Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island (2019 Video) User Reviews

Disappointed

[sallyannandrew · 5/10 · 9 September 2019]

So disappointed. I wasn't expecting much though to be honest. 'Scooby Doo on Zombie Island' and the few films that followed it - 'Scooby Doo and the Witches Ghost', 'Scooby Doo and the Alien Invaders' - were actually GOOD. But 'Zombie Island' was far and away the best. They updated the whole Scooby Gang, filled them out a bit, gave them something a little more three dimensional to work with, modern clothes, careers etc. But best of all, was the writing - it was solid, and entertaining and even as a grown up person, I still enjoy watching those movies. So then they go and do THIS. I'm being very generous giving this a 5. It is a typical, cheap, slap up sequel that distorts the original story, has no continuity - it is just plain old lazy. The animation is cheap and tired, the gang are back in their frankly ancient garb again. This is a vastly inferior offering.

Look, Scooby Doo is part of my life, it's like comfort food. I am a fully grown up person now, bordering on middle age. I have small children, and I would follow Scooby and Shaggy off a cliff. Their enormous sandwiches make me laugh every.darn.time even though the gag is so over used. But honestly, don't tarnish a timeless classic by churning out these cheap, poorly written, tired old straight to DVD jaunts that bank on people watching them simply because we love Scooby Doo. Take a good, hard look at the original zombie island film and take notes - THAT is how you keep a franchise like this going. Please, please, no more cheap, badly written, badly animated sequels.

A movie that didn't need to be made

[tappwaterstudios · 5/10 · 7 September 2020]

I feel like this is a fair score to give this movie. While it's fun and entertaining, it wasn't a story that needed to be told using the island from Zombie Island. Take the general plot points and a decent movie could've been made without trying to use a familiar movie name just to double down on the nostalgia.

Lure the gang to a tropical island to make a movie. The island was famous for a pirate who landed there to bury his treasure. The island was cursed with some kind of monster. The director found a fancy pendant on site and has been wearing it the whole time. The monsters are after the pendant since it helps lead to the treasure. Most of the same shenanigans happen. And there you go. A decent, stand-alone, scooby doo movie is made.

I also want to point out that zombies literally have nothing to do with anything in this movie. Might as well have called it "Return to Cat Island"... Just please leave the other older movies alone.

Missing Mindy

[Nomad007 · 5/10 · 26 December 2020]

It's not the same without Mindy Cohn. It's also unclear why Mindy isn't involved she publicly stated that at the minimum Kate Micucci and herself would be sharing voicing duties, instead of Mindy doing it 100%, for some reason.

Nothing against Kate as I enjoy her voice work elsewhere and her live acting. But Mindy is the closest to the original casting and has it down. Kate comes across as wrong for a number of reasons.

Otherwise it's nice to see a Scooby sequel; let alone on a modern version of a classic story.

It wouldn't have been so bad if they didn't go out of their way to insult the first movie.

[Payback1016 · 1/10 · 5 November 2019]

