Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword (2009)

Daphne is relevant...she has a place that is more than bait, more than Fred's arm candy, more than a damsel in distress....in fact, Daphne is Bruce Lee.Daphne has Entered the Dragon.The juxtapose of her character is just too awesome to pass by. I can't remember seeing a Daphne like this before. I likely won't see one like this again.For that reason alone it's worth watching...but like so many others, the ending doesn't exactly live up to the start and falls flat compared to the build up.The plus side is, even at the end, Daphne has Entered the Dragon. So despite the lackluster finish that seems of so common with the Scooby Doo movies, you still get to see Daphne doing her Bruce Lee impression in a film that wonderfully parodies the master's break out film.

When I first came across this Scooby Doo adventure I have to say I was a bit sceptical but being a fan I was still excited to sit down and watch. In the end, I found this adventure to be a bit stale compared to some of the previous entries but I found many aspects enjoyable and fun.Scooby and the gang travel to Japan for Daphne's martial arts tournament, while in Japan the ghost of the legendary Black Samurai has returned reeking havoc on Japan. After hearing the legend of the Black Samurai and the Green Dragon, Scooby and the gang decide it is up to them to find the Green Dragon and help them bring down the Black Samurai before he takes over the world.The storyline of this film I have to say was for the most part interesting but many times was very dragged out with long periods of no action or excitement, the film focused to much on telling the back stories of the Black Samurai and the Green Dragon, while the stories were very interesting, after a while they became long and tedious. Once again we stick to the use of real monsters or supernatural beings which I always find interesting. This time around we receive a couple of interesting plot twists which will leave you scratching your head, once you think the gang has solved the mystery and unmasked another evil mastermind...think again. The jokes and gags were great, sometimes they felt as if they were pushed too much but overall not to bad. The characters were all very interesting and all had their own funny quirks which was one of the high points of this adventure.The voice acting was phenomenal, the regulars all once again do a terrific job such as: Frank Welker as Scooby Doo and Fred, Casey Kasem as Shaggy, Mindy Cohn as Velma and Grey Delisle as Daphne. Joining the cast for this adventure: Kelly Hu as Miyumi and Miss Mirimoto, Kevin Michael Richardson as Sojo and the Black Samurai, Sab Shimono as Mr. Takagawa, Keoni Young as Matsuhiro and we even get a cameo from George Takei as Old Man Samurai. All of the cast does an excellent job and really helps the movie with its entertainment.So all in all this adventure was entertaining but was a little too much reliant on back stories, and there just wasn't as much action and excitement one would want in a Scooby Doo cartoon. In my opinion, this one is definitely worth the watch and is good for the whole family.Overall Rating: ******* out of ********** ***1/2 out of *****I would also like to add a fond farewell to the one and only Casey Kasem who retired from the role of Shaggy after this adventure, he will remain in the hearts of many as the original Shaggy and in every way was one of the best entertainers the world has ever seen.

Scooby-Doo! And the Samurai Sword (2009) ** (out of 4) The gang travels to Japan so that Daphne can take part in a karate tournament but before long the entire thing is ruined by a group of ninjas who plan to bring back the ghost of The Black Samurai. Obviously the gang tries to determine what's really go on and what led to the supernatural being able to take over. It seems most fans of Scooby-Doo are mixed on some of the latest movies to be made and I must say that this one here didn't win me over. My kid, on the other hand, really enjoyed it but the idea of Scooby and ninjas in the same movie won him over before the thing even started. With that said, when it was over he immediately wanted to watch it again so obviously the film worked for its target audience. I just really didn't enjoy the characters and I thought the villain was also rather lame and didn't add up to much. Like most of the recent movies this one here wants to be more funny than anything else. While some of the jokes worked (like the gang and their catchphrases) the majority of them just fell flat for me. The animation is quite good throughout the picture and I really liked the visual look of the villain as well as the darker tones given to most of the scenes that he was in. I really wish the characters had been better written and this is especially true for Fred, Daphne and Velma. They just never really came to life and for that matter Scooby and Shaggy weren't at the top of their game.

