Scooby Doo (2002)

2 out of 4

Stars: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr, Linda Cardellini, Matthew Lillard, Rowan Atkinson, Isla Fisher

Director: Raja Gosnell

Time: 85 mins

The keyword for Hollywood these days is "franchise". With average movie budgets skyrocketing, it's become increasingly important for studios to have a film that can also make money through merchandising and at least a sequel or two. With original concepts being hard to come by, most have mined already established stories and characters to parlay into new moneymaking ventures. Witness the Batman series, the Harry Potter books, and The Lord Of The Rings, as examples. The latest potential franchise is Scooby Doo, the live action adaptation of Hanna Barbera's famous great dane and his quartet of mystery-solving teenagers.

The cartoon series of Scooby Doo is, on the whole, fairly silly and predictable, with many lines repeated each episode ("...if it wasn't for you meddling kids!"), and the culprit always being the least suspicious character. But it was also great fun and oddly compelling to watch. It's gathered a cult following over the years, not only among kids, who are amused by the antics of Scooby, Shaggy and the rest of the gang, but also by adults, who delight in seeing the references to drug use and the like.

The film begins in the middle of one of those ghost hunts our gang is famous for. There is Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr), the debonair blonde leader who loves wearing ascots; Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the pretty redhead; Velma (Linda Cardellini), the brains of the group; Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), the stubble-chinned stoner; and, of course, Scooby Doo, the great dane who can talk. After successfully exposing a ghost who flies, the gang have a falling out due to some petty jealousies, like Velma's disgust at Fred always taking the acclaim.

Fast forward two years. Scooby and Shaggy, slumming on a beach, receive an invitation to Spooky Island, a Disney-like amusement park, where they are promised all they can eat. At the airport, they run into Fred, Daphne and Velma, who have also been invited. It appears the island's owner, Mondavarius (Rowan Atkinson), wants our mystery solvers to find out why the kids who visit his island with typical teenaged enthusiasm end up leaving like zombies. As they investigate, the gang find themselves dealing with gruesome monsters, a powerful artifact, and a soul-draining experience. Will they find out the person causing the trouble? Does Scooby like Scooby snacks?

Scooby Doo the movie is a noisy, fast-paced ride, filled with in-jokes, surprise cameos, big explosions of colour, and a lot of bad jokes. The story, however, is so silly that I felt felt myself becoming bored halfway through. Certain parts will generate a laugh or two, kids will love it, and fans will probably find something to like. But whether they will consider it a good film is something else altogether. Thankfully the whole movie runs a little less than ninety minutes. The last twenty minutes do pick up again, but any longer and I would have been looking at my watch.

It's always interesting to see how the filmmakers will cast the actors for such a well-known franchise. While Freddie Prinze Jr, Sarah Michelle Gellar (TV's Buffy), and Linda Cardellini all bear some superficial resemblance to their animated counterparts, it is Matthew Lillard (from the original Scream) who comes out the best, nailing Shaggy's mannerisms and, especially, his voice. Needless to say the acting here won't win any Academy Awards, but the rest of the gang do their jobs adequately.

Judging by the crowds and the sizable number of children at the Friday night showing I attended, it looks like Scooby Doo will be a big hit, thereby guaranteeing the inevitable sequel. I hope they write a better script for it, though it will be difficult, given how silly this first one is. See it if you like the animated series, but be warned: you might leave with a bad aftertaste.

(c) Joe Wong (16 June 2002)