sebijin
Scooby-Doo was a film from my childhood that I loved and watched numerous times. I grew up on the original cartoon, so you can imagine how a seven-year-old would feel when he sees his favorite cartoon in live-action.Revisiting this one 15 years later was interesting, because on one hand - this is a children's film that isn't really that great. On the other hand, my nostalgia for the character and my ability to notice some more of the nuanced adult jokes kept me from hating it.There are many times where you can definitely tell that this is a product from the early 2000's and some of the jokes just aren't nearly as funny as I remember them being. The plot felt different than an ordinary Scooby-Doo cartoon, but it still had that Scooby-Doo charm to it.There was a twist-ending which I still don't quit understand, but it exists and it's not too terribly executed.If you ever loved the original Scooby-Doo, you might be able to enjoy this film. If anything, put it on and watch it with your kids.
elicopperman
When I was a little kid, I was a big fan of Scooby Too, from the original cartoon, to the What's New Scooby Too show, to some of the animated movies. And two installments to the franchise that I practically binge watched as a little fella were these two live-action CGI hybrid Scooby Doo movies directed by Raja Gosnell and written by James Gunn (now famous for Guardians of the Galaxy 1 & 2). Then, after doing some research years later and finding out that it was supposed to be a PG-13 satire on the original cartoon but was soon bogged down by studio interference to make it more family oriented, I now see it as a laughable mess.Right off the bat, the story takes place after the Mystery Inc gang have split up, and then they are brought back together to solve the mystery of an island called...Spooky Island....subtle. Simple enough plot, and the film does keep it's idea afloat...but MAN is this film confused tone wise. Remember when I said that this film was originally supposed to be for teens before getting butchered for kids? Well boy, are there a lot of innuendos here, and without giving anything away, let's just say some of the material from the original script may have gotten in the final cut. The characters from the show are decent enough, and Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini and Neil Fanning do really good jobs impersonating Shaggy, Velma and Scooby...can't say the same for Freddie Prinze jr. and Sarah Michele Gellar as Fred and Daphne, as while they are trying, they come off more as bland stereotypes more than anything else. The best actor in the film is Rowan Atkinson, since....well, this Mr. Bean we're talking about, of course he's a riot.As for the production design, while the sets look gorgeous and there was certainly a lot of effort put into making them shine bright, the computer imagery of Scooby and the monsters that show up in the film look dated even by early 2000s standards, as they look painfully obvious with how much they stand out like sore thumbs. Overall...I honestly have nothing else to say. This movie is just ridiculous, the jokes are confused, the characters are hit or miss, the cgi is dated, and while it does try to stay true to the cartoon, it just comes off as a case of not knowing whether to be silly or to be a straight forward adaptation of the show. However, I will admit that I do have some nostalgia for it. Not too long ago, me and my friend were watching this, and alongside getting memories of childhood back, it had me on the floor just from how crazy the direction was, as well as the innuendos. So if you're in the mood for a movie with a confused tone but some many laughable choices, this is for you. However, if you love Scooby Too so much that you refuse to see this...better watch Mystery Incorporated, cause that will give you a more mature take on the franchise without coming off as juvenile or insipid. As for me though....sigh....it's such a guilty pleasure.
biglebowski7900
Upon discovering this on IMDb i was disgusted! 4.9!? What an outrage! OK so maybe it's no shawshank but for a kids movie It's pretty enjoyable and as this was a childhood favorite of mine i felt it was my duty to defend it (along with it's sequel). Now as much as this film hits me with nostalgia i know it's not the only factor that makes me love this film. I re-watched part of spy kids 2 recently (which was another childhood fave of mine) and thought it was complete trash. I didn't feel this way about scoobs. The film does more than take a mediocre cartoon and and put real actors in it, if anything i would say the film is a parody of the show like the Brady bunch movie (though not to as much of an extent). It shows us mystery inc in today's environment and it makes them real adults. The film is genuinely funny to with plenty of adult humor (smoke pouring from the van while playing Rasta music only to be revealed as shaggy and scooby cooking was great) and all the slapstick humor isn't overly cringey. The casting is amazing, particularly for shaggy and velma. Fred does come off as a bit douchey though and scooby can sometimes get annoying. The climax is admittedly pretty awful and the films is packed with corny moments but i would be lying if i didn't say i loved it. I'm not saying this deserves to be 10/10 and i can understand why people don't like it but i don't think it deserves so much hate either. 7 zoinks out of jinkies. The sequel is better though.
Terryfan
I would've gotten away with it if it wasn't for you meddling kids and your dog too! Scooby-Doo is still one of my favorite cartoons and when I first watch the live action movie on HBO it just had to seen to believe. Actually I was laughing through out the movie while it did have some moments that made me go what were they thinking? But still I actually entertain from this movie.The plot of the film is that the Mystery Gang Scobby-Doo, Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), and Velma (Linda Cardellini) are invited to a island theme park by Mondavarious (Rowan Atkinson) however things are not what they appear to be. Also we are introduce to Mary Jane (Isla Fisher) N'Goo Tuana (Steven Grives) and Voodoo Maestro (Miguel A.Nunez Jr) As the plot goes on I like how they added the theme song because come on everyone has heard "Scooby-Doo where are you"? and know that theme by heart just having that theme more than once really does a good job. In fact a lot of the music in the film is enjoyable and the songs they feature in it have that special it factor.As for the acting, it is actually good Matthew's performance as Shaggy is just superb as he study the character very well He just shine as Shaggy, Sarah was very good as Daphne, Linda did well as Velma and Freddie did look the part of Freddie. But yeah the movie does feature some good acting just got to be more open mind about it. As for Scooby Doo I enjoy the C.G.I. Scooby Doo the cast did a great job with interacting with Scooby Doo to make it believable so props to themHowever what I didn't like about this film was the fact that it had moments that make you "What were they thinking"? and it really should have been left out of the finish film but again who knows it could have been a lot of worse which is why I'm glad I got it on DVD so I can skip the parts that didn't serve any sense.But still as a fan of Scooby Doo I got to say this is actually a funny movie and it is quite entertaining plus well thought out comedy bits that gives that cartoon feel to the film so yeah give this movie a chance you might be surpriseI give Scooby-Doo a 8 out of 10
