Customer Reviews

Scooby-Doo

5 star:		(72)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(28)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(57)

 

 

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.

Entertaining. A good film for children like me. The best scooby-doo movie that I've ever seen. A funny movie and a cool one.

I thought that this was supposed to be like the cartoons but when I saw it, it was not as good as I thought it would be. For one thing, Freddie Prinze, Jr. is not Fred. The movie was not that scary and had little humor. While you can sense the friendship between Shaggy and Scooby Doo, their scenes got a little bit weird. As the movie got on, the mystery started to get confusing. All in all, this was not a very enjoyable film.

IT'S THE SPIT IN YOUR FACE MOVIE TO EVERY SCOOBY-DOO FAN ON THIS EARTH

Having come to the end of their ability to work together, the Mystery, Inc. gang went their own, separate ways. But, being called out of retirement by the owner of Spooky Island (played by Rowan Atkinson!), the gang unwillingly gets together one last time. But, there's more going on at Spooky Island than a man in a rubber mask, there's evil afoot, and the Mystery, Inc. gang is the target! Scooby Doo, where are you?

I don't know what to say, this is a movie that generates a lot of mixed feelings. Heck, I refused to see it in the theatre, as I KNEW that it would be incredibly stupid. Well, guess what? I watched it with my Cub Scout troop, and loved it!

Yes, this movie is part spoof of the old show and part remake, but is very well done. Freddie Prinze Jr. is surprisingly good as a narcissistic Fred Jones, but Matthew Lillard absolutely steals the show with a wonderful take on our favorite hippy/beatnik Shaggy. And, while the computer generated Scooby Doo isn't a work of art, it fits the roll of Scooby well, and makes for some great Scooby-and-Shaggy scenes.

I watched this movie with a group of boys, who all loved the show, as did I. There's a good deal of cleavage presented, and a gas-passing contest (which the boys loved), but nothing that would keep this out of your front room. Overall, I found this to be a funny (if rather goofy) movie, one that I recommend to your whole family!

There is no word in any language that can accurately describe how bad "Scooby Doo" is. Well, maybe "garmonbozia", which means pain and suffering, because that almost sums it up. But pain and suffering on a much greater scale than any other movie I have had the misfortune to see. It makes "Batman and Robin" look like "Seven Samurai", it makes "The Flintstones" look like a documentary. This movie is nowhere true to the old cartoon and is closest to the "13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo" which would be a horrible thing to base a movie on. The whole point of the orginal cartoon was that there are no such things as ghosts (or the supernatural) and the Scooby Gang always debunked whatever they encountered. That theory is spit on and then thrown out the door in this movie. Who is this movie aimed at? Its "humor" is so infantile that only 3 year olds who haven't outgrown fart jokes will laugh, but yet there are poorly veiled drug references and gratuitous cheesecake material with Daphne and Velma. Which leads us to extreme miscasting on the part of Fred and Daphne. Lillard and Cardellini did very accurate voices and mannerisms of Shaggy and Velma, but I wonder if Freddie Prinze Jr. and SMG have ever even seen Scooby-Doo. Oh wait, they just have the combined acting talent of an old boot and were only cast because they're hizzot.

Do not subject yourselves or anyone else to this piece of dreck. Parents, if you need something to babysit your kids with, get something good like Mary Poppins or Spy Kids. At least the movie did have one positive element: Scooby Doo himself made Jar Jar Binks look realistic and bearable by comparison.

Worst...movie...ever.

Boy, this movie was pure junk, imagine the brady bunch meets Hong Kong Fooey and this is what you get. The script was probably written by an exec who was only thinking about money and not realizing that in order to make entertainment work, it has to "entertain". The list goes on about how to make a better movie but it will never happen since people are gobbling up this poo by the truckloads. And I should mention that Scooby is one of the stupidest creations ever made from a computer, he makes Jar Jar from Star Wars look like a dirty sock hand puppet.

