It’s time to gear up for another Scooby-Doo adventure with Mystery Inc. as they join forces with Krypto, the Superdog, to investigate the mysterious disappearance of the Justice League.
Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too! is the latest collaboration between Hanna-Barbera and DC Comics.
It’s part spiritual successor and another part straight-up sequel to the famed ensemble cartoon of the 70s and 80s, Superfriends.
There’s plenty of Easter eggs to gawk at for old-school fans.
Visual callbacks, familiar sounds, and musical cues transport a prior generation back to their cherished Saturday morning cartoons while seamlessly providing unencumbered viewing for the uninitiated.
For some, a food truck vendor who uses the Superfriends font on the packaging of their delicious french fries is like, “Wow, they did the thing.” For others, they’re colorful containers Shaggy will quickly destroy as he devours them fries.
Speaking of food, you guessed it. Scooby and Shaggy bring their enormous appetites, causing plenty of kitchen-raiding shenanigans to ensue. When you think our reluctant detectives can’t possibly make their sandwiches any bigger, Scooby and Shaggy never cease to amaze.
If nostalgia is not your thing, the Hall of Justice is littered with weapons, vehicles, variant costumes, cosmic treadmills, and more. It’s a comic fans’ cornucopia of iconic items, and scanning for them makes for a fun time.
Velma gets a lot of screen time here, which is expected since no mystery would be solved without her. However, Velma’s presence was heightened more than usual, which could be the result of the polarizing Velma series on HBO Max that divided fans but got everyone talking about it. While the universe this film inhabits is not connected to its adult-themed counterpart, marketing is a funny thing, and Warner Bros Discovery could be going all in on Velma in various ways.
There’s an abundance of DC Comics’ supervillains wreaking havoc throughout the film. When the Justice League is gone, the bad guys come out to play. Metropolis is under siege by the worst of the worst, yet its residents go about their routine while lamenting for their missing heroes.
Please remember all of the characters are portrayed through the kid-friendly lens of Hanna-Barbera. This is why Scooby and Shaggy find themselves surrounded by The Joker, Harley Quinn, Solomon Grundy, Giganta, General Zod, Non, and Ursa and walk away completely unscathed.
Do you want to know who doesn’t get much screen time?
Batman.
He doesn’t appear in the movie at all. The Caped Crusader’s presence is felt through the use of various bat items, but no Dark Knight this time around.
Batman and Scooby-Doo have been boys since their first team-up in 1972. While many characters from different genres have worked with Mystery Inc. over the years, it’s their adventures with Batman that set the standard for crossover goodness.
Batman’s absence is likely a creative decision to ensure the spotlight stays on the titular guest star, Krypto. After all, Batman is the Taylor Swift of the DC Universe. He takes the spotlight away from everybody.
So, how does Krypto fare in a feature role? Honestly, the writing ultimately fails our super pooch. Krypto gets lost in the shuffle of his own movie due an overstuffed narrative. He’s an afterthought until he’s given a proper time to shine in the third act.
The big mystery surrounding the Justice League’s absence is a letdown. It’s not only too predictable; there is barely anything to figure out at all. The expired cherry on top is the animation of the haunting entities in the film suddenly changing shape, spoiling the mystery minutes before Velma solves the case.
Extras include three bonus Scooby-Doo and the Guess Who? episodes.
Despite its narrative weaknesses, solid animation and a pace that aptly keeps the ball rolling through the good, the bad, and the hilarity makes Scooby Doo’s thirty-eighth entry in his direct-to-video film series a good enough watch for most of its seventy-five-minute runtime. If nothing else, seeing Scooby wield a Green Lantern power ring is sure to conjure a few smiles.
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