The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015. Remaining movies: 198 Days to go: 139
Movie #240: Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
When we rejoin our (mostly) fearless crew, Mystery Inc. (as they call themselves) are the big hot thing in their hometown of Coolsville. There are news cameras, red carpets and screaming fans at their latest appearance, the opening of the Coolsville Museum of Criminology, and they each have their own individual fan bases: cute chicks love Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr.), weird gross guys tattoo Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar) on their chests, nerd girls go wild for Velma (Linda Cardellini), stoners think Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) rules, and dogs love Scooby-Doo.
Things go awry, however, when the displays of old monster costumes turn into real monsters and wreak havoc on the building, with Shaggy and Scooby’s help. The team is discredited, and have to repair their reputation by solving this latest mystery. Only now Shaggy and Scooby feel like screw-ups, like they’re constantly letting their friends down, so they try to prove themselves on their own, with wacky results.
This time around the stakes aren’t necessarily raised, but the guest star quotient definitely is. We’ve got Seth Green as Velma’s crush Patrick, Alicia Silverstone as vampy news anchor Heather Jasper-Howe, and Peter Boyle as Old Man Wickles. There are even cameos by former Access Hollywood host Pat O’Brien, character actor Tim Blake Nelson as legendary baddie Jonathan Jacobo and American Idol season two winner Ruben Studdard singing over the closing credits because why not.
I have actually heard people compare this sequel unfavorably to the original, but I don’t see the point. They’re basically standard Scooby-Doo episodes, each one, and neither is better or worse than the other. Plus, this one features a weird dance number with an afro-bewigged Scooby and a fight scene where Gellar gets to show off her Buffy fighting skills (fitting, since her Buffy pals were often called the Scoobies). I also really got a kick out of Hot Velma wearing an approximation of Britney Spears’s “Oops I Did It Again” outfit and not being able to walk or apparently bend her legs in heels.
On top of all that, there’s a double unmasking at the end! Honestly, what more do you people want??
Viable Option 