Cyber Chase opens with an attack by a mysterious entity at a college campus. It cuts to the Mystery Inc gang on their way to visit a friend at said college who is developing a video game. It's quickly established that we are in the future a bit, with a different van model, different clothes, and some exposition of the gang's friend from back in the day. It's found out that the entity is a computer virus in physical form. While it's not quite a supernatural creature, it is more fantastical along with the device that transports them into the game - but again, it does somewhat establish itself as taking place in the future. Most of the movie takes place within the video game and the goal being to get the Scooby snacks on each level. The heavy contrivances come into play with how easily they find them, but in fairness, this could be chalked up to 'video game logic'. The mystery itself is pretty weak and easily deduced, but it is for kids and there does seem to be a bigger focus on action on this outing. The same issue goes for often telling rather than showing - again, probably done for kids with short attention spans. Given the year of release, the movie also does suffer a bit as 'out of touch' people trying to write on a subject they don't understand (video games), but generally, it's not disengaging. It's still an easy watch with edutainment mixed in every so often.
Acting and characters are what you'd expect from Scooby-Doo. Nobody goes through some life/character redefining arc nor is the acting exceptional, but everyone is exactly who they are in the original series and the acting does sell you on the characters in an appropriate manner. No subversion or bait 'n switching - (Take note Mindy Kaling).
The animation is awesome with a colorful palette that should keep kid's eyes focused. It's clear they stayed true to the original series look, but with more money behind it, one can see more detailed backdrops and cleaner visuals.
At a slick 75 minutes, even the most fidgety kid should be able to stay still for this. The movie moves fast and tells its story in a simple manner. There is also a bigger focus on action, which should also keep younger ones engaged.
Sound and soundtrack is serviceable. It's not memorable in any way and is on brand for the franchise. What really shines is the music with lyrics, like the Scooby-Doo remix theme. The other two really feel like music from retro games, like Sonic CD and fit in really well.
This does have a weird amount of rewatch value. Maybe because it's easy and fun to watch. Something you can put on for background noise, or a movie for when you're too sick to move, but well enough not to sleep. Either way, even as an adult, I've rewatched it a few times.
Cyber Chase is a change of pace for the Scooby-Doo franchise in a good way. Much like how Alien changed genre in its sequel, Cyber Chase changes things up to more action focused, but doesn't decimate the core of the series. It has some failings story-wise explained above, but they are not egregious enough (especially as a kid movie) to really get hung up on. If you need a clean kids movie that Disney no longer provides, give Cyber Chase your time.
Acting and characters are what you'd expect from Scooby-Doo. Nobody goes through some life/character redefining arc nor is the acting exceptional, but everyone is exactly who they are in the original series and the acting does sell you on the characters in an appropriate manner. No subversion or bait 'n switching - (Take note Mindy Kaling).
The animation is awesome with a colorful palette that should keep kid's eyes focused. It's clear they stayed true to the original series look, but with more money behind it, one can see more detailed backdrops and cleaner visuals.
At a slick 75 minutes, even the most fidgety kid should be able to stay still for this. The movie moves fast and tells its story in a simple manner. There is also a bigger focus on action, which should also keep younger ones engaged.
Sound and soundtrack is serviceable. It's not memorable in any way and is on brand for the franchise. What really shines is the music with lyrics, like the Scooby-Doo remix theme. The other two really feel like music from retro games, like Sonic CD and fit in really well.
This does have a weird amount of rewatch value. Maybe because it's easy and fun to watch. Something you can put on for background noise, or a movie for when you're too sick to move, but well enough not to sleep. Either way, even as an adult, I've rewatched it a few times.
Cyber Chase is a change of pace for the Scooby-Doo franchise in a good way. Much like how Alien changed genre in its sequel, Cyber Chase changes things up to more action focused, but doesn't decimate the core of the series. It has some failings story-wise explained above, but they are not egregious enough (especially as a kid movie) to really get hung up on. If you need a clean kids movie that Disney no longer provides, give Cyber Chase your time.
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