Welcome to the World of Reboots that don't understand what people love about the original, episode 238.
Seriously though, this is not a bad movie per se. It is fine as a fast paced animated adventure to entertain kids for a while, but it is not more than that. Now, I don't say it has to be, but animated movies have endless possibilities and this one came with a lot of potential that unfortunately didn't unfold. Or, you know, lazy writing.
At best this is a Hanna Barbera crossover movie (because everything needs to be a cinematic universe now) and at worst this is a film with an identity crisis that pretends to be one thing (a Scooby Doo film) but actually wants to be another (a superhero adventure).
Why they didn't just make an origin story about Blue Falcon Jr. and Dynomutt (Mark Wahlberg and Ken Jeong were excellent in the roles) is beyond me, because that's obviously what they wanted to do here, but I assume Scooby Doo just beat them out by sheer popularity.
The first 15 minutes or so are actually great. It starts as an origin story about how young Shaggy and puppy Scooby meet and befriend the rest of Mystery Inc and honestly if the movie just had been about that it would have been fine. Or well, just be a Scooby Doo mystery, like at all.
Twenty minutes in and the plot completely lost me. What started as a Scooby Doo film with potential turned into a supernatural superhero movie with ancient prophecies, spaceships (airships? I don't even care), robots and Hanna Barbera characters randomly thrown in. Honestly, the whole story about Scooby and his destiny felt so random, you could've replaced any character from the franchise with an original one, tweak some things and make this just an original action adventure film and I guarantee you no one had complained about it. Sure, it would've been a tad unoriginal and bland but fine for what it is, but using Scooby Doo and it's characters cheapens the whole thing because it is so obvious that the tie-in is just used a quick cash grab, it's embarrassing on WB's side.
Fred, Velma and Daphne are only in this film because they are required to be, they add literally nothing to the story and could've been easily cut out. Which is a shame. What makes Scooby Doo great is these characters together, something that only briefly occurs in the beginning and the end of the film. Shaggy gets more to do, because the plot says so but his conflict with Scooby is set up in the first five minutes of the film and comes and goes as expected and even a six year old can guess it's development and outcome. Shaggy and Scooby are also not their most likable versions here (except when they're children, because they're so adorable).
The shame is, I really enjoy the brief moments with Fred, Daphne and Velma. Fred is a glorious himbo (I still credit Freddie Prinze Jr for that take on Fred), Daphne is smart and resourceful and Velma not only the one to figure things out but also very good with technology in this version. I would've enjoyed these characters in another scenario, especially since their dynamic was also a lot of fun.
As said before, the Blue Falcon Team was also fun to watch. What didn't work was those two tossed together in a movie that has nothing to do with it's actually source material. If I want to watch a superhero movie, I watch a superhero movie. If I watch a Scooby Doo movie, I want a mystery and whacky shenanigans.
What's also a downside is a clearly wasted great voice cast. Zac Efron, Amanda Seyfried and Gina Rodriguez were great as more modern versions of Fred, Daphne and Velma. Mark Wahlberg, Jason Isaacs and especially Ken Jeong stole every scene they were in. I just wish they had gotten a better movie around those performances. What sticks out like a sore thumb however is Will Forte as Shaggy. I'm sorry, but why not let Matthew Lillard voice him like he has been for the last couple of years?
The humor is a lot hit or miss. Some of the pop culture references work really well and the physical comedy also has its moments. Some jokes however feel forced and are already pretty dated. I also can't wrap my mind around everything regarding Simon Cowell in this film. Like why?
The animation is decent enough, but sometimes very stale and feels unpolished. I don't know if this is another case of animators didn't get enough time to do it properly or it Warner Bros just didn't care, because style-wise it feels a lot like trying to ride the Illumination kool-aid but without the love for details and actual care.
This movie was a very frustrating experience. I can tell there could've been a good (maybe even great) Scooby Doo buried deep deep inside the finish product, but it just tries too hard to follow current trends and jump on the superhero movie wave to be stand on its own. Too bad, really. Unfortunately this makes it just one of many instead of its own unique individual film.
