My Review of Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)

 

Written by James Gunn 

Directed by Raja Gosnell 

Shaggy: "This is tied for the most terrifying day of my life!"

Velma: "Tied with what?"

Shaggy: "Every other freaking day of my life!"

With the first movie proving to be a success, it didn't take long for a sequel to emerge as Mystery Inc. were back together and seemingly more famous than ever as a team.

The movie opened with Fred Jones (Freddie Prinze Jr), Daphne Blake (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Velma Dinkley (Linda Cardellini), Shaggy Rogers (Matthew Lillard) and Scooby-Doo (Neil Fanning) returned to their old home, Coolsville for the grand opening of the Coolsonian Criminology Museum. It was a chance for the gang to look at some of their past cases.

It was also a chance for the main villain - Evil Masked Figure (Tim Blake Nelson/Scott McNeill) to ruin the event and destroy the Scooby Gang's credibility as well. Also a bit too willing to help with the latter bit was journalist Heather Jasper Howe (Alicia Silverstone), who seemed to have a particular disdain for Daphne.

Of course the gang while somewhat demoralised by events in this movie did suspect that a former enemy of theirs - Doctor Jonathan Jacobo could be behind the whole thing. Of course they're absolutely right about the whole thing but on the other hand, there was a lot of monsters to be had in this movie.

The monsters were an interesting bunch but by the time we get to the third act, they're easily defeated. There's a fun moment with Scooby-Doo and Shaggy changing body proportions and intelligence while Velma had an amusing romantic subplot with Patrick Wisely (Seth Green).

After the first movie with the gang largely at odds with one another, I do think the strength of this one was having a united front with the gang this time around. There's a nicer sense of teamwork this time around, which helped.

- There are cameos from Pat O'Brien, Tasmanian Devil, Ruben Studdard and Big Brovaz.

- A third movie was planned but scrapped after this one underperformed at the box office.

- Standout music: New Radicals You Get What You Give and Mark Provart's Monsters.

- Chronology: A while since the events of the first movie and set in Coolsville.

While not as fun as the first one, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed made for an okay sequel. There was a better sense of teamwork with this one and the likes of Seth Green and Alicia Silverstone were on good form.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Scooby-Doo (2002)

 

Written by James Gunn And Craig Titley

Directed by Raja Gosnell

Shaggy: "Gee, Scraps, you didn't have to freak out like a jerk and kill all humanity."

Scrappy Doo: "And I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling sons of..."

With Netflix planning their own live action television series for this particular property, I thought it was time to go back and revisit the duology from the 2000s. It was something that had a mixed reception.

The movie started with Daphne Blake (Sarah Michelle Gellar) being captured by the Luna Ghost aka Old Man Smithers (Nicholas Hope). Once this mystery got resolved, there was a falling out with Daphne, the vain Fred Jones (Freddie Prinze Jr) and nerdy Velma Dinkley (Linda Cardellini). The falling out caused the Scooby Gang to disband, much to the dismay of Shaggy Rogers (Matthew Lillard) and Scooby-Doo (Neil Fanning).

Of course with enough time and a mysterious invite from Emile Mondavarious (Rowan Atkinson), the whole team were grudgingly reunited to solve a mystery on Spooky Island. It did take the promise of all you can eat buffet to tempt both Shaggy and Scooby-Doo to venture onto the island itself.

As for our gang, it was an awkward reunion with them all competing to solve the mystery. Velma quickly learn about the island having demons courtesy of actor N'Goo Tuana (Steven Grives) and his henchman, famous luchador Zarkos (Sam Greco). Daphne on the other hand had her own encounter with voodoo priest (Miguel A. Núñez Jr.).

As for Fred, both him and Velma got captured by demons on the loose while Shaggy had a romantic subplot with fellow tourist, Mary Jane (Isla Fisher), who happened to be possessed for a bit. There's a plot where the Gang had their bodies taken over and a random bit of body swapping that's largely played for laughs.

Getting to the actual villain of the story, I did assume it was going to be Emile and even Fred raised the possibility but the reveal of it being a vengeful Scrappy-Doo (Scott Innes/J.P. Manoux) actually made for a good surprise. It was a way of dealing with an often maligned character from that world.

- There's cameo appearances from the likes of Pamela Anderson and Sugar Ray.

- Daphne and Fred became a couple by the end of the movie and even Velma seemed to have a male admirer on Spooky Island.

- Standout music: Scott Storch's Freaks Come Out At Night as well as the variations of the theme.

- Chronology: Two years passed before the Scooby Gang ended up on Spooky Island.

Scooby-Doo (2002) definitely felt like a movie from a bygone era. The humour can be very hit and miss at times, even a bit too juvenile. It's largely saved by the cast bouncing off each other so well and the use of Scrappy-Doo.

Rating: 6 out of 10