As I confessed in my review of the original "Scooby-Doo," I was not a big fan of the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon, finding the animation primitive and the stories lacking much invention. But the ladies in my life, wife Christina and daugher Elisabeth are both ardent fans, and both were aghast at the first film, and rightly so.
Fortunately, as was also the case with the "Star Trek," "Superman" and "Austin Powers" franchises, the second film is far superior to the first.
The kids (and dog) from Mystery, Inc. are now grounded with a hometown, Coolville, where they are disgraced after a museum exhibit honoring their achievements is destroyed by a pterodactyl ... a REAL pterodactyl. The kids are pressed into restoring their good names and preventing a strange, sinister force from resurrecting as real ghosts all of the false demons from their past.
In addition, they are plagued by real inner demons. Velma (Linda Cardellini) has found love for the first time, with the museum curator (nicely underplayed by Seth Green), and Fred (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Shaggy (the brilliant Matthew Villard) and Scooby (himself) are all beginning to question their contributions to their firm.
In addition to Green, able support is provided by Alicia Silverstone as a muckraking reporter, and Peter Boyle as Old Man Wickers, the type of codger character that was always high on the original series' suspect list.
What's admirable about this installment of "Scooby-Doo" is the awareness by all involved that this is, at the end of the day, a live-action cartoon. Cartoon conventions are displayed in full force, and the film never degenerates into the dark, frightening atmosphere of the original. The colors are bright, and all of the characterizations are broad and over-the-top. As a result, the film delights the seven year old either in the next seat, or the one that hides inside us, waiting for an uncommon chance to giggle.
Prinze and Gellar are adequate, if underwritten, as Fred and Daphne. In fact, Gellar displays well-executed, but decidedly "Buffy"-an combat skills. Linda Cardellini and Matthew Lillard, meanwhile, are terrific. As a very attractive actress, Cardellini hides her obvious attributes very well as the bookish Velma, except during a very funny sequence in which she is "made over" by Daphne into a sex kitten, complete in a too-tight leather suit that makes rather unbecoming noises when in motion.
And Matthew Villard's concentration as chief clown is notable. He's even duplicated the hand gestures and posture of Shaggy Rogers, and I defy you to show me where he falters. And before you downplay his interaction with Scooby-Doo, remind yourself that the latter is the last element added to the final film. It's so well done, it's easy to forget.
I laughed quite a bit during "Scooby," almost as much as my daughter. Is this Woody Allen? Of course not. It's not even "Airplane" or "Austin Powers." What it is, though, is the kind of film that honors what lives in the hearts of the fans of 70s Saturday mornings. It's a walk down memory lane for all of the Gen X'ers, and their kids, who have ever cowered behind their bowls of Frosted Mini-Wheats as images of Snow Ghosts and glowing pirate ships were displayed on their TV screens. Best of all, it's everything the first film was not.
Take your favorite child to the movies this week. And see if you don't find yourself laughing right along with him.
Thursday
December 26th, 2024
2:42AM
