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DOWN IN FRONT: Movie reviews by Dan Dunkle
Scooby-Doo
As a fan of the original Saturday morning cartoon, I was skeptical about this live-action Scooby-Doo, but the movie manages to both celebrate and lampoon the original.
| DAN’S GRADE: C+ A: MUST SEE B: WORTH WATCHING C: RENT IT D: POOR F: WICKED BAD |
All of the classic Scooby-Doo elements are there. Adolescent detectives Shaggy, Scooby, Fred, Daphne and Velma manage to foil a toy factory phantom in the first few minutes, ripping a mask off and revealing that the real culprit is not a ghost at all, but just some creepy man with an ax to grind. The audience laughs knowingly as he mutters the classic line: “And I would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for you meddling kids!”
As you would expect, the geeky Velma hatches plans to solve the mystery while slacker Shaggy and his good pal Scoob spend most of their time looking for something to eat and running away from monsters. Surprisingly, Scrappy-Doo, the annoying puppy who ruined the original series for me, turned out to be the movie’s greatest comedic asset.
The best performance comes from Matthew Lillard who has perfected Shaggy’s cartoon voice and cowardly mannerisms. The worst performance came from Scooby-Doo who, despite the best efforts of computer animation, did not look real.
The characters spend most of the movie at a theme park resort called Spooky Island, where mysterious forces have turned normal spring breakers into agents of evil. Here the line between children’s cinema and teen movie becomes blurred. The movie has a PG rating and it should be noted that it features plenty of underdressed college students and a few references to drug use that should (note the emphasis on should) sail over your child’s head. There are also a few instances of strong language.
The humor in the film seemed mostly geared toward a younger audience as evidenced by the high pitched squeals of laughter heard throughout the theater when I had apparently missed the joke somewhere. The movie also employed a fair amount of scatological humor, so people of good taste be warned.
The final product turns out to be no better or worse than an episode of the original cartoon.
Daniel Dunkle is a reporter for The Courier-Gazette.