasn't doled out many life lessons -- other than crime doesn't pay, I suppose -- but Legend digs deep and unearths a sweet, syrupy moral about overcoming fear and discovering inner strength. It doles out a surprising string of fun little action scenes as well, among them a roadhouse brawl between Shaggy and Tex's bikers, an over-the-top motorcycle race down a mountain, and a Jurassic Park homage, complete with snarling raptors.

That said, when a first grader can solve a feature-length movie mystery midway through a flick, there's a problem. With just six suspects to scrutinize and an inflated seventy-five minutes to kill, it doesn't take much to figure out who the culprit (or culprits) might be, and even less to piece together the puzzle. Red Herrings lurk on the horizon (the bikers, the corporate stooges), but they're disqualified from the running early on as the true villains are so suspicious, so quick to divert attention and wring their hands, that it simply couldn't be anyone else. As usual, the voice performances, slapstick comedy, clumsy chase sequences and age-old Scooby gags save the day and prevent Legend of the Phantosaur from wearing out its welcome. Scooby Snacks are (mostly) MIA and the gang doesn't slip inside many costumes to duck the flick's roaring beasties (although there is a mashed potatoes sculpture, so I guess that qualifies), but everything else that makes Scooby, well, Scooby is present and accounted for. The only element sure to bore young kids are the crossed romantic wires between Fred and Daphne, Velma and Winsor, and Shaggy and a table of burgers, chicken wings and deep-fried confections. Legend of the Phantosaur isn't the best of the new Scooby-Doo! direct-to-video movies, but it will entertain anyone under 4' 9" who's old enough to know -- sarcastic spoiler alert -- Phantosaur's devil dinos aren't real.

Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Phantosaur takes a bite out of Blu-ray with a sharp, none too scary 1080p/AVC-encoded presentation. Crisp, vibrant and oh-so-colorful, Warner's efforts are appreciated and render the animator's eye-popping primaries, inky blacks and exacting lineart with the utmost care. Every last detail is intact and well-represented, every red burns and every blue soothes, and every scene represents a step up from the studio's animated release M.O. Occasional banding still haunts the proceedings and static, presumably source-inherent macroblocking creeps in from time to time (the skies that frame Tex and Shaggy's motorcycle showdown and the Phantosaur's town assault bear the brunt of the anomalies). Even so, neither issue is as severe or prevailing as they often are in other Scooby-Doo!, Tom & Jerry and DCU Original Movie Blu-ray releases, so here's hoping the recent rash of average animated presentations are becoming a thing of the past.

Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Scooby-Doo's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is bright, beefy and primed for audiophiles of all ages. Voices are clean, clear and perfectly prioritized (even if, in true traditional animation fashion, they tend to hover just above the rest of the soundscape) and sound effects are suitably aggressive, punchy and spooky. The LFE channel puts its back into every Phantosaur roar, raptor snarl and billowing tower of flame as well, and rear speaker activity is fairly ferocious, despite some front-heavy stretches when the Mystery Inc. gang are gathering clues or wandering through underground caverns. Music and ambience come and go at will but impress all the same, and unexpectedly arresting dynamics make short work of whatever idling engines, splintering roadhouse tables, collapsing caves, wriggling snakes and deadly mountain races Legend of the Phantosaur tosses at Scooby and his pals. Fans will be pleased.

Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

With only a handful of extras to excavate -- a kid-friendly dino doc, "Searching for Phantosaurs" (HD, 13 minutes), and trailers and promos (SD, 4 minutes) for Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Zoinks Points, Thundercats and The Looney Tunes Show -- the Blu-ray edition of Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur is an uneventful dig.

Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur isn't the be-all, end-all Scooby mystery and it doesn't reinvent the Mystery Machine wheel. It will delight kids and stoke nostalgic fires in parents, though, making it worth any Scooby fan's consideration. It helps that Warner's striking video presentation is only three Skittles short of a rainbow and its DTS-HD Master Audio track has a surprising amount of kick. More special features would have been nice, but most direct-to-video animated releases aren't exactly teeming with extras, so it's of little concern. If you have a junior detective in your ranks -- or if you can't get enough of those meddling Mystery Inc. kids -- snatch up Legend of the Phantosaur, wait for a rainy Friday night and have a bit of frightening fun with the fam.