Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed Review

by Jonathan Moya (jmoya AT cfl DOT rr DOT com)
April 14th, 2004

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

A Movie Review by Jonathan Moya

*** (out of 5)

Fred: Freddie Prinze Jr.
Daphne: Sarah Michelle Gellar
Shaggy: Matthew Lillard
Velma: Linda Cardellini
Patrick: Seth Green
Old Man Wickles: Peter Boyle
Heather: Alicia Silverstone

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film directed by Raja Gosnell. Written by James Gunn. Running time: 93 minutes. Rated PG (for some scary action, rude humor and language).

Using the crime solving techniques learned from watching countless episodes of the Saturday morning cartoon series, the mystery villain of Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed is easy enough to figure out. It is ___. (The answer is written backwards in invisible ink and can only be read while looking in a mirror, standing on your head with one eye closed and singing the Scooby theme.)

This is the greatest hits version of the dog's adventures, meaning it recycles plots and familiar characters in such a way that it frees one's mind to wander and meditate on essential questions that haunt the Scooby world. Like, who is hotter-- Velma or Daphne? Who really owns Scooby? And were the old adventures really this lame and creaky?

The answer to number one, at least for this movie, is Velma. To see her in a red leather jumpsuit ready to party hardy is enough to make any lowly museum nerd fog his glasses and spill his specimens on the floor.

The last two questions can't be answered for boomer and gen-x kids without invalidating their childhood. Growing up Scooby was a rite of passage, a bridge that eased one into facing the scary monster of being an adult- as well as an echo of what one was already feeling as a young teen. As such it was perfect and scooberific in and of itself.

This Doo is straight Doo all the way. Gone are the drug, lesbian and other outre content of the first Doo. It is a romp Scooby style-- safe and harmless as those day-glow flowers at the bottom of the tub that keep you from falling on your ass.

The Mystery Incorporated gang must save Coolsville again from another masked villain wrecking havoc with a machine that recreates classic Mystery monsters (The Pterodactyl Ghost, The Black Knight Ghost, Captain Cutler's Ghost and The 10,000 Volt Ghost) while beating off the inquiries of an intrepid female reporter (Alicia Silverstone) more intent on creating dirt than finding the truth.

Of course, all mysteries exist for Scooby and Shaggy to screw them up and somehow solve them in the process. That is what Scooby-Doo was really all about: the stumbling to discovery that the monsters under the bed, in the closet, and in our heads weren't really monsters after all. Scooby-Doo in its purest essence was really psychotherapy for two generations of kids.
In a break with the show, some monsters here are actually real, but prove ultimately harmless. Doo 2 and the current Dawn of the Dead both share the same screenwriter, James Gunn. The supernatural echoes are more of a hiccup of a writer balancing two screenplays written at the same time, not Doo finding real demons and maybe God. The mischief created is equal to a garden gnome coming to life and whacking you on the knee. It's a sting you won't remember in a few minutes.

Matthew Lillard continues to refine the perfect Shaggy, a role he was born to play. Only a great talent can act this convincingly with air. Most of the mild laughs of Doo 2 come from the believable interplay between him and his good CGI buddy. Hopefully, Lillard will get his fair share of screamingly better parts.

Outside of Linda Cardellini as Velma, who manages to find that character's perfect stride, the other two major players, Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne and Freddie Prinze Jr as Fred, seem to be phoning it in. They are another in the long list of actually married couples that can't seem to generate any on-screen chemistry.

Raja Gosnell, returns to direct, keeping everything mildly amusing and competently on track.

There are still a few moments where the parents might want to go out and buy some Scooby snacks, but overall there are more smiles than groans. Scooby Doo 2 might be a bit too housebroken for its own good, but at least it is less messy than the first puppy installment that earned more than $150 million domestically. After all, it really just wants to be a good dog that kids can pet.

Copyright 2004 Jonathan Moya

http://www.jonathanmoya.com

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