The Scooby-Doo! franchise has been regularly producing movies for a
while now (and I’ve been watching each new one), but the latest one, Scoob!, is different from the usual. While the standard Scooby-Doo! movie is for the direct-to-video/VOD market, Scoob! is intended to be a contemporary animated
blockbuster. That means: a.) its
animation is 3D instead of 2D; b.) its characters are voiced by recognizable Hollywood
stars instead of professional voice actors; c.) it was marketed extensively; and
d.) it was meant to have a wide theatrical release.
However, due to the corona virus
pandemic, that last one didn’t happen.
Instead, the studio decided to release Scoob! on digital. And it
might as well be. As it turns out, it’s
pretty mediocre. Honestly, there are
better direct-to-video Scooby-Doo!
movies than it.
Scoob! actually starts off rather delightfully. It shows a 21st century origin
story of the Scooby Gang, how they met as kids and teamed up for their first
case, which is utterly endearing. It
then recreates, in 3D animation, the classic Scooby-Doo Where Are You! intro.
So far, so good. But then, once
it gets to the 13-minute mark, wherein Simon Cowell – yes, an animated version
of Simon Cowell, voiced by Simon Cowell himself – pops out, it becomes atypical
and weird. And not in a good way.
The bulk of the movie doesn’t
feel like a Scooby-Doo! story at all. It doesn’t feature a zany
crook-in-a-monster-costume mystery adventure.
Instead, what it has is a generic, superhero storyline that also
involves characters and elements from Dynomutt,
Dog Wonder; Captain Caveman and the
Teen Angels; and Dastardly and
Muttley in Their Flying Machines.
The writing is all over the place. As a result, the narrative feels random and
chaotic. Things happen just because. Simon Cowell has a cameo just because. Non-Scooby
Doo! characters from other Hanna-Barbera properties have roles in the movie
– several of which are maddeningly inconsistent with their original cartoon characterizations
– just because.
In relation to this, the script reeks
of studio meddling. It feels like the
movie’s primary concern is to kick off a Hanna-Barbera cinematic universe – to
create a new product to sell – instead of telling a good story that’s true to
the property.
To sum it up, Scoob! is a letdown in general. Sure, there’s some fun to be had from
it. There are a couple of jokes that
work, the voice acting is decent, and the novelty of being a computer-animated Scoob-Doo! movie is a favorable aspect. But in the end, it’s a very basic animated
film that will only please very young audiences. Long-time adult fans of Scooby-Doo!, however, won’t really find it rewarding.
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