Now it's understandable that they wouldn't rehash the plot, by making more Zombies or Cat Creatures, save for the mysterious fourth one that's been prowling the Island. However what made the original much more interesting was that it forgo the usual formula of monsters being men/women in masks in favor of showing what it would be like if Mystery Inc. stumbled upon a real supernatural mystery. One that almost got them killed no less, in comparison to the usual formula where even the monsters go out of their way to help them in a running gag. Instead, not only do they rehash the usual formula, by making the Zombies and Cat Creatures the usual masked crooks after gold, not only do they not stick to the continuity of the first movie, where the Gang are all adults whom on top of solving mysteries had their own respective jobs (Save for Shaggy who got fired.), but much of the movie tip toes around whether or not they truly believed what happened to them the first time around actually happened. In essence, they, specifically Fred and Velma whom were the skeptics the first time around dismissed the original events as masked crooks at best and hallucinations at worst. The movie was nothing more than a cash grab designed to cash in on fans of Zombie Island and they didn't even do it right. What would have been a better plot if they insisted on the Scooby Formula would be this: The Gang is invited back to the Island, like before. Only it's now a tourist attraction. They would initially suspect Snakebite responsible for the scares, since he himself hates tourists. So naturally the keep an extra eye on him, same way they suspected Beau in the first movie. Only to find him once again, being a red herring. Then they suspect that somehow Simone, Lena and maybe Jacques have come back from the dead. Which was why the Zombies attacked in the first place, to warn the living away from them. Of course that would also be a red herring because they'd check the secret passage way and find the dust and pendant where the cat creature trio used to be. Then here's where the Scooby formula would kick in. The Zombies and fake cat creatures would turn out to be part of a cult, whom heard the story from both Daphne's News and Beau's testimony. They sought the island in hopes to get the same immortality, that the trio got only for them to not get it, because the secrets died with Simone and Lena. So they lured Mystery Inc, in hopes they had some knowledge at best or at worst they'd sacrifice them to avenge the trio. Just as they were about to do so, the real Zombies show up along with Simone's cats (Whom made peace with Scooby in the first movie.) and subdue them until Mystery Inc can have them tied up.

That would have been a better plot, but nope. Men and Women in Masks and the slight hint of a real cat creature.

R'uh-Oh! They're back at Zombie Island!

[MinistryofDoom · 6/10 · 14 October 2019]

What better way to get into the Halloween season than with a new entry into the long-running Scooby Doo franchise? This claims to be a sequel to the original Zombie Island film, but it's unique enough that it doesn't require that kids (or adults) watch the 1998 film first or have any knowledge about it. In fact, you could just accept the fact that the gang were on this island before and that many years ago they solved a mystery there....as Mystery Inc. is known to do.

In recent years, Warner Brothers has made strange decisions in redesigning the characters and changing the animation style. However, I'm quite happy that the animation and design of this film is very close to the original Scooby Doo cartoons. Frank Welker, AKA: the original Fred, is back, as is Matthew Lillard who, taking over from the late Casey Kasem and Billy West and has been acting as/voicing Shaggy since 2002.

The plot lures you in with what you think will be a pretty straight forward story, as far as Scooby Doo cartoons go, but then it hits you with something entirely different, which I appreciated. Its very funny, entertaining, good for all ages, but still at 80 minutes it felt a little long. It could have been condensed to an hour. Overall, a pretty good entry in the Scooby Doo brand. I give this film a 6 out of 10.

A disappointment & and a wasted opportunity

[conallturley · 4/10 · 6 September 2019]

A major disappointment I'm afraid to say. Such a wasted opportunity. I usually love all the Scooby-Doo DTV movies, but Return to Zombie Island did not impress me. You can't help but compare it to the original Zombie Island, which is just brilliant.

This sequel isn't worthy of association in my books. I don't want to spoil anything so I won't go into too much detail, but the supernatural elements are practically discarded. Instead we get a plot that's contrived & boring, and jokes that are hit and miss (mostly miss). Also, the way Velma is written in this movie is an affront to her character. Yes she's a skeptic, but you can be a skeptic without being an insufferable know-it-all.

On the whole, the children will probably enjoy it, but for those of us who grew up with the original, Return to Zombie Island is a wasted attempt to capitalise on the nostalgia of the original movie. If, like me, you love the original Zombie Island, skip this mess.

Who are the target audience? Maybe 9 to 12 year olds?

[TxMike · 30 December 2019]

I got this on DVD from my public library, it was free so I thought I'd give it a try just for fun. I am writing this review only so I can recall that I watched it, please vote it "not helpful" so it never gets much attention from prospective viewers.

I could tell within the first 15 minutes that I didn't have the urge to watch it all, so I skipped to the last 10 minutes or so to see how they tied the story up and what the supposed Zombies really were. We all have pet peeves, Velma the smart one uttered one of mine when she said "If I WAS that type of person..." which is clearly poor grammar, it should be "If I WERE that type of person..." so what are the filmmakers teaching our young viewers?

