Review by Logan Kenny
I have a lot of opinions on Scooby Doo. It’s not exactly the franchise you expect a grown man to have passionate articulate opinions on; the cartoon series about the world’s hungriest dog and his mystery solving friends isn’t something that tends to inspire deep personal reflection, but it’s always meant a lot to me. There’s the mystery element of every installment that makes each story immediately interesting and fun to dive into, there’s the lightly spooky and fun tone that looms over everything, there’s a talking dog who loves food, and there’s the group: these five friends, all so drastically different from each other yet connected by the hip. The love these people have for each other, the comfort of watching them figure out a case, the delicious food that Shaggy and Scooby – the rhythms of the franchise just work for me. Each new series or film has its own distinctive spin on the formula, with some of the best coming from the more thoughtful depictions of the supernatural in Zombie Island and Witch’s Ghost in the late 90s.
Scoob!, however, is dramatically different in every way. From the key narrative elements, to the dynamic of the group, to the majority of the main voice cast – it is alienating from the start. There’s an innate struggle in fairly judging a film like this since the personal connection is not a viable critique for a film’s text; it doesn’t matter if I’m mad at a movie because it’s not what I remembered as a kid. The film stands on its own and is worth talking about for what it does right and wrong on its own terms, but at the same time, it would be wrong to not discuss the ways it adapts and attempts to evolve the franchise as a whole. It’s okay for things to change! There just has to be a reason for them. A major argument in favour of making meaningful changes to the Scooby Doo formula is Zombie Island – the best film in the series – which makes the monsters explicitly real instead of an elaborate illusion. Zombie Island’s differences are distinct, but it keeps the core stuff that truly matters, and that makes the reinvention feel refreshing and nostalgic. Without new ideas, changes merely smear the edges of something unique into generic children’s animation.
That’s Scoob’s main problem. All the changes seem designed to dilute the spirit of a series that has extremely long-lasting and recognisable appeal to begin with! It’s not like the series is some radically experimental niche franchise; it’s one of the most recognisable and beloved works of art ever made for children! Neither is it something like Batman, which is a character that has so many different interpretations on the page that different approaches cinematically are welcomed, and it’s certainly a struggling franchise that might need the bump of significant alterations – it’s Scooby Doo! What is the point of making it a Hanna-Barbera collaboration effort or taking away the mystery elements or adding a three headed dog boss battle at the end? The creators have put more effort into making Scoob more like everything else on the market for children’s animated films instead of taking the easier and better route of just making a great Scooby Doo movie for a new generation of kids!
The most important difference is the majority of the established voice cast being changed to famous film and television actors, with all but Frank Welker as Scooby getting replaced. Even Matthew Lillard, who played Shaggy in the two theatrically released live action films and is arguably a more famous performer than his replacement (Will Forte), wasn’t invited to come back for this. Thankfully the original voice cast is still performing on the Direct to Video films, which have been going strong for the last two and a half decades, but it’s a heartbreaking decision for the cast who have such attachments to these roles and deserved the paychecks for a big budget cinematic release. Scoob’s recasting of these key roles shows the continued apathy towards voice performers in modern animation, with an increased focus on expensive famous talent voicing the main cast of characters instead of using professionals who would do a better job. It doesn’t make any sense to change the cast, especially when children do not care about which mildly famous TV actor has been cast to play Velma. All this casting does is diminish the hard work of the regular cast who’ve devoted years of their lives to the 2D animated films. No change to the film’s core is as important as losing the voices that made the films and television so special. They didn’t even keep Frank Welker as Fred and he’s in this film playing Scooby! That’s ridiculous!
