Looking at all that concept art, we were robbed of a much cooler movie.
OTOH, I felt the movie could’ve benefited by focusing less on trying to start a cinematic universe. And just have Dick Dastardly and Muttley be the only other crossover characters in this.
At one point, Sheriff Stone from Mystery Incorporated would've been in the movie.
June 14:
In the comment section of this Instagram post, Tony Cervone mentioned how it wasn't his decision to have most of the gang recast with celebrities. He mentions regret over not telling Matthew Lillard and how he had to find out through the initial articles.
Warner Bros. feature animated film Scoob! which opted to have a PVOD and digital ownership release instead of theatrical given exhibition’s shutdown during COVID-19, will stream on HBO Max on June 26, it was just announced. The pic was first scheduled for theaters on May 15 before segueing for a...
I am a little bit surprised how negative my review will wind up being. Why? Because it's Scooby Doo. My expectations were already super low. If you beat "It's probably gonna suck" it really sucks.
Before we get to the movie's biggest failing I think it's probably wise to address the elephant in the room: The recasting of the main characters from the cartoons shows. Honestly, I think it was a much worse idea than it could have been.
Matthew Lillard was essentially a minor celebrity when the live-action Scooby Doo hit. Not a major one, but he was known for Scream. And yet he SOUNDED like Shaggy. So much so they gave him the job in the cartoons after Casey Kasem retired. I had assumed the celebrities in the cast would at least TRY to sound like their cartoon counterparts. I think Tracy Morgan was an inspired choice for Captain Caveman. But it's okay because that character has been out of the public consciousness for so long that a new interpretation is fine and welcome. Same goes for Dynomutt. But while there are actually current Scooby Doo cartoons on the air, all of the characters sound WRONG. If the celebrities had even TRIED to mimic the voices I would not have had that big a problem with it. But I have a hard time believing how unlike Shaggy Will Forte is. Forte was not the best impressionist on SNL (his George W Bush was all kinds of cringe) but I've heard him play his voice higher, and I know he could have probably sounded more like Shaggy if he had been directed to. It's all wrong instead.
Ironically, before the voices became an issue, the one truly enjoyable part of the movie was the beginning when they were all kids. I love the idea that Scooby was named after the snacks (which makes a heck of a lot more sense than the snacks being named after Scooby), and my queen Velma dresses up like Notorious RBG at Halloween because she is a warrior goddess. That stuff was great.
But when they're adults the movie goes downhill and totally off the rails. The movie's slightly salty language and dialogue don't help matters, and completely took me out of things. I think the movie thought it was being clever when the ticket counter girl said Shaggy sounded like what a middle aged man's idea of a teenage hippie was supposed to sound like. Don't say that out loud! Don't draw attention to that! What is wrong with you? The movie beat me down piece by piece, and by the end I was pretty much disgusted.
Here is my main problem, and the reason the movie gets a negative grade: Scooby Doo is by all rights a bad TV show. At least the 1960's, 70's, and 80's incarnations were. But Scooby Doo has a HUGE redeeming virtue that no other below-average cartoon claptrap from that era can claim. Stephen Hawking was a fan. And NOT because he grew up with the show. But because he (correctly) appreciated that the moral of every episode is that there is a rational and scientific explanation to faith-based and supernatural fears. It didn't matter if the explanations themselves didn't hold up to scientific scrutiny. The moral against superstition, and for the power of rationality personified by the character of Velma is a VERY healthy thing for children to learn and absorb. And while I can bemoan the mundane writing, crummy animation, unfunny jokes and the like, there is something to be said for raising a generation of kids who were taught not to believe everything they hear and to puzzle things out for themselves.
There is actual supernatural stuff in the movie. That's wrong. Occasionally the franchise proper will do that with Velma being the lone skeptic, and decrying the logic of what is happening beyond actual reason, which although undercuts the scientific method and Occam's Razor, doesn't really violate the premise. Here Velma accepts the gates to the underworld as a matter of course. Not okay.
There isn't even a villain or monster to be unmasked. There is no mystery attached to Dick Dastardly. He's the bad guy OPENLY which is the anti-Scooby villain. And going off with this whole superhero premise, as well as a prehistoric island keeps this less grounded than the cruddy series Hawking admired. Yeah, the jokes, writing, and animation are technically better. But the movie is bad in the one good thing Scooby Doo had going for it, which means it's a failure. And my expectations were low, so it would have been SUPER easy to pleasantly surprise me. This was hardly a movie worth a person risking their life to go to a movie theater for. *1/2.
I finally watched the movie. I liked the references and in-jokes to other Hanna Barbara properties, but that’s pretty much the only thing I liked. I didn’t like all the random pop culture references and adult jokes. I also hated how it wasn’t even a mystery, which is the whole point of Scooby Doo. I’m glad I didn’t spend $20 renting this thing.
I saw the movie this past weekend via $2 Red Box rental and not the premium video on demand price they wanted to charge back in May, which wouldn't have cost that much if the theaters were open.
I have to disagree with everyone here, I didn't have a problem with the film. Well maybe a few things- it was set in modern times. I would have made it a period piece 1960's/1970's. And I would have made Shaggy and Scooby's initial meeting and their youth align with the 1980's A Pup Named Scooby Doo series.
With the exception of Frank Welker, they didn't use the current voice actors. Fine, do so with the next film. The director should have also included some of the scenes that were cut due to time. It would have expanded the plot some.
I grew up watching the Scooby Doo series from the late 60's until today and I loved how they brought in other H/B characters -> Captain Caveman and even one of the Teen Angels! Including Blue Falcon and Dino-mutt- that was great. [Their dynamic was totally opposite from the tv show where Blue Falcon was the straight man and the dog was the dimwit.] Hey! Will someone please give them their own series?
As for the plot, for the big screen the writers wanted to do something DIFFERENT from all the other Scooby Doo direct to video movies about mysteries. This was something different.
Sometimes different is good. [Not Teen Titans/ Teen Titans Go or My Little Pony Friendship is Magic/My Little Pony Pony Life different, but I digress]
I went in with low expectations after hearing all the reviews and you know what, I was pleasantly surprised. Did the film make enough money for a sequel? I will have research that. But I thought it was a good film. So good that if they want to bring some of the other H/B properties to the big screen for a new generation (the 70's was over forty years ago. Damn, I feel old.) Let them.
I'll start off by saying X-Men 97 has been a blast to watch. As someone who grew up exposed to the films and cameos on other shows, it was definitely a different treat seeing how both iterations of the franchise handle the characters and their world.
Professor X's speech in today's episode was powerful ... nuff said.
With regards to Matt Braly, I prefer the weekly release. Binging is terrible for an entire season to be released in one run and back in 2015/2016, when it started becoming a thing, there were people concerned over that.
Sometimes, I really question on why these streamers seems to be so selective on which show should get the weekly release treatment or not. Giving every show the binge format is unsustainable. Sure, there are some exceptions, but not every show needs it.
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