This is How Movies Should Be Made

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

This is another entertaining enough 'Movie' that sees the gang going to a comic convention, and a mystery of course then developing.These 'original movie's' that Warner Brothers churn out to DVD are hit and miss affairs, but this one on the whole is good fun, with Matthew Lillard and Fred Welker on good form as Shaggy and Scooby. I didn't like what they did to the character of Velma though.While not spectacular, this is a decent Scooby outing.

Would it be fair to say: "They had me at 'hello'"? Here we have Scooby Doo catering to comic book nerds like me, the type of adult fan boys that remember when Magneto ran the X-Men, the type of fan boys that still drool over the classic Hannah-Barbara superhero cartoons that warped us as children, molding us into fanboys even though most of them came out a decade or two before we were born...And Scooby Doo goes to a comic con full of references to those beloved cartoons, even dressing as one of the characters in a Scooby-Cosplay.Then, the Big Bad is in the same vein as the classic Scooby and...my floor is covered with drool and my girlfriend is wondering what she's doing with a ten-year-old stuck in an adult's body.it is super fun, it is a total throw back to the Classic Scooby of old...and unlike the Goblin King, is still has enough to appeal to the fans that were created from the movies and not from the old cartoons.

Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon (2012) *** (out of 4) Entertaining feature has the gang traveling to a comic convention so that Scooby and Shaggy can meet the original actor who played the Blue Falcon. Soon Mr. Hyde shows up and starts destroying everything in sight and clues make one think that it's the original actor who is upset over Hollywood's new movie, which was made without him. SCOOBY-DOO! MASK OF THE BLUE FALCON is without question one of the more entertaining Scooby movies of recent years for a number of reasons. The biggest is that there are a lot of winks to earlier cartoons and not just Blue Falcon but there are also brief cameos from other famous characters. Most of them are in the form of fans dressing as the characters but these here are still a lot of fun and especially an appearance by Fred Flintstone. We even get a brief shot of Captain Caveman. Another reason this film works so well is that the story itself is actually pretty good. I thought the idea of an actor being upset that he's getting pushed aside by an update film was quite interesting and made for a fun adventure. Even the mystery itself was handled pretty well. The villain Mr. Hyde was another plus as he was great fun to root against. The vocal performances were all extremely good this time around with Matthew Lillard (Shaggy) and Frank Welker (Scooby, Fred) really standing out. The animation was also very good throughout. Fans of the old TV show or the new one will certainly enjoy this film as it has a good story, great characters and goes by at a very fast pace.

Naturally I'd see Scooby Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon because from a very early age I've loved Scooby Doo(still do as well). I've enjoyed most of the movies, though none are quite as good as Scooby Doo Where Are You?, The Scooby Doo Show and The New Scooby Doo Movies, at the same time on the other side of the spectrum all are a thousand times better than Shaggy and Scooby Doo Get a Clue! The best for me are Witch's Ghost, Big Top Scooby Doo, Goblin King and Zombie Island, Monster of Mexico is the only one I didn't care too much for. Post-Goblin King, the movies have been consistent in quality ranging from decent to great, Music of the Vampire being the weakest and Big Top Scooby Doo! being the best.Scooby Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon is really impressive, one of the better Scooby Doo movies in my opinion if not my personal favourite. The only real let-downs for me were that Velma came across as too much of a jerk to me, rather out of character for Velma. And Mindy Cohn doesn't bring out enough of that resourceful and likable personality of Velma's, some of her delivery was a little too sarcastic for my tastes. Some people may be disappointed considering that this is the Blue Falcon of how little of Dynomutt there is except in reference, a brief glimpse in the opening credits sequence and when Shaggy and Scooby are watching an episode in the Mystery Machine.However, I really liked the animation style. There is a lot of the What's New Scooby Doo? and Mystery Incoporated styles- mostly in the character designs- but also some of the classic feel of Scooby Doo Where Are You? The backgrounds are fluid and detailed and the colours colourful and haunting. The character designs are more than convincing too, Fred was closer to the classic Scooby Doo Fred than the Mystery Incorporated Fred, which I did like very much and prefer. The comic style opening credits sequence is very cool, any comic book or Scooby Doo fans will love them. The soundtrack is also a success, managing to be catchy and atmosphere-enhancing.There is also some great writing, in terms of humour and whatnot it has a pleasing mix of classic Scooby Doo and the Scooby Doo of the past 15 years or so. The mystery and story are just great, nothing too goofy and nothing too scary either even with the balance of suspenseful and humorous moments. The perpetrator I did guess twenty minutes before the end, but the twist and how the mystery was solved was more than satisfying. Shaggy and Scooby have a very likable chemistry, almost as affecting as it was in Big Top, while the message is a very nice one and similarly written in.As for the characters, apart from Velma they are true to character and have strong personalities. Shaggy and Scooby are particularly true to this, I liked how the film spoofed- in a sense- Adam West and the 1966 Batman show(which I am very fond of) and there is a great villain, scarily antagonistic and with a good motivation. The voice acting is excellent, Matthew Lillard as I've mentioned many times before does bring a lot of charm and likability to Shaggy, a character that had big shoes to fill. Frank Welker is great as Fred, and his Scooby voice is growing on me all the time. Grey DeIsle likewise as a Daphne that has a little more steel than in the older shows.Jeff Bennett is every inch the bitter and somewhat vengeful faded television star, while Dietrich Bader is hip and cool and John Di Maggio brings a really sinister edge to the villain of the piece. The mayor looks and sounds almost identical to the one from the original Dynomutt show, and Kevin Michael Richardson brings his distinctive voice to the character with no problem. Everybody else fill their characters very well. All in all, really impressive indeed, while not up there with the very best Scooby Doo movies it is towards the top.8/10 Bethany Cox