Welker is, admittedly, solid as Scooby. He’s not doing anything particularly mesmerising due to the screenplay’s limitations, but the first scene he’s in and some of the more dramatic moments are well sold by his emotional quivering and the joy he effortlessly conveys. Zac Efron as Fred is one of the most notable shifts; whenever he’s leaning directly into the comedy, he is excellent but the general tone of his voice isn’t bold enough. Efron’s one of the most melancholic performers in the world right now so the more subdued qualities of his voice generally aren’t surprising, but he’s definitely got some growing to do. Amanda Seyfried as Daphne is probably the best of the replacements, she’s basically just Daphne, recognisably herself while fulfilling all the traits of the character solidly. Gina Rodriguez as this new Velma though is a disaster – unquestionably awful. Her vocal range is all wrong, with her voice being way too deep and expressionless for Velma’s higher, passionate delivery. Rodriguez delivers Velma’s sequences of analysis and discovery with none of the affable joy of investigation, there’s no clear satisfaction over figuring out a problem and getting to explain the developments to the gang, it’s just the most monotone possible reading every time. Will Forte as Shaggy gets better the longer he appears and you can tell he’s having a good time in the role, but it’s just not right, it doesn’t feel natural at all. He sounds more like an impression than a professional taking on the role, especially in scenes where he’s not bouncing off of Welker.
The new voice cast is almost exclusively tied to the Hanna Barbera crossover world that this film’s trying to make its thing, with Mark Wahlberg as Blue Falcon(‘s son) and Jason Isaacs as the villainous Dick Dastardly taking up much of the runtime. Isaacs is fun and fits voice acting well with his expressive melodramatic delivery, the way he says every line makes him feel like the most despicable villain to ever grace this universe which is the exact vibe you’re looking for in a children’s antagonist. Dick Dastardly’s inclusion overall feels like a mistake, but that’s no fault of Isaacs, who once again proves how naturally talented he is. Wahlberg is a surprising highlight, transitioning into full blown voice acting incredibly well, getting all the best parts of his high pitched naivety across. He’s just a sincere dude with no real emotional intelligence or an ability to push past his perceived limitations, and Wahlberg gets that perfectly.
The narrative of Scoob is ridiculous on a surface level because there’s no mystery! There is simply not a mystery! In the mystery series Scooby Doo! There comes a time where subversion of established expectation and franchise convention goes out the window and becomes something else entirely, and that’s when this movie decides not to be a mystery but a weirdo superhero movie that sucks shit. The central narrative is just Shaggy and Scooby getting beamed up by the superhero Blue Falcon to fulfill a destiny from Alexander the Great while fighting off the deadly Dick Dastardly, as Fred, Daphne and Velma go on a road trip to find them. Mysteries are so simple! Just have someone mysterious doing something, have the gang do some investigating, then have a climatic set-piece where they outsmart or stumble their way into revealing them! Sometimes the formula is the way to go. They are called Mystery Incorporated – if your movie doesn’t have a tangible mystery or at least a melancholic vibe, then you’ve probably made an error of judgement.
All of the dialogue comes from a robot that generates pop culture references, hearing a Scooby Doo film have characters talk about Kelly Clarkson, Netflix and Tinder of all things is something that I didn’t need to hear. The film has the issue of the majority of contemporary children’s animation in that it has a desperation to appeal to the Internet Age, believing that throwing together a collection of references and a soundtrack of hits will be able to manifest a successful box office.
Relying on formula isn’t always a bad thing, like it isn’t with the best Scooby Doo episodes and movies. These are works by people with ideas of how to perfectly execute a unique version of a well tested system. Relying on data created by machines and social media observers to write motion pictures is absolutely the wrong way to use a formula. This is algorithmic cinema – it feels like it was conceptualized by randomiser in an effort to make a movie that feels just like Small Foot or Onward or Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s clear where the priorities of Warner Bros were when planning this.
Why are Dick Dastardly and Blue Falcon in this movie? Because Warner Bros wants another cinematic universe and is using this as a foundational point for an animated one, using a beloved IP to spread some love for some more lesser known ones. These people are here because they hope they can make more money if these characters show up, this is a Hanna Barbera crossover movie because they can channel that into future movies and channel those into future movies.
I care about Scoob making these changes to a series, not because I’m a giant baby who can’t handle differences, but because what they’ve turned it into is sad. Scooby Doo has sold out for money so many times – he’s rode with the Harlem Globetrotters, with Batman, with the goddamn WWE crew for WrestleMania – but there has always been a group dynamic and a mystery. But now we have Simon Cowell insulting Shaggy and Scooby’s duet of “Shallow” over a diner table.