Extras:
Filmmaker's Commentary, Cast Commentary, Spooky Island Arcade
Game, 'Scooby Doo: Unmasking The Mystery' featurette, Mini-Featurettes,
Additional Scenes (with optional commentary), 'Outkast' Music Video:
'Land Of A Million Drums', DVD-ROM Links & Games
Director:
Raja Gosnell
Screenplay:
James Gunn
Cast:
Daphne: Sarah Michelle Gellar
Fred: Freddie Prinze Jr
Shaggy: Matthew Lillard
Velma: Linda Cardellini
Mondavarious: Rowan Atkinson
Mary Jane: Isla Fisher
Scooby Doo, voice: Neil Fanning
"Scooby Doo, where are you?"
On Region 1 DVD, of course! After hundreds
of cartoons adventures since the 70's, the world's most famous
ghost-busting mutt finally gets his chance to shine on the big-screen in
21st-Century CGI-guise. The results are cruelly mixed.
Adapting cartoons for the big-screen is never easy (just look at The
Flintstones) but thankfully Scooby Doo doesn't have to rely so
heavily on its environment to make an impact. No, there are just some
key ingredients to get right in order to have a successful Scooby Doo
movie: on-target casting, a good screenplay, excellent special-effects
and above-average directing. But Scooby Doo underperforms on all four
counts.
The casting of the movie ranges from the impressive (Matthew Lillard is
quite simply a revelation as Shaggy), to the shaky (a passable Linda
Cardellini is sadly cursed with overly-annoying vocals as Velma), down
to the incredulous (Sarah Michelle Gellar reprises her Buffy role with a
purple wardrobe as Daphne) and on to the pathetic (a monotone Freddie
Prinze Jr as an oafish Fred).
The screenplay is weak, but does manage to pack in some great
pop-culture references to the hidden "drugs underbelly" of Scooby Doo's
world: are Shaggy and Scooby smoking pot in the 'Mystery Machine',
Fred's insistence that Shaggy "talk him down" from an
out-of-body-experience, and many more. There is also the expected
re-enactment of the cartoon's signature cliches (the unmasking of fake
spooks, the "meddling kids" line, Velma losing her glasses, Daphne
getting kidnapped...)
Of course, the plot for the film is simple. The 'Scooby Gang', who split
up 2 years previously, reunite to solve a mystery at "Spooky Island" - a
theme park run by Mondavarious (an entertaining yet underutilized Rowan
Atkinson) where the teenaged holidaymakers return home as zombies after
their stay.
The film's running time is slight, so the pace is brisk and the story
rattles along with gusto. But the story fails to engage because the
mystery is just not that involving - with audiences constantly
distracted by some hideously bad special-effects that seem to lurk
around every corner.
Scooby Doo himself is now a curious mix of CGI pooch (a crossbreed of
cartoon and reality that ultimately detracts from believability). It's a
bad sign indeed when the quality of effects for the film's main
attraction is cruelly lacking throughout - resulting in a weakly
portrayed irritant that "sounds" sort of like Scooby... but just never
is the canine coward kids know and love from the cartoon adventures.
Still, the film is certainly lively and colourful - with its tongue
firmly rooted in its cheek throughout. The sets are absolutely fantastic
interpretations of the cartoon's style and colouring, but it's Matthew
Lillard who is the movie's saving grace, as he gives a spending
performance as stoner Shaggy; all gangly charm and wobbly-chinned
cowardice. His interactions with the CGI Scooby are really the only
times the computer creation begins to convince - as the rest of the cast
tend to ignore the Great Dane's antics!
Overall, Scooby Doo is a predictable disappointment but not a total
failure. There are moments of good-natured fun, the eye-candy should
please its target audience of small children, Lillard gives a
magnificent performance, and the cameo appearance by Scrappy Doo is
inspired, but... the magic's not quite there.
Scooby Doo is the kind of movie that just isn't bad enough to even get
angry about. Instead it will just frustrate you because some of the
ingredients were there to be taken advantage of - but director Raja
Gosnell, and particularly screenwriter James Gunn, just weren't the
chefs to make this particular Scooby Snack.
"Scooby Doo" Region 1 arrives in a clip-case from 'Warner Brothers',
which are the least favoured style of DVD case available. However, the
artwork on the case and DVD is funky and parallels the style of the
movie assuredly. Good.
The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen picture is fantastic, managing to
vividly bring Raja Gosnell's bright and luscious movie to life. The dark
scenes are also well handled by the transfer, but it's the gorgeous use
of primary colours and cartoon-style visuals that will keep you hooked.
Not a hint of grain, artefacts or smearing anywhere. Excellent!
The film is hardly going to set the world alight with its Dolby Digital
5.1 audio mix, but dialogue is sharp and the film's music score is well
represented. True surround sound effects that dazzle are very sparse,
and the ambience is often missing. Quite a disappointment.
Filmmaker's Commentary: Director Raja Gosnell does his best to provide
an entertaining commentary on the making of the film, but too often
lapses into "dead air." Producers Richard Suckle and Charles Roven
occasionally butt into the commentary to provide more enlightening
insights - but their input it rare.
Cast Commentary: Actors Lillard, Prinze Jr, Gellar and Cardellini
reunite for a commentary track, but seem far too interested in the movie
themselves. There's nothing worse than listening to actors watch a movie
they're in!
Spooky Island Arcade Game: A diverting multiple-choice quiz that
everyone should pass - taking the form of the arcade game Shaggy plays
with MJ in the film. Success results in a short featurette about Pamela
Anderson's cameo in the movie.
'Scooby Doo: Unmasking The Mystery': A surprisingly informative
featurette on the making of the film, packed full of behind-the-scenes
footage and interviews. The majority of the extra concerns the extensive
use of CGI, including many scenes of actors performing with people in
green masks, dwarfs dressed as dogs, or nothing at all! Very
entertaining.
Additional Scenes (with optional commentary): Raja Gosnell explains the
pro's and con's of scenes deleted from the finished film. Surprisingly,
most are very good - particularly various flashbacks Daphne's kung-fu
training, Velma dancing in a bikini and Velma singing on a piano "The
Fabulous Baker Boys"-style. But the infamous lesbian kiss between Velma
and Daphne has not been resurrected for the DVD's release!
'Outkast' Music Video: 'Land Of A Million Drums': Quite a good music
video from "Outkast", which is played seemingly ad nauseum throughout
the film!
'Featurettes: "Scary Places", "The Mystery Van", "Daphne Fight Scene"':
some very short but intriguing mini-featurettes, explaining the
choreography of Gellar's martial-arts sequences, the various binned
designs for the Mystery Machine and a look at the production's sets with
Bill Boes. Good stuff.
DVD-ROM Links: Various hyperlinks and mini-games for under-10's. Average
stuff.
Overall the DVD release of "Scooby Doo" is pretty good and should please
the juvenile crowd it's clearly aimed at. Of course, nothing here is
going to blow you away with its originality but everything remains
entertaining and worthy of viewing during the next rainy day stuck
indoors.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
