To appreciate why this movie might bother some of us who saw it you have to understand the original show this movie is supposed to be paying homage to and follow up. This era came from the peak of the Scooby, Shaggy (red shirt), and of course Scrappy Doo. This was pre Zombie island but yet ghosts and magic was real. The stories were also a lot sillier. Vincent Van Ghoul was a warlock with significant power.
This movie on the other hand decided to go with the more common tropes of the current wave of Shovel Stories, introducing new characters, making the story into a solveable mystery and nerfing as much of the supernatural as possible. Fred and Velma really are the biggest problem in this movie, Velma's skepticism constantly having to be reasonably satisfied and Fred's constantly needing to feel important in the mystery solving process.
The movie begins with a backstory of Vince and a new character Mortimer and giving some info on the 13th ghost. It then follows up with giving the gang a reason for needing a reason for the gang to retire, that brings up unnecessary questions about passage of time. The gang messes up a case and proceeds to give up solving mysteries and have a yard sale where they sell the mystery machine, show off a series of Easter eggs and find the crystal ball where we see a return of Vincent Van Ghoul. The gang of course immediately goes there skeptical of Scooby, Shaggy and Daphnee's adventures as ghost hunters from when they were split up.
They find VanGhoul's place decked out with fake stuff to make it spooky even going beyond classic scooby doo for making it obviously tricks. They then find Vince tied up in a coffin, he informs them they will need the chest of demons to get the last ghost. They come to realize they need to go to the Himalayas which is actually a throwback to the first episode of 13 ghosts of Scooby-Doo, alas no town filled with werewolves this time or Bogle and Weerd. At this point it becomes clear there isn't much of story as the search for the chest of demons consumes the majority of the rest of the story, we soon get to see Fred and Velma meet Flim Flam who has aged a significant amount but yet remains as obnoxious and a conartist. That said being an offensive middle eastern stereotype, he also is a weapons dealer. As if the Impersonation of Vincent Price wasn't bad enough in this film, the song Scoobystition felt a lot like a rip off Thriller so there is that too.
But perhaps nothing is worse than the ending where the gang unmasks the 13th ghost,who turns out to be Mortimer who faked his own death to steal it so he could sell it for a lot of money (10 million to be exact), of course being an expert on the chest being one of the discoverers of it he couldn't tell the difference between the real chest and one of Flim Flam's coolers.
The 13th ghost shows up just at the end in what felt like a tacked on wrap up to the story that ties into the book that Velma was reading that also was invented for the movie. The ghost rather then needing to be locked up in the chest just needed to find peace by making amends with his descendant.
As a fan of the classic series since it was one of the first original series I was alive for the first airing syndication of, it holds a special place in my memory, one I had watched enough times I could quote it line for line at one point as a kid, this movie was beyond a let down. This movie is basically the same as every rushed scooby doo movie released today, an extended episode obsessed with giving characters unnecessary depth and not worried about having a good story. Scrappy Doo who was a major part of this series got one mention, if you don't want to have Scrappy Warner Brothers then don't make a 13 ghosts movie, even worse there was nothing on Bogle or Weerd, who were as significant unique characters to this series as Vincent and Flim Flam. Deep down I was really hoping this could be another movie in the vain of Reluctant Werewolf, Ghoul School or Boo Brothers, but alas I realize now Warner doesn't get the surreal nature of the late 80s Scooby. Vincent no longer is the most powerful warlock ever as for much of the movie he barely had enough power to open a door. The movie doesn't even get around to resolving their conflict with the sheriff who was hassling them about messing up the case at the beginning despite teasing they would all the way til the credits roll. Nothing about this felt like 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo, it all feels like another one of the many direct to video movies which are long tv episodes.
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