Scooby-Doo! And the Monster of Mexico (2003)

Sooner or later, the Mystery, Inc. gang had to take on Mexico's legendary Bigfoot equivalent, El Chupacabra, and that's precisely what they do in this entertaining, feature-length, Scooby-style investigation into the paranormal. Taking the Mystery Van south of the border, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo celebrate Day of the Dead festivities, which become less festive when a towering, glowering Chupacabra monster turns up to terrify both tourists and locals. The young snoops smell a conspiracy, and as they chase down clues their search for the truth leads them into sundry Mexican antiquities--ancient tombs and temples--where danger increases exponentially. There are the usual rituals: Our time-warped heroes run like the wind during encounters with alleged ghouls--particularly best-buds Shaggy and Scooby, when they aren't stuffing themselves with delicious Scooby Snacks. The animation is slicker and smoother--and more pleasing--than some other, recent Scooby-Doo features. --Tom Keogh Amazon.com

Scooby-Doo in Mexico

Scooby and the gang take a Mexican vacation to visit friends and find El Chupacabra instead. Of course, the Chupacabra turns out to be the result of special effects by the crooks who want to scare people off their land and purchase the real estate at discount prices. The identity of one of the crooks may surprise you.

This is another in the new series of animated Scooby-Doo movies that are far superior to the old cartoons. The stories are better, the mysteries more involved and there's more interaction amongst Mystery, Inc. members.

If you like Scooby-Doo, then don't pass this up. It appeals to adult fans and kids alike. October 4, 2007

Scooby So-So

My 4 yr old is in love with Scooby, so we own practically every DVD. He did enjoy watching it, but he hasn't picked it out as his favorite. August 12, 2007

RENT THIS MOVIE

I love scooby so a wise word of advice: RENT THIS MOVIE. You will fall in love with it for a while and then never watch it again. I still love this movie but i can tell that most people would get bored after a little. April 15, 2007

A Decent Reunion At Best

The best way to begin is to show you where I stand. I think "Zombie Island" and "The Witch's Ghost" were excellent. I didn't much care for "Alien Invasion" or "Cyber Chase." I thought "The Legend of the Vampire" was a surprisingly good return to form. Onto chapter six. I can't really say this is one of Scooby's better movies. It kind of lacks the punch and surprises of "Zombie Island" and "The Witch's Ghost." Instead of the scarey surprises seen in the first two movies, this 6th chapter seems to rely more on silly chases. (But if you like the original episodes, you probably won't mind that so much.) Also, in my opinion, the script is weaker which means the movie seems very long and drawn out. ("Zombie Island" and "Witch's Ghost" don't seem to have many dull moments at all.) And, I won't say too much here, but when the mystery is uncovered and you really didn't get to know the culprit in the first place, a certain edge is missing. (In "Zombie Island" and "Witch's Ghost," we got to know the culprits very well in the 1st half of the movie, and therefore, there was a scarey sense of recognition when the plots were uncovered. The main reason I can give to watch this movie is that it was at least nice to the original line up from the early cartoons (Casey Kasem-Shaggy, Frank Welker-Fred, Heather North-Daphne, and Nicole Jaffee-Velmah) together again. The movie is worth some interest, but it's more of a long episode. If you like Scooby, this movie is watchable. But, don't expect the terror, intensity, and suspense of "Zombie Island," "The Witch's Ghost," or even "Legend of the Vampire." April 19, 2005

Seething mad at this film...

Following a torrent of scooby movies to be released on video and DVD comes "Scooby-Doo an the Monster of Mexico," a film that highlights the legend of El Chupacabre, the Mexican Bigfoot. All the same, the Legend of the Vampire totally insulted the vampire myth, and so I didn't expect this new one to be any different. For that reason, I waited until it was being played on the cartoon network before watching...
Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico
Here's how it ranked...
Sound: 3.5/5
Like Legend of the Vampire, this movie used a lot of the songs from the original series, and a few new ones, but unlike Legend of the Vampire, the original songs in this series were stereotypical to the point of being annoying. Hence the additional half-point down from that film.
Graphics: 3/5
The same grade that I gave the graphics in "Legend of the Vampire" and for the same reasons. This movie uses graphics that were just not as good as they could, or logically should have been, and were barely even better than those seen in the original series.
Story Concept: 3/5
Slightly less cheesy than the concept in Legend of the Vampire, but no less cynical towards the supernatural. Scooby and the gang visit Mexico for no real reason except to be in time for a mexican halloween, where they encounter El Chupacabre, and find out that there's a plot brewing. But as in the last movie, and the series, there were no real monsters. This creature was really just some woman in an animatronic suit. That was annoying, and I'm glad I didn't spend any money on it for that reason alone.
Story Presentation: 3/5
Similar to Legend of the Vampire in presentation, cause and resolution, except that the pleasing scenes of Daphne and Velma hanging out as they did in that movie were dropped in favor of scenes of the entire gang as stereotypical (and somewhat insulting) mexican tourists. Like in Legend of the Vampire, there is no real monster, but to make things even worse, Velma makes some comments near the end about monster stories that really cheezed me off. Her acts of superhuman strength in mid-movie were balanced off by the fact that they spent that whole section of the film getting chased my monstrous stone statues and tourists; a part which had nothing to do with the rest of the movie, and was seemingly added just to extent the length. The words of many of the bit-part characters got on my nerves too. I simply found the movie distasteful. Yes, it's scooby, and like Legend of the Vampire, it's funny scooby material, but it was presented too much like an episode of the series, and not enough like something worth making a movie over.
Acting: 5/5
Perfect grade here, because who plays Velma, Shaggy, Daphne and Freddy like their original voice actors? Like in Legend of the Vampire, the original actors returned, but again, it's a shame they had to pick a film like this to lend their voices to.
All in All: 3.5/5
I enjoyed this movie more than alien invaders, but less than Legend of the Vampire, because honestly, Legend of the Vampire at least had A LITTLE nostalgia to it and didn't go overboard into cheesy behavior and unforgivable puns like this movie does. However, this movie had no thrills at all, and was really just a silly little romp through a country which was, at best, a caricature of a real one. Frankly, I wanted more from Scooby, but it would be a lie to say I had EXPECTED more. This film is most comparable to Legend of the Vampire in general mood, pace and result, but it's sillier and less respectful, so if that's your cup of tea, have a ball. Otherwise, you may join me in a boycott of this movie. Toodles. January 24, 2005

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