Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)

 

Though I personal enjoyed the first of director Raja Gosnell and writer James Gunn's (yes the same one who directed the Guardians of the Galaxy movies) live action Scooby-Doo! movies despite its faults, this sequel is an even better movie. 

In some ways this film is a fundamentally different one from its processor. The first movie was a darker take on the Scooby-Doo! franchise and one that is in many ways a parody of the original TV show. This second movie though (while still containing much of James Gunn's quirky humor (some of it laugh out loud funny)) is much more of a feature length episode of the show. That might sound like a complaint but in reality it is what makes this movie work so well. Unlike many other franchises that began as a shorter length series, Scooby-Doo! with its focus on mysteries and monsters is one that always lends itself well to feature length. The film does everything that made the series so much fun to watch and does it well. There is an atmosphere that is enjoyably creepy but never too much so that it loses its light hearted feel. There is a good mystery that while not too complicated is fun to solve. There is a silly and light hearted feel that simply is a joy to watch. 

The basic premise of this movie is one that is perfect. A mysterious villain with a vendetta against Mystery Inc. is able to bring back real versions of the monsters (rendered excellently in live action) that the gang caught in the first TV series. This is a premise that is both larger than the average TV episode but still containing the lighthearted silly charm. Plus it allows us to revisit our favorite monsters without feeling like the franchise is repeating itself. 

Like the first of these movies, this sequel benefits from the perfect cast. Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Geller, Matthew Lillard (who currently has become the voice of Shaggy in the animated shows and movies) and Linda Cardellini fit the roles of the Mystery Inc. better than any other live action actors ever could. It truly is like watching the cartoon characters come to life. I can't imagine even those who hate these movies could find anything bad to say about the casting. 

On the downside the CGI is quite dated by today's standards and some of it can look surprisingly bad. There are also some jokes in which the timing simply doesn't work as well as it should.