Rebecca H. (rhoekstra) from MOROCCO, IN Reviewed on 8/28/2009...
One of the best movies made from a cartoon series I've ever seen.
2 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Movie Reviews
Scooby Doo, totally fun!
Priscilla Stafford | Yokohama, Japan | 07/16/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"When Mystery Inc. again solves another mystery, the gang splits up for reasons of their own. Velma (Linda Cardellini) is tired of not getting any credit for her brain-work, Fred (a blonde Freddie Prinze Jr.) arrogantly thinks himself better working alone, and Daphne (Sara Michelle Gellar) has had it with her 'damsel-in-distress' part. Only Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) and Scooby Doo (voice by Neil Fanning) is left heart-broken. But a few years later, the whole gang is invited to Spooky Island to investigate the mysterious going-ons and the strange behavior of the students who visit there. Of course the Scooby Gang wants to solve the mystery without the help of the others but in the end, the discover that the only way they would ever solve the mystery is to work together. But it will not be easy as clue by clue, the gang discovers a sinister plot to rule the world!
*PLOT* "Scooby Doo" is certainly now one of my favorite movies of all time! The plot is all familiar with all people; a team breaks up only at the end to work together to save the world (or something like that). But that plot never seems to get old since "Scooby Doo" is incredibly fun to watch! The teen music is pretty cool to listen to, too!*ACTING* The acting is just stunning to watch! Since I've seen many of the Scooby Doo cartoons, it was so much fun to see all the actors and actresses playing the cartoon characters to perfection! Probably I was most impressed with Matthew Lillard as Shaggy, his voice was exactly the same as in the cartoon and even his actions and expressions were perfect! But of course all the characters were terrific, even the computer dog Scooby.*GRAPHICS AND ACTION* The computer graphics were stunning, from the spooky ghosts to the scary creatures, and we mustn't forget the lovable Scooby! Plenty of action at the end, too. My favorite action scenes are, 1) Daphne showing her new martial arts skills and 2) Fred's plahing around comes in handy as he handles a bunch of bad guys.*HUMOR* But of course the best thing about the movie is the incredibly funny humor! None of the jokes are hard to catch while there is some slapstick humor. But of course the movie is rated PG because of some humor.So, put it all together and we have a very entertaining movie! I just cannot wait for "Scooby Doo" to come out on DVD! And, if the rumors are correct, I'm looking forward to "Scooby Doo 2"!"
Don't Expect Too Much & You'll Enjoy It As Mindless Fluff
Gary F. Taylor | Biloxi, MS USA | 10/28/2002
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The key to enjoying SCOOBY DOO is not to expect too much. The producers have billed the film as half hommage, half parody; in truth, it isn't really close enough to the original cartoon to be called hommage and it really doesn't go far enough to be called parody, and as usual Hollywood makes the mistake of trying to cover up the script's inadequacies with big-budget production values and expensive but actually so-so special effects. All the same, the film does have its moments. The story finds Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy splitting up due to ego conflicts--and then being unexpectedly reunited when the owner of a teen resort called "Spooky Island" invites them in to find out why his guests arrive as normal teens and then depart as, well, ZOMBIES.The script is fairly mundane, but it does have a few zingers, as when Velma says "Let's get jinky with it!" And although the cast is a mixed bag, they work hard to bring it off. Freddie Prinze is wildly miscast as Fred and Sarah Michelle Gellar is not an ideal Daphne, but they play with tremendous energy; Matthew Lillard and Linda Cardellini, however, are so dead on target with their performances that they create an amazing sense of deja vu. As for Scooby Doo, he is (of course) a computerized animation. And so are most of the monsters the gang encounters on Spooky Island. Although it works reasonably well, it isn't anything to write home about.I would recommend that parents preview the film before unleashing it upon their kids; some younger children may be unnerved by the monsters. The DVD comes with a number of extras that include some cut scenes--and they offer an interesting contrast with the film, for they are very satirical. Seeing them left me with the feeling that the film would have been much more entertaining if those scenes had been left in and the whole thing had been done with the same bite. As it is--SCOOBY DOO is neither a great film nor a memorable film. But we're all occasionally in the mood for some mindless fluff, and it fills that niche very well indeed."
