Scooby-Doo Reviews

Oh god.... I hated this movie. The characters are way out of character from those in the show and Scooby Doo looks like Marmaduke. The effects are not that great, the story is all over the place, and all the jokes fall flat. The WORST part that I hated about this movie was making Scrappy Doo the villain. Sure, Scrappy Doo was arrogant and annoying in the show, but at least he wasn't diabolical. Also, the movie is very mean-spirited, as the gang just ditches Scrappy in the desert. They wouldn't do such an unkind thing! Nothing works in this movie! It just sucks.

It's an ok kids movie since I liked it when I first saw it as a child

Weak, and disappointing.

It's kind of funny, but not certainly good. Apart from some chuckles, there's nothing special in here..

I remember watching the Scooby-Doo cartoon shows all the time when I was kid, so watching this movie was a no brainer. The story at times was confusing, as the direction seemed to be messy with no true definite tone. Some of the jokes were pretty bad, which made the scary moments of the film not so scary. My favorite part of the film was the characters and how well they were written and acted, with the star in my opinion being Shaggy played by Matthew Lillard. The CGI used to bring Scooby onto the big screen was good for its time, and really captured the Scooby character we all know and love from the cartoons. In conclusion, the theme of "Friends don't quit" was touching and resulted in a passable adapted live action film.

Original movie in their adaptation of the cartoon. Great cast. The gang go to Spooky island to investigate strange goings on.

When I first heard about Scooby Doo being turned into a movie, I will confess to being rather reticent about seeing it. I am just old enough to remember the original Scooby Doo cartoons on rerun, and was at the high end of the right target age group when Scrappy Doo hit the scene, and of course remembered Scooby Doo with a certain love. Of course, the cartoon was actually pretty terrible; the writing was bad, the cliches came in at a rate of knots, and the animation was second rate... but that's what we all expected of Hanna-Barbara cartoons.

I digress: I had heard about SD the movie on the Internet quite early in production and let out a groan; my childhood was being raped again for a buck in Hollywood. Why? Why bother??? Then when I heard Scooby was going to be CGI I actually groaned again. Of course, there is no other way you could have pulled Scoob off on-screen without CGI, at least not realistically... but CGI... that's just so passe any more! I still enjoy the artistry in modern CGI, but to me it felt like SD was going to be done just to prove that it COULD be done with modern technology... not to tell a story.

So it came, I read a few online reviews that panned it and failed to be surprised. I caught the trailers and failed to be inspired. I steadfastly avoided the movie theatres and just didn't go see it.

Fast forward to July of 2003; SD is playing on Cinemax (I think) and I've got some time to kill. Aw, what the hell... could be good for background noise if nothing else...

So having sat through SD the Movie, what do I think? Well, as much as I wanted to hate it because it was Hollywood raping my childhood, I just couldn't. I'm not going to say I loved it because that wouldn't be true, but I'll be darned if I can't admit that it was a whole hell of a lot better than I expected. Let me fill you in;

The cast is incredible. They have a real on-screen chemistry that really makes the movie for me. Especially Matthew Lillard as Shaggy... if he hasn't just completely NAILED the character as perfectly as you could in live action, then I'm the queen of France. There's the romantic attraction between Daphne and Fred that comes out on-screen pretty much throughout, and of course the distant attraction Velma had for Fred is right there too. But do I detect a little bit of an attraction to Shaggy? Don't remember that in the cartoon... but I can accept that.

The story? Well, it's a hell of a lot better written than the cartoons! Yes, it borrows heavily from them (and borrows from some of the SD animated movies that have been made in the interim), but still it's an interesting story with a nice twist at the end that had me actually laughing out loud. Not Shakespeare by any stretch of the imagination... but a fun and engaging story that keeps your attention.

So what about the CGI Scoob? Wow is all I can say! I don't know what makes it more, the quality of the CGI or the way in which all the actors really made me believe they were sharing the screen with a 6'5" intelligent dog. The interactions were believable, and not once did I catch anyone making the mistake of looking in the wrong place on-screen (which is clearly evident in many instances where CGI characters are used). The personality is captured perfectly and translates Scooby from the two-color animation of my youth to a perfect rendition of how I envisaged him in my minds eye.

