Will Forte

Frank Welker

Mark Wahlberg

Jason Isaacs

Ken Jeong

Amanda Seyfried

Gina Rodriguez

Zac Efron

Iain Armitage

Ariana Greenblatt

Mckenna Grace

Pierce Gagnon

Kiersey Clemons

Tracy Morgan

Simon Cowell

Harry Perry

Kevin Heffernan

Christina Hendricks

Henry Winkler

John DiMaggio

Ira Glass

Henry Kaufman

Maya Erskine

Billy West

Don Messick

Fred Tatasciore

Kennedy Peil

John McDaniel

Ryan Folsey

Justina Machado

Pam Coats

Tony Cervone

Alex Kauffman

Vanara Taing

Sarah Lancia

Eric Cowell

Maven Morgan

Adam Sztykiel

Michael Kurinsky

Chiranjiv Makwana

Noëlle Raffaele

Tom Ruegger

Dan Povenmire

Matt Lieberman

Andy Horwitz

Allison Abbate

Rico Nasty

Pink Sweat$

Jack Harlow

Charlie Puth

Ava Max

Tom Holkenborg

Eyal Podell

Jack Donaldson

Derek Elliott

Charles Roven

Gabe Hilfer

Mike Fortner

Jonathon E. Stewart

Stephen W. Childers

Emil Mitev

Bill Haller

Jesse Ehrman

Rafael Zentil

Richard Suckle

Chris Columbus

Timothy Jason Smith

Tony Cosanella

Ruth Lambert

Didier Ah-Koon

Joe Haidar

Ricardo F. Delgado

Danelle Davenport

Tal Fishman

Ken Spears

Joe Ruby

Animation

Comedy

Family

Mystery

Scoob!

Warner Bros. Pictures Animation

Warner Bros. Pictures

Atlas Entertainment

1492 Pictures

Canada

United States of America

English

friendship

superhero

villain

heroism

talking dog

prequel

friends

based on cartoon

criminal investigation

boy and dog

caveman

fright

bitter

SWITCH.

I guess I can commend Warner Bros. for attempting to revitalise their Scooby-Doo brand and give parents something to show their kids while they've been stuck at home, but when there's a plethora of new and old (much, much better) kid's films, the best thing would be to Scooby-Dooby-do your kids a favour and skip this one.
- Ashley Teresa

Read Ashley's full article...
https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-scoob-mystery-swapped-for-money-hungry-mayhem

Manuel São Bento

If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free reviews, please follow my blog @
https://www.msbreviews.com

I was never the biggest fan of Scooby-Doo's animated cartoon when I was young. I enjoyed it like any other kid who enjoys almost everything, but it was never a show that made me nervously excited during the day, waiting for it to come on TV. I vividly remember getting pumped, knowing that a new episode of Dragon Ball Z or Timon & Pumba would broadcast on that particular day. I never felt that way with Scooby-Doo, and honestly, I don't know why. I was always curious about sci-fi and "what lies beyond", so maybe the fact that the goal of the show was to justify every single paranormal activity with some "guy in a mask" didn't really appeal to the kid in me...

Either way, I still liked the series, and my memory is filled with all of the show's classic signatures: the (double or even triple) un-masking of the villains, Scooby jumping to Shaggy's arms because they both got scared, the ridiculously large sandwiches, you name it. Ironically, the biggest compliment I can give the film also relates to its major flaw. For any fan of the show, these classic moments will provide high levels of nostalgia and entertainment, so anyone who comes looking for that will definitely get what they desire.

However, even though Scoob! is far from feeling like a corporate flick packed with product placement (looking at you, Sonic the Hedgehog), I can't help but feel that the studio was embarrassed by its own property. They try so hard to make this movie belong to 2020 that they completely forgot about what makes the show special for so many people. From the weirdly confusing song selection to the way too modern plot points, Scoob! 's narrative distinctly follows an Avengers-style plot (including an obvious allusion to Captain America holding his shield) focusing strongly on the superhero theme.

