Scoob; As One Whom Enjoys The Franchise... This Shatters my Soul. Grade: D
Scoob tells the story of the Mystery Inc. gang back in action! Only this time... They have to separate themselves, as they have a couple weak links in the group. Yes the Mystery Inc gang will go without Scooby Doo (Frank Welker) and Shaggy (Will Forte) moving forward, because Simon Cowell says so... Oh no. Have no fear Scooby and Shaggy will be acquainted with the Blue Falcon (Mark Wahlberg) and Dynomutt (Ken Jeong), as they try to stop Dick Dastardly (Jason Isaacs) from accomplishing his evil plan, which involves Scooby being the key of his plan as well.
The Animation in this film honestly bothered the living hell out of me. From the trailers I thought we were going to get something fun out of this new world, turns out for a Scooby Doo film it looks awkward, as much preferred to the hand drawn 2-D animation style. I don’t like any of the designs from the human beings, especially every single Mystery Inc. gang that wasn’t Scooby. I will say there are a couple highlights from the animation. I thought the whole opening theme song sequence, paying Homage to the classic villain designs in the beginning was pretty cool. I thought the designs for Scooby and Dynomutt were cool. I absolutely adored the shot of Scooby and the villain in the hall of mirrors, that’s easily the best shot of the entire film. The design of the characters, the colors really stand out, it’s really such a lovely sequence and I just wish this film could capture what that scene brought to the table. The Score was honestly obnoxious, got a couple nice tunes but I really couldn’t stand the music in this film. I didn’t care for the opening rendition of the theme song, felt like I was at Party City.
One of the main key ingredients of one that admires Scooby Doo cartoons, is simply the voice overs. That bring in a lot of charisma and personality towards the show/films, their voices are iconic. In Scoob however... I’m going to say it: Embarrassing. Frank Welker is the only stand alone voice over performance, that actually did a really good job playing Scooby Doo. It’s probably due to the fact Frank Welker has been voicing the character Scooby Doo, since 1969 that’s why it sounds accurate to Scooby Doo as we come to love as a child. One concern many have said is that Scooby Doo in this film speaks more fluently, than the original cartoons. I will say I can understand their concern, however it didn’t bother me much at all. Will Forte voicing Shaggy is AWFUL! A good question to be asked: Was anyone in the studio when Will Forte was recording his lines?! If I were there I would’ve recasted this role immediately, it’s a flat out disgrace. At best it’s a below mediocre impression, where it gets really bad is when the character has to display emotion, as Will Forte struggles immensely in every single moment. The rest of the Scooby Doo gang is also terrible, you honestly don’t buy into any performance because they are so far away from this material. Zac Efron never once brings the swagger of Fred as he mostly sounds like a whiny twit. Listen I like Gina Rodriguez... But her playing Velma is atrocious, she never once sounds like a nerd in this film, she’s just playing herself honestly. Amanda Seyfried as Daphne isn’t as bad as the other two, however she just doesn’t capture that sassy pretty girl personality we come to love from the past material. Say what you want about the live action Scooby Doo films: But at least they casted correctly. While in this film: They casted base on big names, rather than cast whomever can do a great job in the voice over performances. Are anyone going to remember these voice over performances?! HELL NO, disregarding Welker these guys STINK!
Let’s talk about the other characters: OH NO! Not only does this film wreck your beloved childhood cartoons, but they wreck Blue Falcon and Dynomutt along with it. You may give Blue Falcon a hall pass, due to the fact it’s actually Blue Falcon’s son... However it felt like I was watching a great value version of Deadpool, it just sucks where we beg for the real Blue Falcon to show up. Dynomutt animation design was cool, voice over by Ken Jeong... This guy doesn’t sound like a robotic kick ass dog, what the hell are we doing here?! Let’s talk about the villain: EHHHHH. I will say there is one cool moment with Dick Dastardly and one hilarious unintentional scene. I found the scene where Dick was telling his sob story of his lost dog to be cool, it was a nice funny sequence. Dick Dastardly repeating his first name to Scooby five times over in a kids movie... I couldn’t help but laugh my ass off, as I was thinking, “What the hell are we doing here?” What kills Dick Dastardly is his robot minions... It felt like I was watching Despicable Me with Gru and the Minions. At least the robots are less annoying than the Minions, however it just comes off ridiculous.
Scoob was suppose to be in theaters the same day it was release on V.O.D., but as you know quarantine ruined that so it went to streaming for a $20 rental fee. When it comes to dumb animation films and society tendency to never escape from their nostalgia... This would’ve made a TON of money in theaters. When I first saw the teaser trailer I thought this looked cute honestly, I actually was a little excited to see this. I’ve also enjoyed some Scooby Doo franchise products in the past, so I was looking forward to this new creation. Not only does Scoob disappointed me, but also embarrasses the entire Scooby Doo franchise.
The opening sequence of the film is fine, it’s a nice back story of how Scooby got acquainted with Shaggy, and how the odd pair got acquainted with the rest of the Mystery Inc. The only thing I didn’t like about the opening, is the man whom tried to scared the kids in a ghost outfit, leading to his arrest. I think the last thing I would be doing if I stole a bunch of electronics, is try to scare a bunch of curious little kids... From a logic standpoint, this is extremely stupid. Could’ve just lay low in your haunted looking house, if kids come to trick or treat either don’t answer or tell them to leave, what an idiot. What spilts up the Scooby Doo gang is not only stupid and ridiculous, but it has an extremely poor setup. What makes the Scooby Doo gang want a second opinion, as far as how can the group improve moving forward?! Did something go wrong earlier? Did they fail a case? What exactly makes them go, “Hey we should go seek someone else’s perspective, on how we should operate moving forward so we can become a better group!” It just goes straight to Simon Cowell, as I’m wondering the what the hell is going on?! The concept of how the Scooby Doo gang can go on without full members of the group isn’t that bad of an idea, however your trailer misleads the audience, thinking we are going to the see development of the group from children to adults. But instead we break up the group instantly... WAIT WHAT?! We also got an animation film that feels not only unfaithful to the franchise itself, but is also made for either for babies or for loud screaming children with short attention spans... That’s not what Scooby Doo is.
Scooby Doo was not only for kids, adults can also enjoy the franchise as well. That’s due to characters that have personality, neat animation, and cool witty storylines. Now Scoob doesn’t have any of those things... BUT IT DOES HAVE SOCIAL MEDIA REFERENCES!!! When I think of Scooby Doo, I think of Netflix and Hashtags B A B Y!!! I felt like I was in a nightmare with the comedy material, it’s so freaking obnoxious I couldn’t stand it. Other than the funny moments I mentioned earlier and a couple pun jokes, like LookyUp for Google... What the hell is this?! The story as written was extremely bad. You know exactly where things were heading, as the film is filled with cliches and is extremely predictable. The ending however... Oh Fook Off! This film makes me feel angry honestly, the people behind this film showed they absolutely don’t respect the franchise whatsoever.
Overall, Scoob is a bad film. I don’t recommend this film at all, invest that $20 on food instead. Would like to thank my buddy Aaron for allowing me to have access in watching this film and making this timely review possible. Follow his IG @Aaron_Akhobadze for fun content and dope photos! -Mitch Smietana