Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

Zoinks!!! Mystery Inc. is at it again. Shaggy, Scooby and the rest of the gang are back in action in Monsters Unleashed! In this, the sequel to the 2001 blockbuster hit, we find our favorite crime fighters on the trail of a mysterious masked figure who is hell bent on not only sullying the now spotless reputation of the gang, but destroying Coolsville itself! All five members of the original cast are back and better than ever, including an advanced CGI version of everyone’s favorite talking pooch.

As someone who grew up spending everyday day after school trying to solve mysteries right alongside this quirky bunch I’m right up there among the most critical of fans and in all honesty, I could not stop smiling through the entire film.

Director Raja Goswell and Screenwriter James Gunn do a near flawless job of merging the greatest aspects of the original cartoon with a ton of new and exciting elements including a stretch limousine version of the Mystery Machine and a swanky new pad complete with a state of the art crime lab and of course an extra large refrigerator.

Some of the more compelling nods back to the original cartoon include the signature arial running in place from monsters, the exaggerated tip toeing through spooky rooms and the unforgettable moving bushes routine to cloak an attempted stealthy approach to the monsters hide out. These touches, while subtle, add legitimacy to the film and an obvious respect for the material that make a huge impact on the audience even if only on a subconscious level.

The advances in the special effects are also somewhat subtle, which is not to say that they haven’t improved much, it just seems as though the effects in the first film were so remarkable, that there really wasn’t that much room for advancement. Some of the lighting effects and details in Scooby’s eyes are noticeable but other than that they only real difference from the first film is the sheer number of CGI Monsters that we’re dealing with.

Once again, as in the first, Linda Cardellini and Matthew Lillard both give amazingly convincing performances as Velma and Shaggy. One wonders how the studio can bill them second to Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar who give such bland, almost embarrassing, characterless performances just because they are “bigger box office names.” (Just a side note, they didn’t even bother to show up to help promote the movie, what does that tell you?)

Both Linda and Matt could have been wearing any cloths in any situation and the characters of Velma and Shaggy would still have been clear as a bell. For Freddie and Sarah, even with the costumes, the backgrounds and for god sake even the CGI’d Scooby; they were still hard to swallow as Fred and

Daphne.

Not to harp too much on the Fred and Daphne problems with the film, but as everyone knows and was acknowledged in the first film, Fred was always the muscle and Daphne was the reliable source of woman’s intuition in the gang. In this film however, the positions are reversed as Buffy, ohh sorry, I mean Daphne is a crazy tough kick boxer and Fred is the biggest wimp in the group. Had Scrappy been back for the sequel I think even he could have handed Fred his ass on a platter. Just sad"¦

The new additions to the Scooby universe on the other hand melded really well with the existing cast. Seth Green who seems to be everywhere these days, comes across as the perfect, “Bad guy-Good guy-Can’t tell,” character who single handedly crushes the lesbian image we’ve all had of Velma for years as he successfully courts and wins her heart.

Miss Match herself, Alicia Silverstone brings about some welcome tension between boring Daphne and Fred forcing them to do something other than gazing blindingly into each others eyes and Peter Boyle throws in a creepy and convincing turn as “Old Man” Wickles.

Bottom line, if you loved the cartoon as a kid or even as an adult with kids and you enjoyed the first one, you’ll definitely enjoy the second ride in this sure to be long running film series. And you can bet that you’ll be seeing some amazing non-Scooby related projects from Linda, Matt and screenwriter James Gunn. That’s an official TheCinemaSource prediction!

Movie Grade: A-

Synopsis:

The Gang investigates the dastardly plans of a masked villain who is planning to take control of the city of Coolsville by tampering with the “Monster Machine” that reproduces Mystery, Inc’s classic foes such as The 10,000 Volt Ghost, Captain Cutler and The Creeper. Their investigation leads them to the Coolsonian Museum where they are attending a book release red carpet event, along the way they encounter the mysterious museum curator Patrick (Seth Green) and a pesky Reporter (Alicia Silverstone).