I'm sure many have heard about them already, but there are plenty of in-jokes that pepper the movie for those willing to pay attention. I won't say they're all laugh-out-loud funny, but they are amusing... and it was obvious pretty early on that the film-makers didn't like Scrappy Doo either (I know I didn't... I didn't even like him as a kid), but rather than pretend he never happened (*cough* Galactica 1980 *cough*) they actually bring him to life in this movie too... and actually he has one of the lines that made me laugh out loud (to those who have seen it, it's the line he never finishes saying...)

So did I love it as much as I loved Scooby as a kid? No. The movie was definitely not without flaws, and it did depart from the cartoons in some pretty major ways; for example one of the nice things about the cartoon (looking at it now from an adult's perspective) was that at the end of every episode it was reiterated however lightly that there are no such things as monsters, ghosts, ghouls etc. and that we as people are always responsible for these things. This is something I picked up on as a kid but didn't understand until I was an adult; and kids should be given that reassurance early in life that there are no monsters. The movie departed from that part of the formula... so personally I couldn't recommend the movie to younger (under about 8 or 9) children. However, even with these kids, recommend that a parent watch it with them... but of course there's plenty of adult-type humor in there too that will completely pass the kids by. To me that's the mark of a great kids movie these days; the ability to appeal to all ages.

Overall, I'd say a 7 out of 10.

Ahh too stupid!!!! They didn't get the characters right, The villian scrapy was the worse, it follows nothing from the cartoon, and uninspiering
D-

I own this in a two movie pack along with:* Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)

Scooby-Doo cannot decide whether it wants to be a satire or a respectful re-make, which leads to a sloppy mess. Your childhood will be crushed if you were part of my generation because; despite some chuckles and an Oscar worthy performance from Matthew Lillard; of the piss-poor graphics and the disturbing imagery.

Yes the jokes are corny and yes, this is not a perfect film but Scooby Doo is a enjoyable film to watch with families and Scooby Doo fans will not be disappointed. I know it's not perfect but I always have a good time watching Scooby Doo.

One of the very few good film adaptions of classic cartoon shows.

And the award for the worst assemble cast goes to...

A silly movie that never stops being fun.

While the focus is clearly on Shaggy and Scoooby than on other characters, Scooby-Doo is still a hilarious movie which will bring back many childhood memories.

ah , just what i wanted loads of crap and headaches.

The story is about The Mystery Inc. involving Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Daphne, Velma and Fred who are their usual stereotypical characters such as Scooby and Shaggy being the slacking scaredy-cats, Velma is the know-it-all, Daphne is the ginger eye-candy and Fred is the group leader. They split up after a fight and then one year later, they reunite at an airport as they were all given separate letters by an unknown man to investigate a mystery on a mysterious island. They all travel to the island together hoping that they will solve the mystery alone themselves and find out that it was Rowan Atkinson who brought them all there. It turns out that someone had cursed the island with a magic spell. But when the supernatural elements go out of hand, the group must get together to fight all paranormal creatures and defeat the mysterious villain behind the curse. BTW although I do like this movie, I do have a few issues, The CGI is blatantly bad, even from the main poster. It was made clear in every incarnation of this character that there were no supernatural elements at all except for the talking dogs which is not a scientific element. The characters aren't that well developed but were fun. There were a few scenes I pointed out that were not intended for children but I was OK with it and I let it go. Lastly, some scenes of the story didn't really make that much sense. Other than that, everything else is fine in this movie. Scooby-Doo gets a 7.2/10.

A Fun- Horror Comedy and a Good Live-Action

very cheesy movie and the plot is so stupid, just a puppy wanting to take over the island, but its a good movie

I love Scooby Doo! He is one of my favorite childhood cartoons to watch! As a kid, I was (and still am) a huge fan! This movie is... AWFUL! When I first heard this movie was coming, I was excited and curious! When I saw it, it HURT me..... The CGI is bad, the jokes are stupid and lame, the plot is phoned in and predictable, the villain is a total let down, and it's too mean-sprited! But give the movie SOME credit, Matthew Lillard is terrific as Shaggy! I mean, ideal casting! Aside from that, there is NOTHING that can save this movie! It's just bad! I'm actually embarrassed I saw it! After you watch this movie, it makes you think if your really a "Scooby Doo" fan! I love Scooby, but keep the cartoon and screw the live action version! Raja Gosnell, what the hell was he thinking?