Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Review: Scooby-Doo! and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery


Today is the 6th anniversary of Scooby-Doo! and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery!! I have not seen this movie since it came out in 2015, on the 10th anniversary of the day my dad died. I remember walking through Walmart with tears in my eyes because that day, heck the whole month of July, was really hard for me. But I was determined to find the movie! (Oddly, I wasn't able to find my copy and I had to buy a new copy just so I could watch it again and write this review.) 

I have pretty much claimed that this is my least favorite movie, but I could not remember exactly why. It has been 6 years since I saw it, but I know that there was a reason...

Near the beginning of the movie, the gang are in the Mystery Machine dressed up like Kiss, all but Fred anyway. He wasn’t a fan of Kiss. The Ascot Five was more up his alley! It was kind of cool to see them dressed up and wearing the makeup. 

The cartoon intro of Kiss playing a show and the gang walking around aimlessly was kind of weird to see because the gang wasn't reacting to Kiss at all in the intro. They felt disconnected from each other. It was kind of weird.

Before I continue with the movie, let me just say that I like Kiss' music. I'm not a huge fan, but I have seen them in concert, and I enjoyed the show, with the exception of meeting Sebastian Bach from Skid Row at the show. It was at a time when they did half the show in makeup and the other half without. They were showy and larger than life in the makeup and without it they were laid back and played an acoustic set. It was kind of like night and day. 

Back to the movie…Can it be any more over the top? Confetti bombs every time Kiss enters and exits, the costume change sequence, their own theme park, the way they basically glow and the super powers that they had. Not to mention the huge guitar ship (which was also really cool) that came out of the ground when they started playing I Was Made For Lovin’ You and the Ferris Wheel being a portal to Kissteria. It was clear in this movie that Kiss (or at least Gene Simmons) have some huge egos!

I can get past the egos. I was enjoying the music and the over-the-top storyline, sort of. It was rubbing me the wrong way that Gene Simmons character, The Demon, was mean to the gang, especially Scooby and Shaggy. Pretty much as soon as they met, Gene Simmons told the gang that Kiss were the best mystery solvers, and the gang should scram. Simmons said to Scooby “Beat it mutt before you dent my armor” just because Scooby was trying to give him a hug for saving their lives.

There was a point when I thought that Gene Simmons was finally warming up to Scooby and Shaggy. He told them that the secret to breathing fire was swallowing your fears. Shaggy and Scooby ended up getting cornered by a statue that the Crimson Witch brought to life, and they thought about what Gene had said, and they swallowed their fears, and they were able to breathe fire and destroy the statue! It was their shining moment! Nothing could ruin this fo…no wait! Gene Simmons could ruin this for them, and he did! He showed up, gave them a thumbs up and he said, “well done, pathetic scum!” Let me type that again…Gene Simmons said to Shaggy and Scooby “WELL DONE, PATHETIC SCUM!” And that was the line that ruined this entire movie for me!

That line and the inappropriate flirting between Daphne and The Starchild had me not very thrilled about what I was watching. The gang are teenagers, Daphne being about 16 and a minor. At the time the movie was released Paul Stanley (The Starchild) was 63 years old. 63!!!! So we have a 16 year old and a 63 year old flirting throughout the whole movie, and no one thinks this is a problem? There was no outrage over this…but everyone practically lost their minds when Daphne was upset about being a size 8 in Frankencreepy. Daphne and The Starchild kissed at the end of this movie. Not just a little peck either. 

Yes, I am aware that this is a cartoon. However, I don’t think inappropriate relationships have any place in the Scoobyverse or in kids shows all together. We have talked a lot on the Scooby Panel about relationships within the gang and I have said that I don't like them at all. I felt like this crossed the line though. I can handle a Daphne/Fred relationship or Velma/Shaggy, but this Daphne/Starchild relationship creeped me out!

One other things annoyed me about this movie, though it was kind of funny at the same time. All the Kiss product ads! I know Gene Simmons will put the Kiss logo on just about anything to make money, so I got that it was a joke to put the ads all over, but it made me feel like I was watching a very long infomercial about Kiss products.  

My original assessment of the movie stands, and now I remember why I felt that way. I do tend to hold the unpopular opinion about this movie, and I’m ok with that. I just can’t allow anyone to call Scooby and Shaggy pathetic scum! Or have Daphne taken advantage of by a 63 year old man! These things go against everything I believe in! 

