Release: May 8, 2018
Film: Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins (2009)
Tagline: The third Scooby Doo film goes back to when the gang first met, but the Critic doesn’t think it can break the bad Scooby movie curse. Let’s see how it plays out!
This review contains examples of...
- Actually Pretty Funny: The Critic admits he chuckled at the fact that, while Fred, Velma, and Daphne went back to school incognito after being expelled, Shaggy and Scooby just disguise themselves as trash cans.
- Bait-and-Switch: After finishing the review, the Critic finds the corpses of Rob, Hyper, and Malcom, reminding him that Roger is still psycho, and declares there's only one thing to do... "NETFLIX AND CHILL!" Cut to the Critic watching A Pup Named Scooby-Doo on the couch, using the corpses as a footrest.
- Fake-Out Opening: The opening scene of the review makes it seem like it will have a Framing Device of him, Hyper Fan Girl, and Malcom becoming Shaggy, Velma, and Fred as they investigate the mystery of who's trying to kill the Critic. Then Roger the Fallen Angel shows up and spoils the mystery by saying he's the would-be killer, and Hyper and Malcom no longer want to play along with the premise anymore, despite the Critic's insistence.
- Faux Horrific: The Critic parodies this on the reactions of the father who ends up an unfortunate victim of Scooby's affection.Critic: [as the father] "I am a Vietnam vet! I have seen terrible things, but a dog jumping up and licking me?! There is no therapy or church for that!"
- Fridge Logic: The Critic doesn't understand how Vice Principal Grimes could afford a home on top of a mountain despite his pay rate.Critic: Unless he's in a hut, waiting to light the beacons of Gondor, I don't see how this is possible!
- Hilarious Outtakes: During the credits, an outtake is shown of the scene where the Critic uses corpses of his friends as a footrest as he watches television.
- Musical Interruptus: The Critic's Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! theme Song Parody is brought to an abrupt halt by Roger ruining the mystery of who's trying to kill the Critic.
- Retirony: When Vice Principal Grimes' new car gets wrecked, the Critic riffs, "It had just two days left 'til retirement!"
- Rule of Three: After Roger ruins the premise of the review's Framing Device, Hyper leaves saying, "Let's just go see if Flintstones made another live-action movie." Later, after the Critic's attempts to play off Principal Deedle's hobby of stamp collecting as more than just a basis for his villainous motivation falls flat, Malcom says, "Come on, guys. Let's see how they're ruining the live-action Tom and Jerry movie." Finally, when the Critic gives up on treating the movie's mystery as not being half-assed, Malcom says, "Come on, guys. Let's insert live-action Hanna-Barbera joke here."
- Shipping: Discussed when Fred and Velma share a brief interaction between each other.Critic: Has anyone anywhere ever shipped Velma and Fred? Was that in high demand? I'm gonna take a wild guess and say Scooby and Shaggy have more slash art than these two.
- Shout-Out:
- After Roger ruins the mystery, Malcom (while dressed as Fred Jones) comments he feels like the "Stay Black Marshmallow Man".
- The ending of the review features the same "here's how it ended" transition cards from Clue.
- Unintentional Uncanny Valley: Discussed by the Critic regarding Scooby himself, especially when he goes to school in disguise.Critic: You know, this damn dog has been scary enough already in this film. Do we really want to make him look like a slasher from a low-budget horror film?
(as he speaks, a poster for The Boy appears, edited into Scooby, depicting Scooby in his disguise doing a Kubrick Stare)
Critic: Actually, screw it. Can we see that film instead?
(Shaggy and Scooby do a Reactive Continuous Scream)
