SCOOBY DOO AND KRYPTO, TOO (2023)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *comedy*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *sociological*

"There is no courage without fear of the unknown,

"And there's no bravery without fright,

"Most never rise above the fear of flesh and bone,

"While some are drawn into the night... "

-- credits-song by composer Robert J. Kral.

My printing of the first stanza of the opening doesn't capture how good this vaguely country-rock tune is, particularly for a Scooby Doo DTV. I'm probably the only one who heard Kral's lyrics and thought it sounded like Nietzche's meditations on "courage and fear." I assume, though, that the composer's only motive was to have fun with comparing the "safe scares" of the Scooby franchise with the emphasis on bravery in the DC hero-verse-- one which even had its own canine representative.

I've not always been a fan of crossovers between this franchise and the characters of DC Comics, both of which are currently owned by the Warners goliath. But TOO is sprinkled with lots of comic-book in-jokes for the initiated, jokes that should still work for the outsiders on the principle of absurdity. Velma, informed that Lex Luthor was once President of the U.S., remarks that she doesn't remember that particular political development, and the script just drops the subject and goes on to something else.

All that said, the script by T.K. O'Brian (who only has one other credit on IMDB) has to pack together a number of contrivances to merge the worlds of the scaredycat Great Dane and that of the Justice League. A suspenseful opening at the iconic "Hall of Justice" (from Hanna-Barbera's SUPER FRIENDS show) shows intrepid reporters Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen investigating the Hall at night and being driven away by a mysterious fiery phantom. From Lois and Jimmy, the viewer learns that the League has disappeared without explanation. So-- who you gonna call? "Jimmy Olsen's girlfriend!"

This was a cute set-up that made even a jaded veteran like me curious. But there's not a big payoff; dorky Olsen just convinced himself that a brief flirtation with Daphne many years ago constituted a bonding of hearts-- and then that contrivance is done with and we're on to something else. In any case, Olsen and Lane summoned Mystery Inc. to suss out the disappearance of the Leaguers and the reason for the fiery phantom. Meanwhile, in the absence of the superheroes, Metropolis is being besieged by assorted super-crooks, notably Solomon Grundy (whom the Scoobies mistake for their old foe The Creeper) and the three Phantom Zone fiends from SUPERMAN II. I think O'Brien chose the trio of Kryptonians to foreshadow the solution of the mystery, which involves this script's version of The Phantom Zone. 

A lot of viewers will guess the connection between the missing champions and the fiery phantom. In fact, O'Brien doesn't play fair here, for early on the viewer only sees one specter, and then later on, there are a half-dozen of them, some with different physical builds. But I suppose if he had shown the half-dozen phantoms early on, everyone would have guessed their identity right away. 

So for the next hour, the Scoobies mess around the Hall of Justice looking for clues and pestered by red herrings-- one of whom is the aforementioned Luthor. Here. the bald schemer is currently a respectable rich guy even though his former leadership of the Legion of Doom is mentioned in passing. Is he the Big Bad, or is it one of the rampaging rogues? Neither, but apparently O'Brian thought that he ought to have the Scoobies interact more with DC's famous villains, because there's a sequence in which a hologram-program conjures up duplicates of the same evildoers who are running around Metropolis. Then, confusingly, the real Solomon Grundy then barges into the Hall just so the Scoobies have a big monster to run from.

 But I'm leaving out "and Krypto, too." For some vague reason, Krypto happens to have been hanging around the League's HQ during the disappearance. But even though the Dog of Steel has the same powers as his master Superman, he can't talk and tell anyone what occurred. Actually, the script misses a beat here. Given that Scooby CAN make himself understood to humans, he could have translated anything Krypto barked to him. This would have solved the movie's biggest problem. Because Krypto can't interact as a character, he's pretty boring. Even the Krypto of the kid-oriented 2006 cartoon was more iconic-- though the heroic canine, through his teaming-up with Mystery Inc., supplies the only combative aspects of the movie when he struggles with Grundy or with the minions of Luthor. (Hey, he might not be the person guilty of the main crime, but he wouldn't be Lex Luthor if he didn't show himself as a villain of the utmost venality.)

Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby are pretty much the same as always. Fred and Daphne do their not-quite-romantic dance, confined mostly to Fred getting jealous of Jimmy Olsen and Daphne resenting Fred's attraction to-- Harley Quinn??? Daphne does a few karate poses but doesn't fight. But she does have a few daredevil moments that indicate just how passe her old "Danger-Prone Daphne" identity became in the era of "action girls." TOO, like most films in this franchise, is pretty light stuff, but this installment is a lot more lively than I've seen lately.