As a kid, I always looked forward to the next case Mystery Inc. had on their hands, whether it be the classic Where Are You? era, accompanied by celebrity guest stars (The New Scooby-Doo Movies), trapping ghosts in a cursed chest (The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo), as children during Scooby's puppy years (A Pup Named Scooby-Doo) or set in a more modern era where Simple Plan sing the best iteration of the Scooby-Doo theme song (What's New Scooby-Doo?). The high point for the franchise came with Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. The gang had grown-up, the mystery was darker, the monsters were real but the camaraderie between Scooby and the gang was alive and well. It even found time to poke fun at its own formulaic formula. It was everything that the live-action film from 2002 tried to be but failed. The movies that took place in Zombie Island's continuity were more lighter fare but had their own merits from the inclusion of Tim Curry and the Hex Girls in Witch's Ghost, Shaggy and Scooby finding love in Alien Invaders, and a digital encounter with their classic counterparts in Cyber Chase.
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Since then, the franchise has scaled back to the man-in-the-mask trope with occasional "real ghosts" but none have reached the heights of Zombie Island. If you were expecting Scoob! to be the one to top it, it doesn't come close by a long shot. It's less vulgar and mean-spirited than the live-action films but mediocre and bland isn't what I had in mind as an improvement.
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| It's better than his cameo on Scary Movie 3, a regret that Simon has gone on record to state. |
What's the mystery this time? Mystery Inc have a fallout courtesy of Simon Cowell (Himself) who says that Shaggy (Will Forte) and Scooby (Frank Welker) don't contribute anything to the team. Feeling dejected, the two run off only to be attacked by killer robots but are rescued by the son of the Blue Falcon (Mark Wahlberg) and his sidekicks Dynomutt (Ken Jeong) and Dee-Dee Sykes (Kiersey Clemons). As Fred (Zac Efron), Daphne (Amanda Seyfried) and Velma (Gina Rodriguez) search for their missing friends, Shaggy and Scooby are informed that evil mastermind Dick Dastardly (Jason Isaacs) sent the robots and is after Scooby because he is the key to unlocking a portal that leads into the underworld full of treasure, with one of the guardians being Captain Caveman (Tracy Morgan).
You might be wondering, this doesn't sound anything like Scooby-Doo. And your right. This is terrible fan-fiction that some higher-up in Warner Bros. thought would be the perfect jump-start to a Hanna-Barbara Cinematic Universe. A cheesy concept that was popular back in the day and could maintain a runtime on television like Laff-A-Lympics. I'm sure there are fans of Johnny Quest, Jabberjaw, and Magilla Gorilla but I doubt the youth of today have heard of those names let alone recognize certain Easter eggs that reference them.
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| Hanna-Barbera characters then and now. |
The film's efforts of modernizing classic Hanna-Barbera characters only makes them unrecognizable. Remember how Dynomutt and Captain Cavemen were bumbling sidekicks who were still lovable and got the job done? Forget it, they can now speak fluent English and have no sense of humor. It's a shame because they are voiced by funny people but they play the roles in a straight manner. Morgan does better than Jeong but not even he can get the Captain Caveman call correct. Remember how the Blue Falcon is noble and fights for truth and justice? Don't expect that from Not-Blue Falcon who is cowardly as Captain Quark from the Ratchet & Clank movie where his incompetent demeanor and little effort on making him likable makes his moment of redemption too little too late. Dee-Dee Sykes who is one-third of the Teen Angles from the Captain Caveman show doesn't offer much to the story by being Not-Blue Falcon's sidekick when you already have Dynomutt filling in that role. For a movie that wants to build a cinematic universe she doesn't share a any pivotal scenes with Captain Caveman that establishes them as a team or mention any of the other Teen Angels. The humor isn't any better; being dull and dated with its over-reliance on pop-cultural references from Lady Gaga's A Star is Born, the already mentioned appearance of Simon Cowell, dabbing and Netflix. It comes off more painful and desperate than funny or clever.
The worse part is Mystery Inc themselves. I kept thinking back to the terrible live-action films. As maligned as their portrayal was of Mystery Inc. they at least had moments where the group's friendship and teamwork was allowed to shine. Here, the group's dynamic is gone as they spend a majority of the movie separated. That scene where Shaggy asks Scooby for forgiveness in the 2002 film, gets to me every time. Even the argument they had earlier didn't feel forced and you felt bad in seeing these characters fight. The line delivery and reaction is well-executed despite being in a terrible movie. Scoob! unfortunately does the opposite. The conflict between this iteration of Shaggy and Scooby is hammered-in repeatedly on the head and I didn't feel anything for the characters as the climax arrived or when it ended. Compared to Matthew Lillard's portrayal of Shaggy, Will Forte doesn't come close, sounding more like a silly voice in a Saturday Night Live skit. As for the rest of the gang, I may not have liked their personalities in the live-action films but at least they had a personality which is more than I can say than in this movie, with the gang more one-dimensional than in the TV show that isn't helped with the dull voice-delivery. Even if they got professional voice-actors onboard, the script doesn't given them much to do. Congratulations movie, you managed to make the live-action films look better.
The one character I was dreading to hear was Fred but Efron surprisingly manages to make it his own; adding more energy and personality to the role than the rest of the cast put together. The same with Jason Issacs as Dick Dastardly whose end goal surprisingly added sympathy to the character. Last but not least is legendary voice-actor Frank Welker. Being the current voice of Fred Jones since the show's inception and Scooby-Doo since 2002, Welker reprises his role as the cowardly but cuisine-craving canine to a tease. With the film comprised of a celebrity voice-cast, I'm glad Welker wasn't recast as very few can pull off his voice-work.
Scoob! is not be the best of the franchise but it isn't the first nor will it be its last that the petrified pooch will have his down days. My recommendation: Unless your in the mood to play I Spy: The Hanna-Barbera Edition, skip this kooky concoction of computer-generated components and stick with the classics.
P.S. A little secret for Warner Bros. I don't know if you noticed but most of your theatrical films based on Hanna-Barbera cartoons haven't been good whether animated or live-action. There have been a few exceptions like The Powerpuff Girls Movie but even then you've had more losses than wins. My advice: stop making these movies and have the Hanna-Barbera cartoons stick to television. You have a higher chance of introducing them to a new audience whether through reruns or reboots as long as its not Yo Yogi! or Powerpuff Girl reboot levels of bad.
Final Verdict: D
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