Scooby-Doo And The Cyber Chase

The ending of a second golden age, but certainly not the end.

I gotta say The Cyber Chase was a fun ride, it's definitely one of the more nostalgic Scooby movies but the quality is still high and it's an interesting new concept for a mystery. I will fully admit though the movie nearly rips off Tron, you see the gang are visiting a computer programmer friend at a university and soon are told of a Phantom Virus which emerged from cyber space and wreaked a bit of havoc, and soon after that they get zapped into the computer. Now they're forced to play the games and finish it if they want to make it back to the real world and promptly delete the Phantom Virus. Seriously this is Tron meets Scooby-Doo, just this time Sark/Clu enters the real world, and true there's no Lightcycles or Recognizers but come on now. But they utilize the concept, with each level of the game having a centerpiece whether it be on the moon, in prehistoric times, a fairy tale landscape, or just a retro city malt shop and all, it's interesting but kind of a shame we couldn't spend time on each level we only really get to see 4 out of 10 with the rest being in a montage but you know what, for a movie that's about an hour and fifteen minutes long I'll cut it some slack. What really bugs the living hellfire out of me in this one is the lazer that zaps the gang into cyberspace, mainly because not only did two university students create it but they are entering it for an invention exchange with the grand prize winning $250,000. Excuse me, whaaaaat?? You...made, created, engineered a device that can digitize literally anything and place it in a computer world which you can program at will and you are content with an award and a small cash reward? I would patent that and make it a trillion dollar business! I mean what in the rings of Saturn are you thinking? I know I know, it's a kid's movie that doesn't bring much real world logic into it. Duh. But I almost say the ending makes up for that major lapse in mental faculties, where the gang meets Mystery Inc. literally they meet themselves dressed as their original character designs which is pretty rad already but then they throw in a handful of classic monsters from various series in the last level. So for a hardcore fan it's a nice surprise and gives you some nostalgic memories, and it's interesting to see these new millenium designs side by side with the 1969 designs with most being very different save for Velma, which is almost identical except for a slightly shorter skirt (No complaints there, you do you honey.) but it's just a neat concept that works. You could very easily make this a bit more dark and grim for the video game characters cause even they flat out say they haven't beaten the game because if they did they'd just start right back at level one, I mean I understand they couldn't do that because of the audience age group but Christ could you imagine? The mystery aspect is significantly better since last time, okay it's not flippin' Agatha Christie but at least they tried and dropped hints throughout going from subtle to, okay we get it shut up. The animation is refined, with a lot more clean lines and vibrant colors than emphasis on shading and scratchy designs, obviously both have their place but for this high tech sci-fi edge, it works better. If memory serves this was the first time Grey Griffin voices Daphne and while my heart will forever mourn Mary Kay Bergman she does great work and has been doing it for almost 20 years so you go girl! All in all, it's a fun movie and does rank in the higher ups with the likes of Zombie Island and Witch's Ghost but like man, we've barely scratched the surface of all the Scooby-Doo movies. 3 stars, 7/10! After this it took about 2 years before another animated Scooby-Doo movie hit video and it has been significant time since I last saw it so I shall be interested to see how Legend Of The Vampire holds up so join me next time!