Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation and welcome to Scooby-Doo Month! Yes, after dropping the ball on it after the inaugural one in 2015, the month long coverage of Scooby media returns and what better way to bring this back than spending this month looking back at the Great Dane's forays into live action. Scooby-Doo Month begins with the 2002 film!
After solving another run of the mill mystery, Fred, Velma, and Daphne quit Mystery Inc. Fred cause he's kind of an egomaniac, Velma who's tired of not receiving credit for her plans, and Daphne who's sick of being a damsel in distress. Two years later, the gang is reunited to investigate a mystery in Spooky Island, a popular horror resort where college students are currently vacationing/ hanging out in and also being brainwashed.
Upon researching the film for the purpose of this review, I discovered just how much of a beast it was. This Scooby-Doo movie was one that had been in development since the mid 90's with a lot of interesting names attached to it: Jim Carrey was originally going to play Shaggy, Mike Myers had voiced interest in playing the character, and Kevin Smith voiced interest in wanting to direct it; and on top of that, the movie was going to be PG-13 with a darker tone that poked fun at the original Scooby series, but instead went with a PG rating out of a desire to have the film be more family friendly.
It's that last point that really sticks out to me and really clarifies things when it comes to this movie overall. Because thinking back on it, it feels as though the movie is confused as to whether it's this fun adventure for the whole family or this thing for an older audience with jokes that they'd only get; and while you can have a movie or a show do what this film tries to do and work, this is a film that has a burp/fart off while also having pot jokes in it and jokes about Fred being turned on by nerdy girls. It just feels uneven
And speaking of uneven, let's talk about the plot thread of Daphne, Fred, and Velma disbanding the gang and them being at odds with one another and why it doesn't personally work for me. Perhaps it's just me, but what I got from the beginning of this film is that the gang here is the same gang from the original cartoon and all their previous mysteries happened (a fact that's strengthened by the sequel). The problem with that is that Fred and Daphne's personalities in this movie don't really match up with their personality in the show. Some may argue that that's the point, that years of doing this and becoming more famous would change these characters, but for me, to have Scooby-Doo's first big screen movie be one where half the gang don't like each other in the beginning portions of it is kind of lame.
And they aren't only ones who get the short end of the stick here as Shaggy and Scooby are hit with a dumb subplot of their own in the form of a love interest for Shaggy named Mary-Jane (Cause Weed LOL). Their plotline involves Scooby thinking Shaggy's placed more trust in Mary than him and she's ruining their friendship, something that the villain uses to convince Scooby to go along with his wishes, even though there really isn't anything that points to Shaggy liking Mary more than Scooby. Throughout the film up to that point, those two have been doing their usual thing.
And speaking of the villain, the twist of who he really is makes absolutely no sense and comes out of nowhere. Granted there's one flashback scene with him in it, but there's nothing that really hints that he''s the one pulling all the strings.
With all this pooing I've done on the movie up to this point, one would think there wasn't anything I liked about it, but that is untrue. The number one thing that this movie has going for it that will forever cement its importance to the franchise is Matthew Lillard as Shaggy. Fans make claims like "Hugh Jackman is Wolverine" or "Kevin Conroy is Batman". May the man you see in the picture above this paragraph be put in the same category as those two because there's no doubt with the way he moves and talks, Mr. Lillard became Shaggy for this movie. He was so good that to this day he's still voicing the character in cartoons. His banter with Scooby-Doo is some of the best stuff in the movie and truest to the old cartoon.
You guys remember when I was ragging on Freddie Prince Jr's interpretation of Fred? Well, time for me to completely contradict myself because I do think Fred is really fun in the film. Maybe it's because out of the Mystery Inc. Crew, at least in the original cartoon, he and Daphne had the least amount of personality to me, so making Fred a self absorbed jerk actually makes him more entertaining to me, and it does help that Prince Jr. (Who I'm still convinced to this day was cast because his name was Freddie) really does a solid job with the material he's given and gets a good few laughs out of me.
I gushed over Matthew Lillard as Shaggy but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Linda Cardellini as Velma. Her look in the film is damn near perfect and there's a lot of charm in her performance. While she does come back to the franchise to voice a character in Mystery Incorporated, it's a pity that she didn't stay around as a permanent voice for Velma. Unfortunately, I don't really have much to say for Daphne in this film, there was nothing wrong with Sarah Gellar's performance, it's just that of the crew in the film, she didn't leave much of an impression.
And I can't talk about the gang without mentioning the Great Dane himself who in this film actually looks like a Great Dane. Don't know how others feel about the design, but I didn't mind him having a more "realistic" look so that he better fits next to real life people. Unfortunately, what doesn't help him, or a lot of the creatures in this movie, is the CG. It's the most noticeable in scenes when he's interacting with Shaggy and other characters. It just doesn't mesh that well with the live action settings. As for his voice? Neil Fanning does a fine job. I have no real complaints.
I feel as though I'd be lying if I said that Scooby-Doo 2002 is a good movie but damn it, this is a film I have a real soft spot for. The cast is giving it their all in this and it looks like they're having fun with their roles; and there's this weird and sometimes infectious energy and charm to the film that makes it a joy to watch. Would I recommend it? I mean if you're a fan of Scooby-Doo, it wouldn't hurt, it's on Netflix and I could think of worst ways to spend a hour and a half.
That's all I have to say on this film folks, Scooby-Doo Month is just getting started! Tune in next time as we cover Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed...or will we? Til then Folks, I'm the Shaman of Animation.
Take Care...
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