Anyway there are a few scary things for really small children, I'd estimate the target audience would be kids 9 to 12 years old. I am a bit past that.

love the first half

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 30 May 2021]

Fred had sold the Mystery Machine and Mystery Inc had closed up shop. The gang is sad except for Shaggy and Scooby who are more interested in their food and swear the rest of the gang to have no more mysteries. Shaggy wins a vacation from his favorite TV personality Elvira in an oddly convenient lottery draw. Fred, Daphne, and Velma are desperate to keep their promise despite the obvious mystery all around them.

I love the first half where the gang is avoiding the mystery. It's a fun premise for the Scooby gang. The second half has the issue of rebooting the premise and having it lose narrative drive. It refers to the 1998 movie which I've not seen. Quite frankly, this is two separate episodes. The comedy comes from two different directions. The mystery loses steam in the second half and the movie loses cohesion. I really love the premise of the first half. If only...

An Insulting Disappointment 😠

[AnimStat64 · 1/10 · 25 September 2019]

A dump on an absolute classic and a colossal disappointment. Terrible writing, dumbed down characters, and a horrendous twist that gives the middle finger to all the fans of the original. My Worst Movie of 2019

Swings and Misses

[pdulski · 6/10 · 4 September 2019]

To me, Scooby-Doo was a beloved classic cartoon series. And well, as much as I used to watch the original cartoons, A Pup Named Scooby, Mystery Incorporated, and a few more before they started to make it live action. However it really wasn't for me, Scooby Doo (to me) started to fall downhill after a few years it seems. Whats New Scooby, and one more like Be Cool, Scooby Doo miss the idea of what the original attitude really was for these "meddling kids". Which in recent years we see them in more of a modern time, but they're still preferred "kids".

Twenty one years after Moonscar Island, we witnessed the curse of the zombies that weren't people in masks, but souls seeking vengeance on the three fellow "Cat People" or should were Simone Lenoir, Lena Dupree and Jacques. Now, the mystery gang who is retiring from mysteries are coming back to the Island. Was it really worth them creating a movie to bring them back?

The simple answer is no, they should have left the classic alone and did something new. Instead what we get is 80 minutes of pure disappointment of something so dearly and felt within the original movie from 1998, that this sequel is just not worth your time nor does it need to be in your mind that this actually exists. Alan Smithee, a director was responsible for their return. Trying to cash in on the gangs "glory" with making a film, what gets worse are the "actors" that have similar names from the original movie. It was like setting yourself up to meeting these people only to turn around and try to scare and bring back the "fear" that no longer is, on the island. Since everything was taken care of and dealt with back in 1998, in this case, it was solved.

According to Velma, who started a blog on all things Mystery Incorporated. She mentions on there she has a "Unsolved Capers" Tab, which is the most popular part on the entire blog itself, it is where Velma keeps everything that the gang never solved on there until it is solved, or doesn't. Shaggy and Scoob are so "done with mysteries" that they couldn't even see the weird setup that even started their "vacation" with guest star, Elvira.

In conclusion, Scooby Doo: Return to Zombie Island is nothing but a disappointment. Twenty one years to make a unnecessary sequel that gives no type of new information at all, except a few things but nothing ever happens with it and leaves you with more questions than answers. The original at least tied it in a nice bow of answering everything we needed to know and didn't show any signs of a needed sequel. It was perfect being left alone, and with that being said I actually wondering with a few lines within this sequel if it's some sort of joke or if they really are considering in doing another title to "make a trilogy". I hope not, but we need answers of what this other thing (disclosed because it's probably the only best thing about it) was climbing around.

Save your $5 to rent and just watch clips online or view the trailers (like one above). If you want to give it a try like we did, be my guest but don't expect it to live up to the beloved original with same atmosphere and having a strong story. Instead it's like a monster truck rally that crashes into a house that was important and historic but now can't be replaced. Sometimes old things that are good aren't worth trying to resurrect for a second go around. Keep it nice and buried.

