Scooby-Doo (2002)

 

This 2002 film marked the first live action Scooby-Doo movie and Scooby's first film to be released theatrically. 

In this movie, the Mystery Inc. Gang splits apart after a big fight. Two years later, the entire gang is invited to solve a mystery on a theme park called Spooky Island. However, this proves to be a much more dangerous mystery than the gang has solved before as something truly supernatural is happing here. 

There is a lot to love about this movie. Even the film's biggest distractors must admit that the casting is perfect here. Matthew Lillard (Shaggy), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Fred), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Daphne), Linda Cardellini (Velma) and Neil Fanning (the voice of Scooby) are simply wonderful and are as close as you can ever come to capturing the cartoon character in live action (though Scooby is CGI). They even look like the cartoon characters come to life (again with the exception of Scooby who is CGI). Matthew Lillard was so perfect that he would later become the voice of Shaggy in the cartoons. Another way this film captures the feel of the cartoon is in its sense of atmosphere. The sets are wonderfully atmospheric and gives this movie a unique and fun look that stays with you. These sets are equal parts spooky, imaginative and fun, just like any Scooby-Doo movie should be. The use of lighting also adds a lot to this movie's wonderfully effective look as does location shooting in Australia (much on Tangalooma Island resort in Moreton Island). As well as being very atmospheric this film is quite a bit darker than the average Scooby mystery and features a few legitimately creepy moments. Yet they are not so creepy as to take away from the fun feel. The comedic moments may not always hit but when they do, they can be laugh out loud funny. Even Shaggy's romance with a girl named Mary Jane (Isla Fisher) is quite effective and has a good twist.

The main problem with this film however is its treatment of Scrappy-Doo. I understand that the filmmakers (as well as many cartoon fans) were not a fan of the character of Scrappy and that he is an easy comedic target. However, this simply comes off as too mean spirited and at odds with the rest of the movie. It can even make our main characters seem too unlikable in one scene. If this scene was a cut-away on Family Guy, I could see it being pretty funny. However in an actual Scooby-Doo movie, where we are supposed to like the characters, it is at odds with the rest of the film. Some of the CGI has also dated poorly which is to be expected from a movie from 2002. 

This movie was directed by Raja Gosnell. Gosnell's other directorial efforts include Home Alone 3 (1997), Never Been Kissed (1999), Big Momma's House (2000), Yours, Mine & Ours (2005), Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008), The Smurfs (2011) and The Smurfs 2 (2013). His work may not be exactly critically praised but it was often very successful at the box office. 

The writer was none other than James Gunn, who would go on to direct the Guardians of the Galaxy films and Superman (2025) as well as the current head of DC Comics' theatrical films. James Gunn would later tell that this movie was not originally made to be family friendly but rather an R rated movie, meant for adults. However, over time Warner Brothers kept pushing for this movie to be more family friendly, preferring a movie kids could go see. James Gunn stated about this, “The first cut was rated R by the MPAA, and the female stars’ cleavage was CGI’d away so as not to offend. But, you know, such is life. I had a lot of fun making this movie, regardless of all that. And I was also able to eat, buy a car, and a house because of it.”

Despite coming out the same summer as Disney's Lilo and Stitch (2002), this movie was a box office success ranking number one at the box office on its opening weekend. Critical reviews were quite poor; however audiences greatly enjoyed the movie, and it is still a favorite of many who were kids at the time. It has even gained a cult like status in recent years. Due to this film's popularity James Gunn stated, “I was offered every movie you can imagine. Like, uh, the Jabberjaw movie, and The Jetsons movie, and the Captain Caveman movie. I was offered tons of money to do all of these things. So, of course, me being me, I chose to write Dawn of the Dead. Go figure out my brain, who knows.”

Though I may not be a fan of this movie's version of Scrappy-Doo, I love everything else about this charmer of a movie. 

Resources Used

https://www.thewrap.com/scooby-doo-was-initially-rated-r-says-james-gunn/

https://www.tangalooma.com/blog-articles/resort-news-blog/2017/spooky-island-the-scooby-doo-movie