Scoob! Is one of the few films that was released during the pandemic, back in May when the coronavirus was at full swing and all theaters were closed. Like many films released during this period, Scoob was dumped on some streaming service. It was a movie that few watched and fewer still talked about. However, I am one of those people, and I can safely say that Scoob! Was lackluster at best.
The first fifteen minutes of Scoob! Is dedicated to a sequence that took place when the Scooby-Do gang were just a bunch of kids and how they solved their first mystery together. This is an example of the first opening minutes of the movie providing a far more interesting plot than what we ended up with. I would have much preferred a Scooby-Do origin story with them as kids. It could have been about their first adventures, the evolution of their friendships, and how they got their Mystery Machine.
I've always felt that the characters of the Mystery Inc. Gang are usually underdeveloped, both in the films and the shows. Having a story with them as kids would have been a unique concept that could have added more depth to their characters. Sadly, this opening sequence is mostly there to set up Scooby and Shaggy's friendship, and once that's done, we get to the main story.
The plot then kicks in. Shaggy and Scooby are rescued by a team of superheroes who want to stop Dick Dastardly from collecting skulls. These heroes include a robotic dog, a woman, and the cowardly son of a hero. I won't go into much detail about them, because there aren't any details to get into. What I just stated is essentially what we get from these characters. I honestly think that they were just there to provide some exposition about the villain and so the company could sell superhero toys as merchandise.
Velma, Daphne and Fred get shafted in favor of these new characters. They get a disappointing amount of screen time in a subplot that barely matters in the overall story. What's worse is, you could have removed the superhero characters and just focused on the main cast and the plot would be a lot better for it. The Mystery Inc. Could have hunted down Dick Dastardly themselves, but instead the film needlessly overcomplicates its story.
Scooby-Do and Shaggy's friendship is the emotional crux of the story. Initially Scooby and Shaggy are best friends, but then Scooby decides to leave behind his old life. But Shaggy doesn't want him to leave, leading to a big fight between the two. Then Shaggy realizes that he was acting selfishly, leading to a heroic sacrifice when they split up forever.
If that sounds familiar, that's because it's been done by many animated movies in the past. A few examples immediately come to mind, such as Wreck-it-Ralph 2, Frozen 2, and Toy story 4. In all those films the protagonist and his or her best friend split up by the end of the movie.
The main difference is that Scoob! Doesn't commit to its emotional climax, and instead Shaggy's 'sacrifice' is just bait-and-switch, and he and Scooby are reunited thirty seconds later. Its always pretty lame when a movie is built towards an emotional moment the whole time, only for that moment to get undone for the sake of an all-out happy ending.
The animation is actually impressive, and the colorful style suits the light-hearted tone of the film. Despite this, there were several inconsistencies with the human designs. Some characters look overly cartoonish, while others look uncannily real.
The soundtrack had several pop songs, the kind of songs that are really oversaturated on the internet, and were pretty jarring to hear in the film. There are also a lot of pop culture references that felt tiring and pandering. The jokes range from bad to awful. It reminds me of bad high school films that feel the need to be 'hip' and 'cool', but just come across as cringeworthy.
Ultimately, Scoob! Is just another reboot to a franchise that doesn't need one. It seems almost ashamed of its source material, there is no mystery element to the story (even though that's what the gang are known for), and it's one of those films that completely relies on nostalgia to keep your attention. Do not recommend.
The first fifteen minutes of Scoob! Is dedicated to a sequence that took place when the Scooby-Do gang were just a bunch of kids and how they solved their first mystery together. This is an example of the first opening minutes of the movie providing a far more interesting plot than what we ended up with. I would have much preferred a Scooby-Do origin story with them as kids. It could have been about their first adventures, the evolution of their friendships, and how they got their Mystery Machine.
I've always felt that the characters of the Mystery Inc. Gang are usually underdeveloped, both in the films and the shows. Having a story with them as kids would have been a unique concept that could have added more depth to their characters. Sadly, this opening sequence is mostly there to set up Scooby and Shaggy's friendship, and once that's done, we get to the main story.
The plot then kicks in. Shaggy and Scooby are rescued by a team of superheroes who want to stop Dick Dastardly from collecting skulls. These heroes include a robotic dog, a woman, and the cowardly son of a hero. I won't go into much detail about them, because there aren't any details to get into. What I just stated is essentially what we get from these characters. I honestly think that they were just there to provide some exposition about the villain and so the company could sell superhero toys as merchandise.
Velma, Daphne and Fred get shafted in favor of these new characters. They get a disappointing amount of screen time in a subplot that barely matters in the overall story. What's worse is, you could have removed the superhero characters and just focused on the main cast and the plot would be a lot better for it. The Mystery Inc. Could have hunted down Dick Dastardly themselves, but instead the film needlessly overcomplicates its story.
Scooby-Do and Shaggy's friendship is the emotional crux of the story. Initially Scooby and Shaggy are best friends, but then Scooby decides to leave behind his old life. But Shaggy doesn't want him to leave, leading to a big fight between the two. Then Shaggy realizes that he was acting selfishly, leading to a heroic sacrifice when they split up forever.
If that sounds familiar, that's because it's been done by many animated movies in the past. A few examples immediately come to mind, such as Wreck-it-Ralph 2, Frozen 2, and Toy story 4. In all those films the protagonist and his or her best friend split up by the end of the movie.
The main difference is that Scoob! Doesn't commit to its emotional climax, and instead Shaggy's 'sacrifice' is just bait-and-switch, and he and Scooby are reunited thirty seconds later. Its always pretty lame when a movie is built towards an emotional moment the whole time, only for that moment to get undone for the sake of an all-out happy ending.
The animation is actually impressive, and the colorful style suits the light-hearted tone of the film. Despite this, there were several inconsistencies with the human designs. Some characters look overly cartoonish, while others look uncannily real.
The soundtrack had several pop songs, the kind of songs that are really oversaturated on the internet, and were pretty jarring to hear in the film. There are also a lot of pop culture references that felt tiring and pandering. The jokes range from bad to awful. It reminds me of bad high school films that feel the need to be 'hip' and 'cool', but just come across as cringeworthy.
Ultimately, Scoob! Is just another reboot to a franchise that doesn't need one. It seems almost ashamed of its source material, there is no mystery element to the story (even though that's what the gang are known for), and it's one of those films that completely relies on nostalgia to keep your attention. Do not recommend.