*SPOILER WARNING
When it comes to Scooby-Doo, I love it. I grew up with the cartoons, the movies, and the merchandise. I even played the games, Scooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights and Scooby-Doo! First Frights on the PS2. Even as I'm older, I still love the franchise. It's simplistic, but it's charming and does have some funny moments. Plus, the characters are memorable and the cartoons do have their moments where they do have good mysteries and even poke fun at themselves. Scooby-Doo is arguably Warner Bros. biggest franchise. Yeah, WB has the DC movies, but Scooby has been around at Warner for far longer and continues to be a money maker for them. Plus, unlike DC, everyone has at least watched one Scooby-Doo cartoon, or movie, and liked it. So, of course, with Scooby being a huge money maker for WB, it makes sense for them to give him his own movie. They've already done that over forty times, but now, Warner Bros. has finally made a computer-animated Scooby-Doo movie. Is this better than those early 2000s live-action Scooby-Doo movies, or is this just Scooby poo?
The movie starts off as an origin story, but after they get past Scooby and Shaggy meeting, the plot finally kicks in. The plot is basically this guy named Dick Dastardly that wants Scooby because he's the ancestor of an ancient dog and is the key to getting back his dog, Muttley, from the Underworld. When it comes to the writing, it's honestly pretty good. There's numerous Hanna-Barbera references, there's a good amount of funny jokes, and there's a good amount of heart. Speaking of heart, the heart of the movie is the friendship between Scooby and Shaggy. This movie puts their friendship to the test and really showcases how strong their friendship really is. Also, there's a good amount of adult jokes in it. It earns it's PG-rating. Is the writing perfect? No. It still uses plenty of tropes that allot of movies use, but here, they're executed pretty well and didn't feel forced. They even made the third act break up trope work. Also, I never thought I'd hear Velma say hell.
When it comes to the animation, it's really good. Not only it is bright, colorful, and fluid, but I really love the cartoony style of it. However, one thing that I didn't think fit well was that Simon Cowell cameo. His photorealistic design was jarring compared to the rest of the characters in the movie. This isn't the first time the franchise was guilty of this, but it still doesn't change the fact that his design is uncanny and jarring.
When it comes to the characters, they're pretty likeable. Starting off with Scooby and Shaggy, they're Scooby and Shaggy. They're just as loveable as they always are. Blue Falcon isn't a great character, but he had his moments. Plus, Mark Wahlberg did a solid job at voicing him. There's Dynomutt and Dee Dee who are also likeable. However, I felt Dick Dastardly was the best character in the movie. Not only did Jason Isaacs do a great job at voicing him, but Dick was honestly a threatening and funny villain. Plus, his motivation was understandable. Finally, there's Fred, Daphne, and Velma. Daphne and Velma are okay, but why is Fred even stupider in this one? Despite that, the characters are still pretty strong.
Scoob! is a heartwarming and funny movie with solid writing, great Hanna-Barbera references, colorful and fluid animation, and likeable characters. It's not perfect, but it's a really good movie, and it's definitely better than those live-action Scooby-Doo movies from the early 2000s. It's arguably the best Scooby-Doo movie since 1998's Zombie Island, and arguably the best thing to happen to this franchise since Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. Before I end this review, I want to acknowledge something that allot of people have been bitching about. People are complaining about all the modern references in the movie, but when hasn't Scooby-Doo done that? Every Scooby-Doo cartoon, or movie, has always had references to modern things of their time. Even the original 1969 cartoon was guilty of this. I mean come on, Fred wearing an ascot screams 60 and 70s. Plus, the music in any of the cartoons, or movies is by people of that era. For example, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! had music that screamed 60s. What's New, Scooby-Doo? had music by Simple Plan. They even had Smash Mouth appear in one episode as well as Simple Plan themselves. Simple Plan even sung that show's theme song. Those early 2000s Scooby-Doo live-action movies had music by OutKast, Simple Plan, Bowling for Soup, Fatboy Slim, etc. See where I'm getting at? There was even a whole Scooby-Doo cartoon called The New Scooby-Doo Movies that had celebrities of that time appear on that show. Scooby-Doo has always been dated and made modern references. Before you complain about that, actually watch anything that's Scooby-Doo.
8/10
Scoob! is owned by Warner Bros.
