There really is
no need to mince words, Scooby Doo is a really bad movie.
Director Raja Gosnell (Mystery Men) obviously put little
thought into the story, or little effort into making even a
remotely interesting film, so I don’t feel it worthy to put much
of either into reviewing the film.
Every aspect of this movie is disastrous. The acting is either cardboard or grossly cartoonish, the
dialogue is horrific whether it’s trying to make in-jokes or
inferences, or trying to update the cartoon into present day.
The humor is non-existant, even resorting to the disgusting
trend of gross-out humor, and even the sets, costumes and effects
look like something that a community theater would make fun of.
Overall, this is a prime example of why animated slices of
pop culture should stay where they are, instead of risking the
tarnishing of an established success.
The cartoon
worked because the antics were physical, the stories were simple,
and they were pure escapism for children and young adults who
dreamed of conquering the things that go bump in the night.
In bringing things to reality, and trying to throw in
modern touches, Gosnell has failed on every level.
The story involves the 4 ghost hunters, known as Mystery
Inc, breaking up and going their separate ways. Obviously this was
an attempt to give the 23 year old cartoon a newer feel.
Fred is a teen idol, Buffy, er, Daphne, has taken martial
arts classes to no longer be a damsel, Velma worked for NASA and
Shaggy and Scooby spent their days on the beach, grilling veggie
burgers and eating anything in site.
They are called to an amusement park called Spooky Island
(where do they get these names, so creative, so unique) where
teenagers are being turned into mindless zombies, in an obvious
effort to create people who would actually enjoy this film.
The island is run by an eccentric, who wonders why so many
people leave his island devoid of any original thought, I guess
the writers of this movie must have just returned from there too.
Granted, Scooby Doo cartoons were never known for
intelligence, plot or character development, but they were fun,
simple, goofy fun. Now,
the movie has been reduced to a series of inferences, gags,
physical and gross-out humor, and a resolution that defies the
Thesarus in coming up with new words for absurd.
Add in the fact Prinze looks like a zombie himself while
delivering his lines, Gellar plays the role as Buffy with a scarf
and monochromatic wardrobe, and Lillard’s Shaggy is a one-note
impression dragged over 87 minutes and the animatronic Scooby just
looks out of place, and I have still only scratched the surface of
this movie’s annoyances. There
are so many that I could name, but I won’t, just take my word
for it, stay away from this movie, unless you have kids that you
want to punish.
Ultimately,
Scooby Doo is a cinematic abomination that fails at everything it
tries to do. The
appeal of the original show was that it was entertaining to
multiple levels because it’s simplicity and antics appeased
children, while the stories and inferences were effective at
recapturing the youth of adults.
This time around, Gosnell has zapped both of those right
out of the film, by lowering the humor level, creating an
insulting story and failing to put an ounce of thought or effort
into even the most minute of details. Translating cartoons into
live-action movies can be a precarious task at best, with the risk
of offending a fan base and the overwhelming task of recreating a
magical spirit. Gosnell failed where films like Adventures of Rocky and
Bullwinkle succeeded, by not having fun with it and by not taking
a tongue in cheek approach to everything.
In trying to appeal to too many, this film will appeal only
to those fresh out of lobotomy surgery
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