Disappointing...

[apalozzi-1 · 2/10 · 22 July 2020]

I thought this would be a cool sequel to the best Scooby Doo movie ever. I was wrong...so wrong. Just don't bother with it. Just watch Zombie Island

amazing

[ijeyavudeen · 10/10 · 6 October 2019]

It was an amazing movie but the one thing they shouldve done is explain the who is the black cat

Very mixed feelings

[willylee123 · 7/10 · 6 September 2019]

Return to Zombie Island is definitely nowhere near as good as the original. On one hand, I am very disappointed that the cats and zombies were just people in masks. It would would have been so much better if they stuck to the original, but WB just has to make things "kid friendly." It's getting old to the point where the producers just use the same formula. It did have a somewhat interesting plot, with having two "mysteries" as well as the ambiguous ending with the final catperson. It was enjoyable and would be a good watch with kids and family. Also, Velma's voice actress needs to change, it is just not working for me.

A confusing and boring mess of a so called sequel

[mikeyhodges-1999 · 1/10 · 19 September 2019]

Well this movie is a boring mess and overall a confusing supposed film, that more than half of the people who watch it won't understand the story. The animation is still the ugly modern animation, the voice acting is below par, the story is a structureless mess as the gang go from the previous movie after being prevented from solving mysteries by a random cop, like that's a very poor story element as the gang have always gone around the world to solve mysteries, so obviously the writers don't understand Scooby-Doo, anyway the story loses steam on moonscar island, since it's just another overused it's all just a movie set cliche, which ends up being the rest of the film. The story is so dull and confusing with it's story, that the ending will leave you baffled even for a kids movie, sorry I think kids deserve better than a cheap mess like this. Anywho, the villaims were boring and unmemorable, unlike Lena, Simone, Jaques as well as the real looking zombies from the original, the zombies in this film are fake as well as look like they were drawn by a 3 year old. The mystery is a mess as random cat creatures appear near the end of the film making, but turns out to be three forgettable people from near the beginning, I literally forgot they existed. Well apparently Simone's unique amulet was a way to find moonscar's treasure, which makes no sense as Simone and Lena obviously used the treasure to pay for their food. Finally, the biggest issues are the terrible attempts at connecting this 'film' to the original, such as Daphne actually not being an adult but a student on a high school project, completely forgetting that Zombie Island established them as adults, then there's the fact the gang can't even remember the island that they fought zombies as well as werecats on, they have a whole new secret entrance to the werecat lair and much more. The characters are once again dumbed down as kids apparently don't deserve competent characters, Fred has a disturbing obsession with the mystery machine ruining him as a character, though the only good thing in this film is Scooby and Shaggy getting the gang to pay them back for always being bait. Overall, this is a boring, confusing, yet meta gone wrong 'film' that disrespects the cult classic film, this truly shows how Warner Bros are with their films, definitely AVOID THIS MESS and just show your kids the original film, they'll get a much better film that has depth plus isn't a cheap cash grab!

P.S. First Scooby-Doo movie to ever bore and annoy me, even including the 80's films as well as live action films, which says a lot, trust me.

Scooby Doo: Return to Zombie Island

[JoBloTheMovieCritic · 4/10 · 21 December 2019]

4/10 - an uninspired and rather bland mystery is a disappointment to the beloved franchise

Return to Zombie Island with the Mystery Gang...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 4 September 2019]

I bought the original "Zombie Island" Scooby-Doo! adventure for my son on DVD, and then we happened to come across this 2019 revisit to the island. I must say that my son was quite thrilled to get to sit down and watch this one.

I, on the other hand, wasn't as thrilled, but still, I did sit down to watch it, knowing quite well what I was getting myself into, as Hanna-Barbera never breaks the Scooby-Doo! formula by an inch. But still, the animated movie promised zombies, and I am a fan of anything zombiesque.

