The critics are being pretty harsh on Scooby Doo. I mean, yeah, as movies go, it aint Citizen Kane, but sheesh, it’s based on a cheesy cartoon which had the same exact plot in every episode. Why is everybody attacking the movie? What did they expect?
Personally, I found the story pretty lame, and the climax really, really lame, but forget all that. Look at this movie from the perspective of animated characters being fleshed out by pretty good actors. The cast is quite good actually.
Linda Cardellini does a great job as Vilma, the bookish member of Mystery Inc. She was in TV’s Freaks & Geeks, and had a small part in Legally Blonde. She’s actually rather attractive, but you only get a small glimpse because Vilma’s supposed to look dorky.
Sarah Michelle Gellar was no surprise. I knew she could act, and she looks pretty good as Daphne, the sexy member of Mystery Inc. Though she was kinda kick ass, she was in no way a rip off of her Buffy character.
Her real life fiancée, Freddie Prinze Jr. was OK as Fred, the ascot wearing member of the crew that always seems to be the leader. Maybe I just didn’t buy him as a blonde. I don’t know, but sorry, I feel he was the “weakest link”.
The stand out was of course Matthew Lillard as Shaggy. He was perfect as the, um, perpetually hungry member of the group. I liked the way he was only thinly veiled as a stoner, because let’s face it, he must be a stoner, right? I mean, he’s basically a hippie who’s always hungry…and his best friend is a talking dog. Copious amounts of cannabis must be involved in his life! It’s too bad that he had to do so much of his acting with a CGI character, because people will probably detract from his performance undeservedly. He really did a great job of bringing Shaggy to life.
I think Scooby Doo had some good moments. It’s not a good movie, and I would blame the writers for that, as opposed to the director, Raja Gosnell. But the target audience for this movie will enjoy it. I saw it in a very full theater, and the kids went crazy.
A sequel is inevitable…I just hope they keep the good things and work on the weaknesses.