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Scooby don't
[Photo: Warner Bros.]
The Mystery Inc. team in the flesh: Sarah Michelle Gellar, far left, Linda Cardellini, Matthew Lillard and Freddie Prinze Jr., with computer-generated Scooby. |
By PHILIP BOOTH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 13, 2002
Believe all the bad stuff you've heard about the movie version of the beloved cartoon.
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Bad buzz on a big-budget movie isn't always to be trusted. Titanic, although not a masterpiece, wasn't that awful. Then again, Waterworld was as much a stinker as had been feared, and it promptly sunk at the box office.
Scooby-Doo, the (mostly) flesh-and-blood feature based on the lovable animated series that debuted in 1969, hasn't been blessed with good buzz.
The cast list, including useless young thespians Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard (the two teamed for Summer Catch and the similarly bland She's All That and Wing Commander), doesn't inspire confidence, even despite the presence of talented Sarah Michelle Gellar, a.k.a television's Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
The film's cost, due to the computer-generated imaging technology required to create the title pooch, scratched toward $90-million.
Abandon hope all ye who enter your local theater with fond feelings for the original Hanna-Barbera cartoon: The big-screen version of Scooby-Doo, not unlike that of Josie and the Pussycats last summer, is strictly by the numbers.
\Matthew Lillard, as Shaggy and computer-generated Scooby.
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It's predictable, listless, routine, a textbook example of how a Hollywood honcho recognizes a good thing and forges ahead without apparent concern for the final product. Who cares about preserving, or even paying tribute to, the original spirit of the thing when there are so many merchandising opportunities to grab?
The most disappointing aspect of Scooby-Doo is the artificial look of Scooby. Yes, the manic Great Dane perpetually mugs and goofs around. Like his master, the scruffy, goateed Shaggy (Lillard), the canine is slightly daft, overly cautious around danger and always ready for a delicious, maybe nutritious, Scooby snack. But the connection between the digital dog and the humans always feels off-kilter; it's obvious the actors are playing to a blue screen.
Lillard, though hardly giving a breakthrough performance, ought to get credit for what he does accomplish: He captures Shaggy's climbing-and-falling vocal mannerisms, based on Casey Kasem's work in the original series. At times, Lillard walks, falls and jumps, etc., just like we always thought the human version of Shaggy might do.
Then there's the plot, spiked with references to Survivor and Fantasy Island: Shaggy, Scooby and their three partners in Mystery Inc. reunite to help solve a crisis at Spooky Island, a theme park and popular destination for spring break. The kids, it seems, arrive as normal, red-blooded party animals and leave as quiet, reserved college students.
A castle is explored. Monsters are encountered. An evil plot is discovered. A villain is unmasked. Shaggy says "man" and "like" a lot. The studly Fred (bottle-blond Prinze) repeatedly admires himself. The brainy Velma (Linda Cardellini) complains about not being appreciated. The leggy, fashion-conscious Daphne (Gellar) vows to become the heroine this time, rather than the damsel in distress. And, in a twist, the former cartoon girls are endowed with cleavage.
But grownups' qualms about Scooby-Doo may not matter to the preadolescent crowd. The three kids in my crew, all 7 or younger, laughed practically nonstop at the antics of Scoobert and Shaggy.
So what do adults know? We know at least one thing: The brief, rude allusion to Scooby-Doo in the R-rated Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is far funnier, on target and more entertaining than the cumulative laughs in the feature-length Scooby-Doo. Raise your hand if you're surprised.
Scooby-Doo
- Grade: C
- Director: Raja Gosnell
- Cast: Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini, Rowan Atkinson
- Screenplay: Craig Titley, James Gunn
- Rating: PG; bathroom humor; joking references to animal sacrifice
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