Turns out that "Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island" was actually an entertaining animated movie, despite of it being very, very true to the 'how-to-make-a-Scooby-Doo-animated-movie' formula. But hey, at least this is part of the charm of the Scooby-Doo! franchise. You know what you get.

The animation and art style in the 2019 "Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island" was quite good, and definitely helped keeping my interest ablaze. However, the storyline was faltering and wavering at times and I did feel my interest waning at times. And unfortunately there just wasn't all that much zombie action throughout the course of "Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island".

It is, of course, always a nice treat for the audience to have Frank Welker, Grey Griffin, Matthew Lillard and Kate Micucci doing the voices in this animated Scooby-Doo! adventures. But I will say that "Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island" held a wonderful surprise for me, because it had none other than the Mistress of the Dark herself as a cameo in the show - Elvira (aka Cassandra Peterson). Now that was a fabulous surprise, and it makes it worth to sit through this animated adventure, if for nothing else.

Yeah, you know what you get, and the ending of the mystery is, well... I don't even have to say anything, because you also already know how it ends. Yep, following the blueprint to the letter.

But it was enjoyable nonetheless, and hence I am rating "Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island" a score of six out of ten stars.

Surprisingly disappointed.

[charathechicken · 4/10 · 6 October 2019]

I was excited to watch this in hopes of it being a continuation of the original one. I have no words to express my disappointment. It definitely wasn't. Would have been better off being called a "rip-off." The original beats this in every way, shape and form. Gosh, it was terrible. Bad voice actors, suddenly they're in a movie, and it doesn't even have the climax you were waiting for. While the original was creative, fun, exciting and with actual non-human characters, and gave you the climax and satisfaction. This movie ruined everything that the first one had done right. The second one was a typical scooby-doo episode. It wasn't exciting, nor did it have a good plot. Unlike what the movie said, please DO NOT make a trilogy if you manage to ruin a good movie this much.

It's no 'On Zombie Island', but...

[Milk_Tray_Guy · 7/10 · 18 January 2022]

Belated sequel to Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998), made for the franchise's fiftieth anniversary. The 1998 movie is credited with reinvigorating Scooby-Doo at a time when the IP was struggling. It's one of the most popular of Scooby movies, largely due to its use of legitimate horror moments, and placing the genuine supernatural at the fore. Any sequel was going to have an uphill struggle as far as fans were concerned. Sure enough, fan response in the main ranged from 'meh', to downright hate. Chief criticisms were retconning elements from the first film, characterisations of the leads, and a generally poor plot.

Return to Zombie Island isn't just a follow-up to the 1998 film; it's also a sequel to Scooby-Doo! And the Curse of the 13th Ghost (released 7 months earlier), with the dual role of maintaining consistency with that film, and carrying on the legacy of a revered classic. However, On Zombie Island and Curse of the 13th Ghost are two very different movies, and any sequel trying to be true to both was always going to have its work cut out. In the end we get a film tonally consistent with its immediate predecessor, but with callbacks to the horror of the 1998 film. However, some of those horror elements have been rewritten to fit the narrative of the current movies, which has inevitably led to accusations of 'watering down'. It's true that retelling those events in the current style may have rendered them less dark, but the essence pretty much survives (although there are aspects that have been overtly rewritten, to perhaps be more 'family friendly'). Characterisations are perfectly in-line with the current movies. I've seen it said that the five lead characters are now parodies of themselves. I think that's true (but no less enjoyable), and Frank Welker, Grey DeLisle, Matthew Lillard, and Kate Micucci nail it as ever. As for plot, whilst there are some inconsistencies with On Zombie Island, this movie does stay consistent with its own retelling of those events. It makes sense to see this as a reboot/sequel; flashbacks retell the 1998 movie, whilst the rest is a sequel to that version. In that light, and as its own thing, I enjoyed it. 7.5/10.