They didn't believe that Mystery Inc. and the (successful) formulaic story were enough to hold the target audience's attention, so they decided to borrow from one of the most entertaining and financially impactful genres of today, losing the essence of their own IP. Therefore, despite Scoob! having almost all of the cartoon's classic scenes, it still feels detached from the source material. In addition to this, if you're not a fan of Scooby-Doo and if you don't know anything about it, then don't expect this film to explain anything to you.

Fred, Velma, and Daphne get separated from Shaggy and Scooby early on (due to a hilariously dumb scene that only kids will accept), so almost no character development occurs within the first group of people. This movie focuses more on the pair's adventure and their relationship dynamics (which are explored in a cliche yet efficient manner), leaving 3/5 of the Mystery Inc. feeling left off. Actually, now that I think about it, Scoob! doesn't even have a mystery to solve!

In the cartoons, every episode is about discovering what or who's causing a specific paranormal event. This film basically follows that formula for the first fifteen minutes (which serve as an origin story of the gang) and then takes an entirely different path story-wise. I'm not going to complain about the plot's absurdity because it's undeniably a kids' movie, but these forced attempts to adapt Scooby-Doo to 2020 are what ruin the whole thing for me. The voice acting is great, though, and hearing Frank Welker interpret Scooby again is incredibly joyful.

All in all, Scoob! possesses almost all of the classic moments from the original cartoon, which will surely leave fans of the series satisfied and feeling that heartwarming nostalgia. In addition to this, the voice work is really good for the most part, especially from the legend, Frank Welker as Scooby. However, the studio hurts the film with countless attempts to adapt the formulaic yet successful screenplay that the show employed for decades into 2020. From the superhero-like plot to the lack of a central mystery, Tony Cervone finds himself in a writing mess (four screenwriters and three "story by" credits) from a company ashamed of its own product. If you're a hardcore fan of the animated show, this movie might leave you satisfied. But if you don't share a special connection with these characters and their classic adventures, or if you don't know anything about this franchise at all, Scoob! not only doesn't care to introduce or develop its characters, but it definitely isn't going to convert you.

Rating: C-

It was an okay Scooby-Doo movie for the kids. The animation looks great and for the most part the voice talents were good, especially Zac Efron as Fred was great, as were Gina Rodriguez and Amanda Seyfried as Velma and Daphne respectively. However, wasn't that thrilled with Will Forte's Shaggy (still think Matthew Lillard has been perfect thus far, I know they wanted a name, but doubt star power sells movies nowadays).

Anyway, it was a serviceable enough animated flick, personally I'm not a fan of the supernatural plots when it comes to the Scooby-Doo franchise, but fine for the family, so long as you're not an entrenched fan, I can see why some may hate this iteration. **3.25/5**

CinemaSerf

Never my favourites of cartoon characters, this sadly doesn't really do much better than the pretty far-fetched, slapstick, animation series from the 1970s. It starts off by way of an explanation as to how the young "Shaggy" and his eponymous canine pal initially hooked up, before jumping forwards to present day where the two, along with the rest of the "Mystery Inc." gang, must work together to thwart an evil plan to unleash the legendary guardian of the Underworld - a spectral form of Cerberus - on mankind. To be fair, it doesn't hang around and the animation quality keeps the style fairly similar to the original television series; it's just that the writing is really lacklustre and cheesy with the characters - for me, at any rate - just downright irritating, playing to just about every stereotype imaginable. The reveals at the end were always pretty silly, and here is no different - it's all just too lightweight and disappointing. I'd have backed Cerberus any day. Perhaps it is just aiming for a nostalgic audience of adults who recall it more fondly than I do? In any case, I really cannot see this resonating with the kids today and maybe this is one cinema release that lockdown did us all favour by restricting.

Scoob!( 2020)

Mystery loves company.

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A review by SWITCH.

Written by SWITCH. on Mon Jun 01 2020

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