This may have a minor spoiler in it.I was surprised that Termite Terrace was able to instantly churn out another new direct-to-video Scooby-Doo movie, especially since "Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King" only came out seven months ago! Usually the trend is a new Scooby-Doo movie every fall season, since 1998 when Warner Bros. Animation started the series with "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island." However, while this film was more enjoyable than the notorious "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue" or even its predecessor "What's New, Scooby-Doo?", it wasn't as good as "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island," "Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost" or even the previous "Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King." The plot isn't too bad, keeping real supernatural elements, but the plot is basically like a Japanese variation of "Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost," complete with a phony samurai ghost at one point, followed by a real one near the end. It strays a little close to the line with the real ghost resembling a kind old man but wearing a mask of the monstrous face. But I REALLY like the dragon that Scooby and Shaggy visit at one point in the movie that teaches them to be samurais, partly because I really like friendly dragons, and partly because it's about time a real dragon was used in a Scooby-Doo cartoon (well, there's Matches from the Ghoul School movie, but he was a baby dragon). However, once again, there is not much originality with the movie, since the gang had already been to Japan (I know they did so on "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" and "Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo"). I was still a little irked about seeing the dumbed-down Fred (ala "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" and "What's New, Scooby-Doo?") and the fashion-paranoid Daphne (same as previously mentioned shows), but I thought it was hilarious when after Shaggy, Scooby, Daphne and Velma said their catchphrases ("Zoinks!" "Rikes!" "Jeepers!" and "Jinkies!", respectively), Fred moaned, "Dang! I STILL don't have a catchphrase!" But the thing is, I guess the writers forgot that Fred DID have a catchphrase in "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo"... "Let's split up, gang!" But it was still enough to make me laugh. The Scooby gang gets an equal amount of time, and there were more scenes of them together than the previous films, but there was still quite a bit of scenes with just Shaggy and Scooby, and a few scenes with just Fred, Daphne and Velma. But at least Scooby-Doo has gotten more screen time than in "Aloha Scooby-Doo" and various "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" episodes, since he's my favorite character.Voices are decent, with Casey Kasem still being able to voice Shaggy (need I mention that terrible Scott Menville's Shaggy voice?) and Frank Welker pulling double-duty as Fred and Scooby-Doo. The latter sounds much like a combination of his Brain from "Inspector Gadget" and Scott Innes's Scooby-Doo voice, so at least he's getting a bit better.As for sound effects, once again they haven't changed much since they started doing the direct-to-video Scooby-Doo movies since 1998, only limiting the classic H-B sound effects to exaggerated comedy sequences or nearly any scene with Shaggy and Scooby-Doo. Maybe this H-B sound effect limitation worked just fine with the original made-for-video movies, but here it just sounds awkward, even though at least they've brought back the old Scooby teeth chattering noise, which "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" and the 2004-2006 made-for-video movies never did. This also goes for the Haunted Mansion-esquire "Castle Thunder," which they still thought was too obsolete to use and instead recorded real thunder sounds (since the Samurai Ghost has the ability to generate lightning). I wonder if they came to my hometown to do so? (we had a particularly bad storm last summer that sounded exactly like the one in this film) But what annoys me about that is how the annoying "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue" series used the old thunder sounds, but the made-for-video movies (which are WAY better than "Get a Clue!") don't bother.And speaking of "Get a Clue," now on to the animation. The Scooby-Doo gang is still drawn in their typical "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" style, which is, I must admit, easier on the eyes than the crude animation/designs used on "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue" TV series. Good thing those awkward character designs only stuck with that show! But I think they should try showing the characters in their original outfits like the newest Scooby-Doo comics usually do, or at least make up a new style, maybe combining their "What's New?" outfits with the ones they wore on "Zombie Island" to "Cyber Chase." Movements are fluid and realistic, and like the previous film, it is heavy with CGI effects.But I do wish they'd start making them actually resemble "Zombie Island" and "Witch's Ghost" in look and feel again. Though it looks like a Joe Barbera dedication is definitely out of the question now, they have continued the trend from all the other made-for-video Scooby-Doo movies made since 1998 and ended them with a Hanna-Barbera logo, even though this patently hasn't been true at all! (At least Bill and Joe were alive when "Zombie Island" and "Witch's Ghost" were made.) In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they used that remake of the old 1970s Hanna-Barbera "box" logo to replace the still Scooby/H-B graphic at the end of the first four movies!Overall, good to rent or catch on TV, but I'd only recommend buying if you're a hard-core Scooby-Doo fan. Besides that, it's definitely better to watch if you're sick of "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!"