Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery Blu-ray Movie Review

Coulda been better, coulda been worse...

To those beyond the walls of Mystery Inc. fandom, Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery will be little more than a cross-promotional cash-in. Longtime Scooby Snack connoisseurs, though, will recognize the nod to franchise tie-ins and guest stars of the series' heyday; when anyone and everyone, fictional or otherwise, could pop up in an episode of Scooby-Doo!. Laurel and Hardy. The Three Stooges. Batman and Robin. The Harlem Globetrotters. Sandy Duncan. Don Knotts Dick Van Dyke... real-world cameos are as much a part of Fred and the Gang's heritage and legacy as any other classic element in the franchise.

Unfortunately, WrestleMania Mystery is one of the more uninspired and forgettable direct-to-video Scooby-Doo! movies in recent memory, cursed with a bland and boring beastie, a mystery that isn't much of a mystery at all, and a string of dead-on-arrival jokes that barely grazed my son's funny bone, much less left his dear ol' dad laughing. Add to that a number of wooden voice performances (courtesy of the WWE wrestlers on tap), the further minimization of Fred, Daphne and Velma, and a tiresome reliance on the Shaggy-n-Scooby hijinks of old and you have a fun, colorfully animated misfire that will hold kids' attention without grafting itself into their imaginations. Obviously, wrestling fans will enjoy the ringside shenanigans more than outsiders, but even they may wonder if this is really the best Scooby-Doo/WWE crossover the filmmakers can come up with.

Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

WrestleMania Mystery's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation is as crisp, vibrant and eye-popping as just about every other Scooby-Doo! direct-to-video movie released on Blu-ray. It also suffers at the hands of the same intermittent issues -- easily overlooked banding, brief macroblocking and exceedingly minor aliasing -- as every other release. Thankfully, many, if not all, of the instances I encountered were a pretty clear product of the source rather than the encode, making any eyesores distracting but inherent products of the animation, nothing more. Otherwise all is as it should be. Colors pack a wallop and primaries hit hard, black levels are perfectly inky, contrast is bright and consistent, and the animators' line art is as sharp and satisfying as anyone could hope for.

Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Though relatively flat and front-heavy when action isn't flooding the soundfield, Warner's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track doesn't disappoint. Voices are clean and clear, not to mention nicely prioritized amongst the mat stomps, flame bursts, elbow drops and body slams that erupt when the wrestlers get down to doing what they do best. LFE output isn't subtle in the least, but it conveys the power and presence of the movie's hits, cheers, roars and falls. The rear speakers have their fun as well, even if they're rather quiet on the whole. Still, any shortcomings should be attributed to the Saturday Morning Cartoon sound design instead of anything more sinister.

Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Two extras are included: a "Behind the Scenes with Scooby-Doo and the WWE Gang" production featurette (HD, 8 minutes) and a bonus Pup Named Scooby Doo episode, "Wrestle Maniac" (SD, 23 minutes).

Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's not the classic Scooby-Doo! everyone is waiting for. It's not even a crossover most Scooby fans will get excited about. However, if your kids love wrestling, love the Mystery Inc. crew and love Scooby-Doo! movies no matter how much better they could have been, they'll love this harmless bit of fun with some of their favorite cartoon characters. Is it the best Scooby-Doo! direct-to-video production in recent memory? Hardly. Will it earn a few laughs? Spread a few smiles? Sure, so it won't be a total loss. Fortunately, Warner's Blu-ray release delivers with a solid AV presentation. Now if only the studio saw fit to delve into Scooby's past via a more extensive supplemental suite.