Fun and Funny movie
Priscilla Stafford | 06/17/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Before I saw the movie, I was skeptical of the cast selections of Freddie Prinze Jr and Sarah Michele Geller, but after seeing it, I think they did a great job. Linda Cardellini made Velma more than a brain and Matthew Lillard IS Shaggy. The entire cast did an incredible job of bringing to life some beloved cartoon characters.The movie itself was like a longer, live-action, episode of the classic cartoons. Some people would say that some of the action was predictable, but when have you watched the cartoon and not known when the gang was going to split up, or Shaggy and Scooby were going to run away from a ghost, etc? The cartoons followed a formula, and the movie doesn't change it.And it was funny. Though the kids and adults in the audience had different degrees of laughter at different jokes, they were all laughing.A lot of people have made a big to-do about the "in jokes" of Scooby Doo. When I was a kid watching the show, the only thing I understood that was never said was that Fred and Daphne were boyfriend/girlfriend. And that's all I got from the movie. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough, or I didn't want to see anything else. In any case, I'm glad the movie makers kept the spirit of the cartoons unchanged.The only negative thing I can say about this movie is that I was somewhat disappointed by the ending. I won't give it away, and I'm sure some fans of the show will cheer at it, but I thought it was a little out of spirit.When I was in elementary school, I knew a girl who had nightmares from the cartoon. I think the movie could have the same affect on littler kids. I would compare the scariness to the green minions in Anastasia (I thought those would be quite scary to a little kid, but I don't have kids so who knows what they think is scary these days).So, to sum up, go see it, take your kids (if they don't scare easily), and be ready to laugh."
Scooby-Blu
Austin Anderson | MPLS | 09/21/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"A fun adventure, every character was casted perfectly, you can see it when the gang is together, it feels like a group of friends. Now that it is in high def you can enjoy the small amount of special effects that Scooby-doo offers. Overall this is great family film for the growing high definition age."
Just saw the actual movie, not just a preview.
kcksmom | Rowlett, Texas United States | 06/18/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"We just got back from watching Scooby doo the movie with my 9 year old daughter. We loved it. Matthew Lilliard as Shaggy was simply fantastic. He was born to play that role. They could NOT have cast it better. Linda Cardellini as Velma was good too. She didn't say Jinkies as often as would have been liked, but there wasn't very many times when it was appropriate. Otherwise she was very good. I was glad to see Sarah Michelle Gellar, as Daphne, bring her role up to date. Daphne learned how to defend herself and still look good doing it. She was still Daphne though. Had luggage and a car that matched her outfit and everything. Freddie Prinze Jr, as Fred, could have been better. He didn't put himself into the role well enough at all. Other than wearing the clothes and having the hair, he just wasn't 'Fred'. But my nine year old didn't really seem to care. You don't see him as much as you see Shaggy and Scoody, they really carried the movie. So I don't count that against the movie as a whole. Scooby looked real enough. I mean, I could tell that he wasn't. But my nine year old didn't seem to. Scrappy Doo was in it too, which was a surprise. The movie also have a very surprising ending, that I won't give away. There was also some very awesome music. My daughter and I were dancing in our seats. We will definitely be buying the soundtrack to this one. There were lots of funny parts. My daughter was laughing out loud almost throughout the movie. The scary parts weren't too scary for her either. That was really a good thing, because my daughter is really easy to scare, she walked out of Cats and Dogs because it was too scary. But this movie scared just enough to get the point across and then stopped, or Scooby and shaggy would do something goofy and take some of the scare away. The movie even had some educational value on a personal level. The gang learned some things about each other and how to get along better with each other, and the importance of friendship. They learned that they really aren't that much different from each other, and they all just want to be liked and excepted, and Daphne and Velma learned that each wanted to be more like the other, Fred learned to think about others feelings. I think it's good for kids to see that they aren't the only ones who feel like they aren't understood, or that they aren't the only one who wishes they were like someone else. They might be surprised to see that someone wants to be like them. I will give a word of caution to parents of young children. There was one scene my husband felt was inappropriate, where Fred and Daphne trade bodies. Fred thinks it cool because, "Now I can look at 'myself' naked!" My nine year old understood he meant he could look at Daphne's body naked, but she didn't think anything of it, since he didn't mention touching anything. That was all that was said about it, and Daphne was not too happy about that. She hit him with her purse. But he didn't get the chance, cause they changed back almost immediately. Shaggy and Scooby had a burping and tooting contest that I'm sure some parents won't appreciate. But all the kids in the theater were laughing their heads off. It was done as good smelly fun. All in all it was a great movie. My daughter wants to go see it again, she gives it two thumbs up and 1000 stars. She already wants to buy it when it comes out on DVD too. Bottom line, if you like Scooby Doo cartoons even a little I think you will really like the movie. It was very funny, lighthearted fun. With awesome music. With some surprises, even adults won't guess who done it before the end of the movie."