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: 199 Days to go: 139
Movie #239: Scooby-Doo
So last night I discovered that a bunch of my S movies were out of alphabetical order, which is going to irritate me until the end of time. Unfortunately, I can’t go back and fix it, so now there are SEVEN GODDAMN MOVIES that are being covered out-of-order, including the last one. I blame the kids, because it’s probably their fault one way or another.
As for this little double-feature (which, each film gets its own entry — I am not trying to cheat here), I inherited it when my husband and I were dating and he moved in with this adorable little girl (his daughter, obviously) with big blue eyes and a wildly silly disposition who ate “much cookies,” wrote the names of her friends in a little bank calendar, thought dancing was “too humiliating” (really) and loved Scooby-Doo more than anything. She watched this flick all the time. It was her very favorite thing.
For myself, I hardly think they could’ve cast these main characters any better. It’s like, I never would’ve pictured Freddie Prinze Jr. as Fred until this came out, and then it’s SO OBVIOUS. Same for Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne, honestly, and Matthew Lillard is like Shaggy come to life. Even Linda Cardellini makes for an impressive Velma, though I’m not sure how I didn’t realize it was her before now — especially since I immediately recognized her today. (Also, she is a tiny person. Has she always been tiny?) Scooby himself is of course CGI, which there was a bit of griping about beforehand, though I’m not sure what other option there was. It’s as weird-looking as you would imagine a CGI Scooby-Doo would be, but if you’re looking for a movie based on Scooby-Doo that isn’t weird-looking (at a MINIMUM), then maybe your expectations are a bit too high.
The action picks up right in the middle of things, which was confusing at first, especially since there are two movies on one disc here and for some reason I always thought this one was the second one. So I had to double-check, but confirmed this was the right one after all. The gang is feeling a lot of tension among themselves, what with Fred being vain and Daphne being sick of being helpless and Velma being sick of doing all the work and getting none of the credit. (Shaggy and Scooby feel no tension ever, unless there are monsters involved. Must be the weed.) So they solve their case and all go their separate ways, joining up two years later when an eccentric millionaire (Rowan Atkinson) who owns an island theme resort called Spooky Island invites them all over to solve the mystery of his catatonic teen guests. Your basic Scooby-Doo episode ensues.
There is a nice little bonus, though, in the form of a love interest for Shaggy named Mary Jane, natch (played by Isla Fisher, who, with blonde hair, looks nothing like Amy Adams). She’s very cute and sweet and she, too, loves Scooby Snacks. (They’re a vegetarian treat.) I like her quite a lot.
Of course, there’s also the act of the gang coming back together, with Daphne becoming a self-sufficient black belt and Fred acknowledging all their teamwork and Velma being the object of a little male gaze. It’s, for a five-year-old at least, a pretty satisfactory arc. They even pay off adult fans of the old cartoon series by making Scrappy-Doo an insufferable menace who nobody likes. Scooby-doobie-doo!
Okay, it’s not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but what do you want? It’s Scooby-Doo.
Viable Option 