Scooby Doo
Directed by: Raja Gosnell
Written by: James Gunn, Craig Titley (story)
Starring: Matthew Lillard, Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Rowan Atkinson

I will admit that I often carry a bias against live action adaptations of cartoons, especially when it comes to cartoons that were a part of my childhood. I mean, who isn’t a little overprotective of their childhood memories? So when I say I was a big fan of Scooby Doo as a youngster, you can imagine that I must have been rather peeved upon learning that Freddy Prinze Jr, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and (god forbid) Matthew Lillard were going to star in a live action Scooby Doo film. And alongside a computer generated version of Scooby Doo, no less. This project had disaster written all over it.

On the other hand, the screenplay was written by James Gunn, and I was a fan of his work on The Specials, which I thought was a pretty funny flick. I also heard that he considered himself a big fan of the original Scooby Doo cartoon, and that he was trying to be true to the spirit of the series. After reading a lot of favourable reviews following the movie’s initial release (except for Ebert’s bad review, although he claims he’s never seen an episode of Scooby Doo in his life… how is that even possible??) I finally broke down. Against my better judgement, I decided that I had to see the movie for myself.

The outlook was bad before the movie even started… the trailers that were screened beforehand (Stuart Little 2, Spy Kids 2, and Like Mike starring Lil’ Bow Wow) clearly implied that it was a children’s movie that we were about to see. So much for aiming to please the old school fans.

As it all unfolded before me, the first thing that struck me about Scooby Doo was that two of the things I had been dreading actually seemed to be the best part of the movie. Matthew Lillard has annoyed me in his previous acting gigs, but I have to hand it to him here, he is Norville “Shaggy” Rogers. The gravelly voice, the lanky movements, the outfit.. it’s all perfect. The computer generated Scooby also works well. He is able to do all the typical cartoon facial expressions and exagerrated movements, but also looks real enough to fit in with the rest of the live actors. Scooby Doo’s voice is handled adequately by Scott Innes, who also does Scooby’s voice in all the recent Scooby Doo animated movies. Velma, as played by Linda Cardellini, was also convincing. Unfortunately, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar are incapable of playing anyone other than themselves. Sure, it’s ironic that they are as stereotypical and two-dimensional as the characters they are supposed to be portraying… but their attempts at humour fall flat every time. Rowan Atkinson was a great addition as the mysterious villain character, and yet he was underused here.

Regarding Gunn’s writing, well, I can’t say there’s much to be impressed with here. The plot for one, was basically non-existent. Just like in the cartoon, you say? Fair enough, but cartoon episodes are only a half hour long, and they don’t cost 12 dollars to see. I also hoped there would be some moments of hilarity, but the extent of his wittiness included a couple of not-so-subtle marijuana jokes, a farting contest, and the line “Let’s Get Jinky With It”. Can you say low-brow? I thought he was capable of much better material than this. He walked the line between paying tribute and spoofing the show, and didn’t really accomplish either one.

The appearance of Scrappy Doo was somewhat amusing, but again, a fairly standard, easy Scooby Doo in-joke. And when you start adding him into the story you’re playing with fire. The joke of Scrappy Doo being an annoying character that no one likes literally came true for me at the end of the movie– well, I guess I shouldn’t give that part away, but you’ll see what I mean.

The plot point involving brainwashed teenagers talking in hip lingo got old pretty quick. It only added to the problematic overload of modern pop culture references. As soon as Sugar Ray made an appearance in the movie I knew Scooby’s fate was sealed. If they really wanted to recreate the feel of the cartoon, they should have tried to redo some of the instrumental music from the original series, instead of going with all these stupid new versions of the theme song that every hot band is just itching to do. Between all the computer effects, cheesy ultra-violet light sets, trendy soundtrack, and ridiculous cleavage, they effectively turned Scooby into one of those damned teen movies… which is precisely what I was worried about in the first place.

Perhaps my biggest complaint is that there was no suspense and no sense of creepiness anywhere in this flick. Sure, Scooby Doo was generally a pretty goofy cartoon, but there was an eerie atmosphere there as well, and the producers of this movie seem to have overlooked it. Other than the Scooby and Shaggy likenesses, this movie has little to offer adult viewers. Kids may still find it amusing, but that’s no consolation to me.

I guess I bit the bullet on this one. I knew that I probably would regret seeing this movie, but I let my curiosity get the best of me. What can I say? Curiosity killed the cat… or the dog, as the case may be. — Sean