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When I was a kid, I loved watching Scooby-Doo. Who didn’t? It didn’t really matter that the ghosts and goblins and spooks were always carefully-constructed machines and guys dressed up in goblin-suits. It didn’t matter that Fred was the star, or that Daphne was always getting captured, or that poor Velma was the nerd who always came through in the end. And I never suspected that there was anything wrong with a scruffy, perpetually freaked-out guy who always had the munchies and was perfectly happy to eat dog biscuits. And, well, big talking dogs seemed perfectly natural in the world of Saturday morning cartoons.
When I heard that they were making my old TV favorite into a movie (one starring Buffy and her husband, no less), I was skeptical. Can you blame me? And that’s why it took me this long to see it. But when I finally broke down, I was actually pleasantly surprised.
As the movie opens, things aren’t going well for the Mystery Inc. gang. After years of hunting down bad guys in disguise together, they’re pretty tired of each other. So they call it quits. Two years later, Emile Mondavarious (Rowan Atkinson), the owner of theme park and spring break hotspot Spooky Island, convinces each member of the gang to come to the island to help him solve his mystery. Always suckers for a good mystery (and, in some cases, all-you-can-eat buffets), Fred (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Velma (Linda Cardellini), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), and, of course, Scooby-Doo take on the challenge. It seems that the college kids who show up on the island are being mysteriously changed during their stay—and Mondavarious is convinced that only Mystery Inc. will be able to get to the bottom of it.
Believe it or not (I have a hard time believing it, myself), I enjoyed Scooby-Doo. It’s totally corny, but let’s be honest here. So was the show. The movie stays true to the TV show—while, at the same time, mocking it just a little teeny bit. The performances were appropriately over-the-top, and the film’s conclusion couldn’t have been more appropriate—with a surprising and amusing twist in the end.
If you were never a fan of the TV show, it’s best to steer clear of the movie. But those of you who grew up watching Shaggy and Scoob after school and on Saturday mornings (like I did) will get a good laugh out of the movie. If you’ve been shying away for the same reason I was, there’s no need. Feel free to watch and enjoy.
