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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