For years, studios have tried
to capitalize on the genius of Hannah-Barbera cartoons.
Animated films such as "Jetsons: The Movie" faired
well, as live-action adaptations like "The
Flintstones" fell flat on their asses. I started
asking myself, "Will there ever be a completely enjoyable
adaptation?" Well, kids, brace yourselves, because I
have found one...
"Scooby-Doo", based on the wildly popular animated
series, is fresh, witty, action-packed, and highly entertaining
for the entire family, especially the grown-ups and older
adolescents who grew up watching 'Scoob and the gang' do all
sorts of meddling. The plot is simple, revolving around
Spooky Island and Scooby-Doo and the Gang trying to save the
world from all sorts of bad guys. I don't want to give too
much away because--seeing the film in a sneak preview--you
should have to wait and see the movie for yourself.
Besides, it really doesn't get too much more complicated than
that.
Scooby-Doo is done entirely with CGI, and though it is pretty
obvious Scooby isn't a real dog, it is not distracting at all.
The rest of the cast do a remarkable job with picking up the
slack, especially Matthew Lillard as Shaggy and Rowan Atkinson
as Mondavarious. Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle
Gellar do a decent job as Fred and Daphne, but it is newcomer
Linda Cardellini who excels as Velma, a character not easily
portrayed.
The most interesting aspect of this film is that it doesn't try
to stray away from the stuff that made the television series so
enjoyable--it embraces the camp and flash of the show and
doesn't try to modernize it too much. The jokes are corny,
the dialogue seems fresh out of a cartoon, and the costumes are
bright, flashy, and thoroughly authentic. Everything about
this film is in close proximity to the series. The flaw
most adaptations have is that they try too hard to stray from
their roots, which is a huge mistake. People will go to
the movies expecting to see a film similar to the series, not
completely different from the series. And, they will not
be disappointed.
Will "Scooby-Doo" be nominated for any awards?
Probably not. Will people walk away saying, "This is
the greatest movie I have seen since "Play Misty for
Me"!" Probably not. Will this film
entertain people of all ages and cause studios everywhere to
start buying up rights to old cartoon shows? Hell yes.
Don't be surprised if we don't see a "Smurfs" or
"Thundercats" movie getting cranked out in the near
future, or a sequel to "Master of the Universe".
"Scooby-Doo" is highly entertaining and a fitting
addition to the summer movie season.
