Scooby-Doo! And Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery

Of course you'd find KISS to be the band that put their name to the "Scooby-Doo" franchise, for better or worse. And of course you see a lot of shameless KISS merchandise promotion here, which I really hope was a spoof on themselves and their ability to put KISS on everything that can make a buck.

Now, "Scooby-Doo! And Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery" was your average run-of-the-mill Scooby-Doo adventure. But throw the rock band KISS into the equation and you end up with this movie. Plus, there were some very trippy scenes throughout the story as well.

While the story is entertaining for what a Scooby-Doo animated movie usually is, then "Scooby-Doo! And Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery" is not the best of animated Scooby-Doo adventures available.

It is, of course, always nice to have the same cast return to do the voicing for the characters in the franchise; Frank Welker (as Fred and Scooby-Doo), Mindy Cohn (as Velma), Grey Griffin (as Daphne) and Matthew Lillard (as Shaggy).

And having KISS in the animated movie was a bit of a mixed experience for me. Sure, with their history of putting KISS on anything with commercial value, I can relate to them joining in here on the Scooby-Doo franchise. However, giving the KISS members superabilities and being able to fly? Come on... No, that just gave this particular animated Scooby-Doo movie a way too cartoony and childish feel. Something that worked against the entertainment value of this 2015 animated movie in my opinion.

Sure, there were fun moments to the storyline as well. But the overall enjoyment of it was just mediocre. Hence I am rating "Scooby-Doo! And Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery" a five out of ten stars.

I mean...come on, you get what you're expecting. If you saw the clips of "KISS Saves Santa" on "Family Guy" and thought that'd be fun to watch, you pretty much get that here. The campiness, the corny humor, the band members having fun voicing themselves, etc.

HOWEVER!!!! There is a musical scene in this movie, one in particular, that is so over-the-top and so bad-ass that you will be a KISS fan if you weren't before, and something that made me take such a deep dive into a band's discography is something I cannot rank any lower than an 8. I am glad I live in a reality where this can exist.

I love Kiss but their comic books usually suck so I wasn't expecting much from this. I hate that the comics always seem to center around The Elder but this movie mixes it up by throwing in a black diamond and even a bad guy named the Destroyer, who looks an awful lot like Galactus(he even threatens to swallow the earth). Ironically, The Elder was voiced by Penny Marshall and she was entertaining so I wouldn't have minded more of her. It's a decent story and there's a couple full songs(over very long chase scenes). Five stars.

What is a Halloween WITHOUT Kiss or the Scooby Gang? With this terrific fun-fest we will never know the answer to that question! Yup the Fearless Five team up with the Hottest Band In The World to solve the mystery of the Crimson Witch, an especially vicious new monster that is terrorizing the visitors to the Kiss themed amusement park known as Kiss World on Halloween Night. And in the process the Gang will travel to strange places, learn how to belch fire, and find out who Kiss really are.

For starters let start with the animation. The five Scooby-Doo characters have never looked better. The animation is fluid without over-animating them. The animation is sharp, very colorful and crisp looking. As for the plot, that is where a snag comes in. To me it gets a tad too thick at times. We all know the basic Scooby-Doo plot and it was always straight forward. Shaggy, Daphne, Velma, Fred, and Scooby stumble onto another weird situation, run for their lives from the monster, and then solve the mystery and expose the buttface in the mask and costume that was causing all the trouble at the episodes end (and always revealing their solutions with an ironic comparative ease - after all if they figured out it was just some harmless ordinary idiot in a costume and mask from the start, then what were they so frightened of?). It was a formula that was took it easy on the brain and was fun to watch as well. That was why it was so successful and Hanna-Barbera used it many times over in their various shows (Speed Buggy, Jabberjaw, etc.)

Here the plot concerns a Black Diamond the band must protect, and the Witch wants desperately, while the Scooby Gang helps the band out in their quest. But it goes deeper than just protecting the precious gem, far more so. And that is where the plot of "Scooby-Doo and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery" kicks into gear and things get complicated. It is a little more than the basic Scooby formula that I had described before. Not that it is a bad thing. After all this is a MOVIE, so it has to be more solid than an average episode. I'm just saying that it seems a little bit off putting for viewers that are more used to 30 minute Scooby adventures, like myself.