What did you think of the movie?

14 comments:

  1. I haven't seen this movie myself, but sounds like it would be a fun watch as I am a fan of KISS and Scooby-Doo as well, so I will have to find this one. On a kind of related note--and I know this is a Scooby blog--but I wonder ig anyone remembers this TV movie--"Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park"--from 1978 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

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    1. I have never seen the Phantom in the Park movie. I just watched the trailer. It could be that Scooby-Doo Meets Kiss was kind of based off of that. Interesting!

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    2. Tasheni and. Emmanuel

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  2. I wasn't a huge fan of this movie either. I like KISS's music somewhat, but I find some of the things they've done in real life, particularly Gene, pretty despicable. Their big egos were a little hard to get past for me, and the over-the-top storyline didn't make it any better. I agree with you I could have gotten past the egos if it was just that, but Gene was very cruel to the gang and came off like an a-hole all throughout. The "pathetic scum" line was especially ridiculous. I wouldn't say it ruined the whole movie for me, but it was definitely pretty upsetting. The inappropriate flirting between him and Daphne was what ruined this film for me. I'm not necessarily opposed to age differences in relationships, but the age difference here was so huge that Daphne could easily be taken advantage of. Given Daphne was 16, having a relationship with a man that old as a minor is incredibly inappropriate for a children's movie, and knowing that Gene still has active sexual assault accusations against him made it even more disgusting. I honestly don't know what the writers were even thinking. I definitely have heard others say they found the Daphne/Starchild relationship gross and uncomfortable, but you're right it's really weird that there wasn't more controversy on this given the size 8 thing from Frankencreepy. I hope they never make a Scooby movie like this again.

    I could be wrong on this, but I believe there were some references to Phantom of the Park included this film.

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    1. I also don't have a problem with age differences, but I think if you're going to do that, at least both of the parties need to be adults. It was really creepy to see Daphne and Starchild so flirty. Someone else brought up that at least 1 of the songs is about sex, and that was weird to have in a kids movie, which oddly I just totally ignored that fact in my review. I guess I was so focused on everything else that I just didn't think of the music as also being an issue. People keep saying they want another Scooby/Kiss movie, and I really really hope we never see a second one!

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  3. This is my least favorite Scooby movie as well. It's in the 8 movie set that came out within the last little while, so I'll probably check it out again sometime.

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    1. Oh wow! An 8 movie set? I must have missed that!

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  4. Great review Nikki! I'm curious as to your Sebastian Bach meeting that you hinted at. Sounds like you saw a cool KISS show with it being half acoustic though.

    I'd agree with your review completely. I typically just put this one on as background noise as I enjoy KISS's music. It's unfortunate as I'm a big KISS fan and was so excited for this movie, but you're spot on with how Gene was portrayed. I much prefer how KISS were portrayed on Family Guy saving Christmas.

    I hope you do get the chance to check out KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park as it's one of those so bad it's good movies. They recycle a lot of sound effects you'd hear in Scooby Doo and Hanna Barbera and use it in that movie.

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    1. My meeting with Sebastian Bach wasn't good. He was literally my crush when I was young, I had Skid Row posters and pictures of him everywhere...and after I met him I took everything down. He was not very nice at all and he spent his time at the show feeling up every girl that would let him do it. He was also drunk, reeked of alcohol. I did get his autograph though. Meeting him made me realize that celebrities are just humans and they are really nothing special.

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  5. Honestly I found this movie to be a guilty pleasure of mine because of how crazy it is yes the love reationship between paul stanley/starchild and daphne is gross and terrible and the movie itself isn't really that great but it is so bizzare that it is kind of a guilty pleasure to me.

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  7. paul stanley is 63 years old, but this an animated film, not REAL, you can be 73 and play a 23 year old in animated film. in the movie Moana, Moana is 16 she is played by Auliʻi Cravalho who is 23 years old. Daphne is played by Grey DeLisle she is 49 years old, so let's be real here, don't make the like a child predator film, it's a cartoon.

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  8. I like Scooby Doo, but my kids won’t be watching this one! As far as I’m concerned, the all seeing eye and the statue that resembles Molech tells all! Absolutely disgusting!🤮

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