Scooby Doo Double Feature

Reviewer: Alyice Edrich

The Movie

Starring

Freddie Prinze Jr, Sarah Michelle Geller, Linda Cardellini, Matthew Lillard, Neil Fanning, and more.

Plot

Fred, Velma, Daphne, and Shaggy, along with their sidekick dog, Scooby Doo, work together to solve mysteries and capture the bad guys.

Review

I remember when the talks of turning Scooby Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang into a live-action film first started. I was a skeptic and didn't believe movie makers could pull it off. I honestly believed that something would get lost in the transition from cartoon to live-action, and refused to watch the films.

But my die-hard, Scooby Doo loving, daughter was bound and determined to wear me down, and wear me down she did. We purchased the first feature on VHS and I was surprised to discover that while the storyline was definitely written for a more mature audience, the hijinks that made Scooby Doo a sensation all these years still remained at the heart of the film.

I have to admit, however, that while I loved the special effects, the whole obnoxious/jealous Scrappy storyline got on my nerves!

And yet, we were both HUGELY impressed with the acting of Linda Cardellini as Velma and Matthew Lillard as Shaggy—they did an a fantastic job of bringing the characters to life. And the live-action animation of Scooby Doo…breathtaking!

Then Scooby Doo: Monsters Unleashed came out and we went to see it in the theatres—the $3 theatres, of course. It's strange because this particular film received some bad reviews, often citing shortcomings in the plot and claiming the film as nothing more than a walk down memory lane as we catch glimpses of old villains like, Captain Cutler and Miner-Forty-Niner—and while I can't argue against those points, I much preferred this film over the first.

And the fact that the storylines gave Velma a love interest (in 2) while Shaggy hooked up with a girl of his own (in 1), did not sit well with my daughter. Based upon the cartoons, she was certain that Shaggy and Velma were, or would become, a couple and taking the storylines in another direction "just felt wrong".

In the first Scooby Doo, the gang tires of each other and chooses to break up and go their separate ways. After some time has passed, the owner of Spooky Island sends his assistant to enlist the help of each member, individually—which forces the gang to reunite for one last gig.

In the second Scooby Doo, the gang returns to Coolsville for the grand opening of a museum honoring all their solved cases. But before the night ends, a masked villain enters the museum and steals the costumes of the most notorious villains; making the gang look like fools—or as the local teens call them, "losers". Determined to reclaim their good name, the gang sets out to find the villain and solve the case.

While the characters of Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma seemed to stay true to the cartoons, the characters of Daphne and Fred seem to have changed a bit. Fred seems to be more cocky and stuck on himself than I remember him being in the cartoons and Daphne has gone from helpless dingy blonde to someone who is smarter and more athletic—Daphne's character really reminds me of a much milder version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In the Blu-Ray version, Scooby Doo 1 jumps right into auto-play (which I love!) and includes both a cast commentary and a filmmaker's commentary, a look at the making of the film, a look at set construction, a look at Daphne's fight scenes, and a video of the "The Land of a Million Drums".

Scooby Doo 2 takes you to a menu where you can choose to play the film or watch special features. It includes deleted scenes, a music video by Big Brovaz, a music video by Simple Plan, a featurette starring Scooby Doo, a featurette resembling a mini-documentary on "True Ghoul Hollywood Stories", and a behind-the-scenes look at Scooby Doo, the dancer.

If you have the VHS version of either of these films, I highly encourage you to purchase a copy of the Blu-Ray version as it is definitely a much cleaner, crisper, video.

Your Task

Pull out your old Scooby Doo cartoons and watch them with your toddlers, then when they go down for a nap, put in this double feature and have a mini movie marathon with your teenagers. It's a great way to spend time together, especially if everyone has already seen both films and you can talk throughout the films, making fun of the flaws, spotting sponsor advertising (like the Burger King cup in Shaggy's hand as he exits the van in Scooby Doo 2) and just chatting about your favorite characters and/or scenes.