Scooby-Doo Review

by John Sylva (DeWyNGaLe AT aol DOT com)
July 26th, 2002

SCOOBY-DOO (2002)
Reviewed by John Sylva

Bite dogs do, so why can't a movie about perhaps the most popular cartoon canine, too? Sure, Raja Gosnell's Scooby-Doo may bite, in the way teenagers tend to use the word, but bite--so essential for a big screen adaptation of a hit television show--this film does not. In theory, declaring Scooby-Doo a flop wouldn't be too difficult, yet Freddie Prinze, Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Linda Cardellini, and especially Matthew Lillard get the Mystery Machine foursome so right that you wish Warner Bros. had chosen a director more skilled than Gosnell to helm the project. Fortunately, the loss for audiences isn't too great, as Hollywood has already flooded multiplexes with a plethora of healthy family fare this summer. However, the actors involved could find themselves in career chaos if the already planned sequel doesn't hit the bull's-eye--or at least come closer than its predecessor.

Though set on Spooky Island, Scooby-Doo takes advantage of neither the "spook" or the "island" aspect of its backdrop. Gosnell opts rather to create a locale home to heavy drinking, delinquent teenagers who are being brainwashed by some mysterious force--MTV, perhaps? Probably that too, but the real mastermind behind the strange behavior must be seen to be believed, and not because it employs a clever twist, but because a potentially witty plot point surfaces that Gosnell has managed to completely botch with the entrance of poorly digitized purple monsters who look like they're looking for the audition room for Barry Sonnenfeld's Men in Black II. Although no one ever gave the Scooby-Doo cartoon substantial credit for the mysteries involved, judging by Gosnell's uninspired climax, you'd think anyone who found excitement in the trademark unmasking of the episode's evildoer to be criminally insane. Being someone who once fell into this category, I can assure you, simple, innocent fun is the issue, not insanity.

James Gunn's screenplay, while not without shortcomings, at least has the right idea: The film begins with our protagonists in the midst of a classic mystery as the brainy Velma (Cardellini) hatches a plan to defeat the evil Luna Ghost, the arrogant Fred (Prinze) takes credit for the group's success, the bubbly Daphne (Gellar) is abducted, and the cowardly Shaggy (Lillard) and CGI-animated Scooby (voiced by Scott Innes) try to avoid the ongoing mayhem, all in classic Scooby-Doo style. Even here though Gunn's script is hampered by Gosnell, whose lack of experience with action sequences is sorely noticeable; the film is consistently unattractive to look at and listen to, never finding the grace mandatory for the action and comedy genres to gel.
Prinze and Gellar have publicly stated Gosnell's Scooby-Doo isn't the film they signed on to do; and Warner Bros. has confirmed a good chunk of Gosnell's picture is laying on the editing room floor. The reason? It turns out Gunn really did have the right idea, as his original screenplay poked fun at several aspects of the cartoon, including a possible romance between Fred and Daphne, thereby making the film too "mature" for younger audiences. Oh, right--because an MTV spring break island is just so wholesome an environment for the little ones to relish in. Give me a break: Or better yet, give me bite.

GRADE: C-

    Film reviewed July 25th, 2002.

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