Scoob!

I guess I can commend Warner Bros. for attempting to revitalise their Scooby-Doo brand and give parents something to show their kids while they've been stuck at home, but when there's a plethora of new and old (much, much better) kid's films, the best thing would be to Scooby-Dooby-do your kids a favour and skip this one.

• Ashley Teresa

Read Ashley's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-scoob-mystery-swapped-for-money-hungry-mayhem

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I was never the biggest fan of Scooby-Doo's animated cartoon when I was young. I enjoyed it like any other kid who enjoys almost everything, but it was never a show that made me nervously excited during the day, waiting for it to come on TV. I vividly remember getting pumped, knowing that a new episode of Dragon Ball Z or Timon & Pumba would broadcast on that particular day. I never felt that way with Scooby-Doo, and honestly, I don't know why. I was always curious about sci-fi and "what lies beyond", so maybe the fact that the goal of the show was to justify every single paranormal activity with some "guy in a mask" didn't really appeal to the kid in me...

Either way, I still liked the series, and my memory is filled with all of the show's classic signatures: the (double or even triple) un-masking of the villains, Scooby jumping to Shaggy's arms because they both got scared, the ridiculously large sandwiches, you name it. Ironically, the biggest compliment I can give the film also relates to its major flaw. For any fan of the show, these classic moments will provide high levels of nostalgia and entertainment, so anyone who comes looking for that will definitely get what they desire.

However, even though Scoob! is far from feeling like a corporate flick packed with product placement (looking at you, Sonic the Hedgehog), I can't help but feel that the studio was embarrassed by its own property. They try so hard to make this movie belong to 2020 that they completely forgot about what makes the show special for so many people. From the weirdly confusing song selection to the way too modern plot points, Scoob! 's narrative distinctly follows an Avengers-style plot (including an obvious allusion to Captain America holding his shield) focusing strongly on the superhero theme.

They didn't believe that Mystery Inc. and the (successful) formulaic story were enough to...

It was an okay Scooby-Doo movie for the kids. The animation looks great and for the most part the voice talents were good, especially Zac Efron as Fred was great, as were Gina Rodriguez and Amanda Seyfried as Velma and Daphne respectively. However, wasn't that thrilled with Will Forte's Shaggy (still think Matthew Lillard has been perfect thus far, I know they wanted a name, but doubt star power sells movies nowadays).

Anyway, it was a serviceable enough animated flick, personally I'm not a fan of the supernatural plots when it comes to the Scooby-Doo franchise, but fine for the family, so long as you're not an entrenched fan, I can see why some may hate this iteration. 3.25/5

Never my favourites of cartoon characters, this sadly doesn't really do much better than the pretty far-fetched, slapstick, animation series from the 1970s. It starts off by way of an explanation as to how the young "Shaggy" and his eponymous canine pal initially hooked up, before jumping forwards to present day where the two, along with the rest of the "Mystery Inc." gang, must work together to thwart an evil plan to unleash the legendary guardian of the Underworld - a spectral form of Cerberus - on mankind. To be fair, it doesn't hang around and the animation quality keeps the style fairly similar to the original television series; it's just that the writing is really lacklustre and cheesy with the characters - for me, at any rate - just downright irritating, playing to just about every stereotype imaginable. The reveals at the end were always pretty silly, and here is no different - it's all just too lightweight and disappointing. I'd have backed Cerberus any day. Perhaps it is just aiming for a nostalgic audience of adults who recall it more fondly than I do? In any case, I really cannot see this resonating with the kids today and maybe this is one cinema release that lockdown did us all favour by restricting.