Review by TinkaBlockedParent2023-03-12T22:07:15Z
Welcome to the World of Reboots that don't understand what people love about the original, episode 238.
Seriously though, this is not a bad movie per se. It is fine as a fast paced animated adventure to entertain kids for a while, but it is not more than that. Now, I don't say it has to be, but animated movies have endless possibilities and this one came with a lot of potential that unfortunately didn't unfold. Or, you know, lazy writing.
At best this is a Hanna Barbera crossover movie (because everything needs to be a cinematic universe now) and at worst this is a film with an identity crisis that pretends to be one thing (a Scooby Doo film) but actually wants to be another (a superhero adventure).
Why they didn't just make an origin story about Blue Falcon Jr. and Dynomutt (Mark Wahlberg and Ken Jeong were excellent in the roles) is beyond me, because that's obviously what they wanted to do here, but I assume Scooby Doo just beat them out by sheer popularity.
The first 15 minutes or so are actually great. It starts as an origin story about how young Shaggy and puppy Scooby meet and befriend the rest of Mystery Inc and honestly if the movie just had been about that it would have been fine. Or well, just be a Scooby Doo mystery, like at all.
Twenty minutes in and the plot completely lost me. What started as a Scooby Doo film with potential turned into a supernatural superhero movie with ancient prophecies, spaceships (airships? I don't even care), robots and Hanna Barbera characters randomly thrown in. Honestly, the whole story about Scooby and his destiny felt so random, you could've replaced any character from the franchise with an original one, tweak some things and make this just an original action adventure film and I guarantee you no one had complained about it. Sure, it would've been a tad unoriginal and bland but fine for what it is, but using Scooby Doo and it's characters cheapens the whole thing because it is so obvious that the tie-in is just used a quick cash grab, it's embarrassing on WB's side.
Fred, Velma and Daphne are only in this film because they are required to be, they add literally nothing to the story and could've been easily cut out. Which is a shame. What makes Scooby Doo great is these characters together, something that only briefly occurs in the beginning and the end of the film. Shaggy gets more to do, because the plot says so but his conflict with Scooby is set up in the first five minutes of the film and comes and goes as expected and even a six year old can guess it's development and outcome. Shaggy and Scooby are also not their most likable versions here (except when they're children, because they're so adorable).
The shame is, I really enjoy the brief moments with Fred, Daphne and Velma. Fred is a glorious himbo (I still credit Freddie Prinze Jr for that take on Fred), Daphne is smart and resourceful and Velma not only the one to figure things out but also very good with technology in this version. I would've enjoyed these characters in another scenario, especially since their dynamic was also a lot of fun.
As said before, the Blue Falcon Team was also fun to watch. What didn't work was those two tossed together in a movie that has nothing to do with it's actually source material. If I want to watch a superhero movie, I watch a superhero movie. If I watch a Scooby Doo movie, I want a mystery and whacky shenanigans.
What's also a downside is a clearly wasted great voice cast. Zac Efron, Amanda Seyfried and Gina Rodriguez were great as more modern versions of Fred, Daphne and Velma. Mark Wahlberg, Jason Isaacs and especially Ken Jeong stole every scene they were in. I just wish they had gotten a better movie around those performances. What sticks out like a sore thumb however is Will Forte as Shaggy. I'm sorry, but why not let Matthew Lillard voice him like he has been for the last couple of years?
The humor is a lot hit or miss. Some of the pop culture references work really well and the physical comedy also has its moments. Some jokes however feel forced and are already pretty dated. I also can't wrap my mind around everything regarding Simon Cowell in this film. Like why?
The animation is decent enough, but sometimes very stale and feels unpolished. I don't know if this is another case of animators didn't get enough time to do it properly or it Warner Bros just didn't care, because style-wise it feels a lot like trying to ride the Illumination kool-aid but without the love for details and actual care.
This movie was a very frustrating experience. I can tell there could've been a good (maybe even great) Scooby Doo buried deep deep inside the finish product, but it just tries too hard to follow current trends and jump on the superhero movie wave to be stand on its own. Too bad, really. Unfortunately this makes it just one of many instead of its own unique individual film.