Movie Review: Scooby Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon (2016)

The animated movie uses voices from Frank Welker, Grey DeLisle, Matthew Lillard and Dusty Rhodes.

I recorded this movie for my oldest daughter a couple weeks ago and, while having lunch on Saturday, I ended up taking the time to watch it with her. While I like most Scooby Doo! movies, this was one I wasn't as impressed with as I was with most of the others.

I think my biggest problem with this movie is the whole no-holds-barred road race plot has been done before. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've seen this in another Scooby Doo! film (just with different characters). As a result of that, the movie was much more predictable than it could have been and wasn't as enjoyable as a result.

I also thought this movie spent a bit too much time focusing on the WWE superstars than it did on the main story. In fact, as I watched this, I started to feel as though this movie was primarily a way to attract younger viewers to the WWE and just threw in Scooby and the gang to give kids some recognizable characters. I think I would have preferred it if the filmmakers had just made this a WWE film or just a Scooby Doo! movie (with original racers) rather than trying to combine the two.

Adding to my disappointment was the fact the mystery itself was actually halfway decent. It wasn't overly easy to figure out who the mystery phantom racer was or that person's motivation for trying to stop the race.

Because of that, I do think it was one of the better mysteries I've seen the Scooby Gang try to tackle. Unfortunately, because there was so much emphasis on the WWE, I think the overall movie just failed to capitalize on it.

I think this film had some potential. But, much like the first attempt to partner with the WWE in Scooby Doo! Wrestlemania Mystery, the focus on the WWE wrestlers takes something away from the overall movie and it just isn't as good as is could have been.

My Grade: C