Scooby-Doo! and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery (2015)

OMG. I swear, I thought I was watching a vintage Scooby-Doo! movie from the worst era of marketing-driven, Hanna-Barbera whoring-their-characters animated drivel. No, it's NEW. They actually spent money to make an homage to the low point in children's programming, the greed driven 80s when everything on Saturday morning TV was hawking a toy or breakfast cereal or in this case, a stupid rock band trying to remake themselves in comic books once the first bloom of fame had faded. What you're subjected to in childhood is obviously powerful, since a lot of people seem to like this. Sorry about the brainwashing, folks.

Not sure who wrote this but sh!t it is a stinker. I literally stopped watching after 6 minutes, I think that is a new record for me. There was so much sh!t about the rock band KISS just in the first 6 minutes, it was annoying as anything. I know KISS is in the stupid title of this movie but come on. It just came off as pathetic pandering to mindless KISS fans who will automatically like anything with the logo of this overrated band on it. I mean dammit, was this written by a 5 year old KISS fan or something? I usually like Scooby-Doo cartoons, they're for children but they are more of the sophisticated kiddy cartoons out there (if you get what I'm saying). But this was like written for a simpleton or something. I know what you're going to say, but you only watched 6 minutes and a few seconds of the film, how can you even judge it? I'll tell you right now why I can judge it after just 6 minutes of viewing it. When the plot is super-simple, the dialogue reads like a 5 year old wrote it (I am not even joking. I am willing to bet you that the dialogue in the first 6 minutes of the film used a word with more than 5 letters in it) and there is never a second where you don't see anything not related to KISS on the screen, then you know the movie is going to p!ss you off. But like I said before, KISS fans will buy anything. KISS is really an impressive band in that they should be a one hit wonder but they sell themselves so well. Even the whole Scooby gang mystery team are all wearing KISS clothing and make-up, I can not believe someone actually signed off on this film.

The film Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park is one of the best worst good bad movies in the History of the world... at least for fans of Kiss (such as me). And Scooby Doo! And Kiss!: Rock and Roll Mystery simultaneously works as an animated pseudo-sequel and an appropriate crossover with the Scooby Doo universe. Needless to say, the screenplay is irrelevant. The "monster of the week" is the Scarlet Witch, but her actions lack of logic and motivation... except for the creation of a "mystery" which must be solved by the "Scooby-gang" and Kiss, who secretly possess supernatural powers associated to their distinctive personalities: Demon, Star Child, Spaceman and Catman. The real names of the band members are never mentioned, but Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer lend their voices to the respective characters, and they do it well; I would particularly want to point out the fact that Simmons had a lot of fun with his work as the aggressive Demon, who initially hates the "Scooby-gang", even though he eventually finds out the fact they are good investigators and might help to save Kiss World, the exotic amusement park based on the music from Kiss. As for the "Scooby-gang", we have Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Mindy Cohn and Grey Griffin lending the voices to their traditional roles. And I would also like to mention some unusual guests in supporting roles, such as Darius Rucker, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith and Garry Marshall; Might they be fans of Kiss, or did they just need some cents for the laundry? Anyway, I appreciated their presence, because they bring personality and enrich scenes which would otherwise be irrelevant. Scooby Doo and Kiss!: Rock and Roll Mystery can't be taken seriously as a "mystery", and maybe, not even as part of the Scooby Doo saga (even though I haven't watched various of its straight-to-DVD films, so making a comparison wouldn't be fair). The attraction offered by Scooby Doo and Kiss!: Rock and Roll Mystery begins and ends with the presence of Kiss, and only the fans of the band will be able to appreciate the uncountable details related to the life and work from that music group (including references to Psycho Circus, the old Marvel comics and the conceptual disc The Elder). Other examples: the names of some characters are straightly taken from song titles (Delilah, Shandi); Chip McGhoo's character is played by Doc McGhee (the group's veteran manager), who doesn't lose the opportunity to satirize the band's excessive commercialization, recommending the most recent Kiss commodity, such as medicinal salts and binoculars. And, of course, we have various classic Kiss songs to accompany some surrealistic "action" sequences set in a parallel dimension equally influenced by H.P. Lovecraft and Jack Kirby (Simmons is a fan of both, so it's easy to guess the inspiration for that design). In conclusion, Scooby Doo and Kiss!: Rock and Roll Mystery is very far from being a great film, but I found it a decent cultural curiosity with enough humor and allusions to keep the fans of Kiss entertained. And don't forget to watch the "easter egg" during the final credits, in which Kiss plays a song of "The Five Ascots" (the character Fred's favorite group) in a doo-wop style very different to the usual rock from the band.

We've all grown up with these characters and it's always nice to see them meet celebrities here and then sometimes. This time we have the gang side by side by the largely successful and now iconic rock band ''KISS'' Against a new villain. The animation is truly beautifully done with this one while it even references the original first season in it's style sometimes. The only real downfall i have to say is that this might not strike as glamorous to non-Kiss fans yet still worth checking out if you'd like a nice comeback of the Scooby-Doo gang because the characters are all spot on just like you remember them. Very surprised with the voice acting by all the Kiss band members as they all did what they had to in the best way possible. Closing up this is most certainly a MUST WATCH for kiss fans as the references to certain things are not only very clever but also to the point that makes you think of how great an actually kiss movie in this universe could actually be. If you are a kiss fan you are in for many surprises that will make you both a proud and excited kiss fan. Give it a Watch!