Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King

Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King (2008)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Scooby and Shaggy go to a magic show with the gang when they call out a fake magician who in return turns Fred, Velma and Daphne into monster. Scooby and Shaggy must then enter the monster underground to find a cure but first they must go up against the Goblin King. This feature is pretty uneven and I'd probably call it the weakest I've seen so far. It's certainly not a bad movie and I'm sure fans of Scooby will be entertained but there were several moments where my son's interest (as well as mine) was not fully into the picture. I think the start of the film is a lot of fun as the gang are on a roller coaster ride with all sorts of scary monsters around. The ending is also a lot of fun as Scooby and Shaggy have to dress up as Velma and Daphne to get into the Goblin King's party. This here adds some nice laughs and there's another great sequence where the duo go to a monster party. The animation during this party sequence is great and there's a lot of good imagination going on with the various creature looks. The biggest problem is in the middle of the picture where it just seems like the writers didn't know where to take the material and we've got a lot of scenes that just drag without much happening. Still, fans of Scooby should at least be mildly entertained and we even have the likes of James Belushi, Tim Curry and Wayne Knight and Jay Leno adding some vocal support.