"Scooby-Doo" is okay. It's not that great of a film and it's not that bad. As much as I despise him, I have to say that Matthew Lillard does an excellent job as Shaggy. He's the best character in this flick. Linda Cardellini is good as Velma, but she has a couple of lines(ex. "Let's get jinky with it") that are just atrocious. Freddie Prinze, Jr. wasn't necessarily miscast as Fred, but the character was portrayed in a way that doesn't really reflect the character from the original show. Sarah Michelle Gellar was annoying as Daphne. Nevermind the fact that she pulled out the old kung-fu ala "Buffy," she's just not convincing enough in this role. The CGI Scooby was just that, a CGI Scooby. He looks fake, but dogs can't talk either, so I'm okay with that. His character is actually pretty good.

The best part of this film is the opening scene with the Luna ghost. It looked as if it were straight out of the old series. Everything heads south from there. The characters, excepting Shaggy and Scooby, are weightless. The nasties are just plain silly and the jokes resort to sophomoric humor. I'm sure every thirteen year-old boy in the crowd got a laugh from the farting contest between Shaggy and Scooby. A few cuss words were thrown around, and Daphne puts a whipping on a wrestler-type baddie.

Overall, this film works well with kids between the ages of eleven and sixteen. Younger kids MIGHT get scared by the bad guys, and the language can get a little rough for the really young'uns. For us older folks who grew up with the series, it's nice to see Scooby and the gang in a live-action format. However, I feel that this movie tries too hard to make itself appeal to all age groups. I also think that the director should have decided on whether he was making a nostalgic flick, a spoof, or an updated version using potty humor.

It's watchable and somewhat funny, but you might want to rent this one before laying any money down for it.

To be honest, I was never the biggest fan of Scooby Doo. I used to watch it as a kid - and liked Daphne's whole look to be honest! (I like purple) But then they brought Scrappy Doo into the whole equasion, and almost booted Scooby out. Scooby or Scrappy? Scooby every time, there's really no contest.

Then this comes out. Some people are never really sure of original cartoon character being put into a computer, and coming out nothing like how they were - for instance, the Garfield movie that is coming out this summer. He TALKS. But I'll still want to see it.

There wasn't that much action in this, so that was quite disappointing. The humour was quite good, especially from the fabulous Matthew Lilliard as Shaggy. How good a choice was he for Shaggy?! Pure genius. The rest of the cast were great for Daphne, Fred & a relatively unknown Linda Cardellini for Velma - who looks totally different!

Maybe I wasn't getting some of this movie, but when all their inner spirits came out and swapped bodies etc, was it just me, or did Velma totally change?! Or was that supposed to be part of the story? Cos suddenly, she was still wearing that orange top, but it changed from a poloneck, into a V-neck, very low cut, and she had a pair to rival Daphne's! And then it changes back. Zoinks indeed!

And Sarah Michelle Gellar is just a tad too old to be playing Daphne. If you look closely in a couple of scenes, she is wearing way too much concealer under her eyes, to cover up any possible bags, which seems almost too light for the rest of her skin, and makes her look really gaunt in the process.

This is a good movie if you're a fan of Scooby Doo. The DVD has lots of extras, if you could work out how to get into them, without getting distracted by Scooby Doo messing about, and if you can get past the fact that Scooby's mouth doesn't match what he's saying (which some reviewers obviously can't), then you can sit back, relax, and enjoy. And maybe get drunk to understand it more.

I don't understand why all the critics were so hard on this movie. I thought it was one of the best movies I saw all year. The movie is cartoonishly fun and doesn't take itself seriously unlike Spider-man.(Which was also excellent.)The movie was made to be a nostalgic good time. As a long time fan of the cartoon, I loved how they were able to recreate the cartoon characters without trying to change them. Oh sure, there's a bit of potty humor in it, but geez, this is the age we live in. Frankly, it wasn't nearly as bad as some other movies employing the same technique. It was quite mild. The cast was incredible. Sarah Michelle Gellar can play virtually any role she wants and make believable. She's great as Daphne. I couldn't believe how dead on Matthew Lilliard was as Shaggy, he even got the voice right! As for the all the people who dissed this movie for whatever reason, why don't you enjoy something for what it is, a light-hearted adventure.