But the real treat here is the voice casting. The band members actually do their own voices, as well as their real life manager Doc McGee. There is also a bevy a celebrity voices here, from Jason Mewes and Paula Perrette, to Penny Marshall and Darius Rucker, just to name a few. The band members all do a decent job with their rolls. For non-actors (well Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley has done acting before) there is rarely a flat reading of lines by the them and it is a joy to hear them sound like voice acting pros.

Another added plus is the slathering of Kiss references that are plastered throughout the movie. A couple of examples: when the gang is watching a video of the Witch doing her evil, she smashes a guitar. Paul Stanley smashes his guitar at the end of every Kiss concert. When told that the Scooby Gang will join them whether he likes it or not, the Demon (Gene Simmons) replies "Oy" referencing the fact that Simmons is Jewish. The list goes on and on. It took me at least three viewings before I could get even half of the references. And there are a few non-Kiss references thrown in to keep you on your toes, look for a Sailor Moon one. Kiss fanatics, like yours truly, will be in Kiss trivia hog heaven here.

In all this is a great Scooby adventure, a great Kiss adventure, and a great Halloween movie. Along with great Kiss songs (the opening credits are a knockout) and a new Kiss song that is fun to listen to, "Scooby-Doo and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery" will definitely get your Halloween Rockin and Rolling All Nite!

My Rating (from Excellent to Poor): Good. Lots of fun to be had here.

Content: Super-Awesome. Other than 1 or 2 of the McFarlane action figures and a handful of the McFarlane comic books, I really have never owned any of KISS's stuff. I neither loved nor hated their music, but admired their merchandising strategy and as someone who spent the 90′s working in a Heavy Metal record store, we made sure to order every crazy KISS item we could.

But after watching this movie it is hard to not be a KISS fan. I found myself singing Rock N Roll All Night while cutting open the packaging. KISS songs are peppered throughout the movie and they all sound great. The cartoon versions of the band are thinner and younger than their real-life counterparts and possess super-powers. Everything the band does in this movie is mind-blowingly cool.

The Scooby Doo end of this movie is spot on and done to perfection. And when Shaggy and Scooby take The Demon's advice, I cheered very loud because it was super-cool. Fred and Daphne have some great stuff with 2 love triangles involving The Star Child and the scientist lady that makes Fred pull out his creepy evil smile at one point. Velma gets some one-on-one time with The Spaceman as she grips tightly to hold on to her skepticism.

Only having read a few of the Psycho Circus comics, I am not sure what lore other comics created for KISS, but this movie expands the mythos surrounding the band in exciting, imaginative and fairly logical ways. The titles of Songs, Albums and more take on deeper meanings. The movie keeps pushing the boundaries on what you could possibly expect from it.

Bruce Kulick did tweet a post about how this movie does give a shout out to past members of KISS. There is a screen-shot and if you are familiar with the lore of KISS, it is right there.

Special Features: Good. KISS Cut-Ups is just out takes of KISS doing some promotion for this movie. The finished version of which is not on this release. These bloopers are not really funny.

Are You A Scooby or a Shaggy? is KISS, Abby from NCIS and Jay & Silent Bob saying if they relate more to Scooby or Shaggy. Points to Thayer for his out of the box answer, even if he can't land on the exact name.

Trailers: Nothing new. Opens with Legos: DC Heroes: Attack of the Legion of Doom. (first seen on Tom & Jerry vs Jonny Quest) and Tom & Jerry vs Jonny Quest. In the Special Features section trailers for Scooby Doo vs WWE and Lego Dimensions which may be a video game, but the trailer features Joel McHale. (Amazon has 2 different trailers, one feat. Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown.) (BTW DC Lego movies have more action and less dumb comedy than Star Wars Lego movies.)

Blu Ray special features also include 2 episodes from the 3rd season of Scooby Doo Where Are You (Part of the Scooby Doo/Dynomutt Hour) S03E04 To Switch A Witch and S03E11 The Diabolical Disc Demon.

Buy/Don't Buy: Yes. Buy. This movie does not disappoint in any way. I want more. This is a great format for KISS. Our passport to the KISS realm is the Scooby gang so KISS gets to be mysterious. I would love it if Warner Animation created a Hanna Barbera-style cartoon series for Cartoon Network with a group of Mystery Solving Teens who summon KISS whenever they find themselves in trouble. Like the Godzilla Power Hour with the trouble alert.