Scooby Gang should have used a different travel agent

[buddah-89301 · 1/10 · 3 September 2019]

The original 'Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island' is, in my opinion, the best Scooby adventure ever made. Updated wardrobe, great animation, great music, the plot wasn't TOO predictable, and the monsters were actually real. None of that is present in this lackluster cash-grab. Even a cameo by Elvira Mistress of the Dark felt hollow without any of her usual humor and energy. The zombies are only a small part of the movie and are a pale imitation of the ones from the original. Saturday morning cartoon level animation, Velma's voice was like nails on a chalkboard, the plot was beyond ridiculous, and to say the ending was anticlimactic would be being kind. I could go on and on about how bad this was. I kept asking myself, 'I looked forward to this why?' Little kids will love this I'm sure, but to an adult long-time Scooby fan it was god-awful. It was even worse than the 'Curse of the 13th Ghost' (another one I really looked forward to, and was severely disappointed.) Until Warner Bros actually starts caring about quality instead of a quick buck, they should definately stop making sequels to GOOD Scooby adventures, or better yet, just stop making them entirely for awhile cause let's face it, the quality has been going downhill for years.

Somehow, it's a funny animation.

[XueHuaBingYu · 6/10 · 4 September 2019]

Scooby Doo animations are so cool, so, whenever there's new one, I always put it on the first place to watch. I don't care people call it cartoon or whatever the term they use to call it and also I know that there are a lot of people who don't like Scooby Doo (even hate) and talk a lot of bad things about it, but as for me, Scooby Doo animations are one of the best ones that are so enjoyable.

Scooby Doo: Return to Zombie Island is also a good one to enjoy. I like vampires, zombies those kinds of films, and so, the title has the word zombie in it, hence that's the reason why I watched this animation. That being said, this one is zombie related film and zombies aren't beautiful. That I know. But the animation team made it uglier than they look. I know that it is what zombies look like, but I feel like if they were not that much ugly, it'd be great. (This is just my opinion only, btw.)

What I don't like the most is that Fred is missing Mystery Machine so much. I understand that it's very hurt if you lost someone or something you care or you love most. But, seeing Fred being that much into it, it really made me felt very uncomfortable. Maybe the act to describe how much he is missing isn't that much good. So, if they could do it in somehow better than this, it might be great.

Overall is that the plot is kind of not that good which makes this animation kind of inferior to the previous Scooby Doo animations, but some scenes are very funny. I laughed out loud. If the plot was better than this, it would be better. But the current one also makes a fine animation. I kind of enjoyed it completely.

Like, What the Actual F@$&!

[icwhite · 3/10 · 19 January 2020]

Story is very bland and uninspired. Sure they mention quite a lot from the first movie, but NEVER took it back to the things that made the first one unique. A complete waste of time, and a VERY disrespectful sequel to Zombie Island.

It's good, even if not what we asked for

[blytheandferb · 9/10 · 4 September 2019]

As a direct sequel to Scooby Doo On Zombie Island, it doesn't work. As a Scooby movie on its own, it's amazing. There's a lot of callbacks to various Scooby projects, and it's just plain fun to watch. I would've made a different commemoration for Scooby Doo's 50th anniversary, but I still think it does the job.

Sucks

[MoodyCracker · 1/10 · 20 May 2020]

It sucked so bad that I didn't even finish watching it.

Terrible sequel

[jep-73718 · 1/10 · 3 September 2019]

Not only were there inaccuracies as well as terrible explanations for the events of the first movie but this was a complete tone and character shift for the characters and story.

HORRIBLE!! DISGRACEFUL!!

[rmitchellwagner-17091 · 1/10 · 17 May 2020]

I am 26 years old and a HUGE Scooby Doo fan, but this was an utter disgrace! Zombie Island is all my time favorite Scooby Doo Movie, I even named my daughter Lena after the character. Watching this made me want to cry and it was so lame and cheesy. If you are going to do a sequeal you need to make it tie into with the first one. This movie was all over the place.