SCOOBY-DOO (2002) ** Thin-plotted, like the twenty minute cartoon, just five times as long. Which basically means that every scene takes about five times as long as it needs to, and its entertainment value is reduced by a measure of five. They did a fair job with the sets and particularly the monsters, and Matthew Lillard is as much like a cartoon as anyone can be, which is something of a complement in this context. I like the concept of a quasi-artsy, self-deprecating Scooby film, but Lillard is the only actor from this ensemble that I'd keep. Sarah Michelle Gellar compensates for the Daphne character's lack of personality by making her shrill and irritating, and Freddie Prinze Jr. may be a Freddie but he lacks the steadfast attributes of Fred. For her part Velma gets hit on by a guy in a Led Zeppelin t-shirt. So it's basically people trying to be like beloved cartoons but filling in perceived incomplete areas with their own dubious attributes and interpretation. The action sequences are ubiquitous and cartoonesque, the carnival looks like a lot of ominous fun, Isla Fisher is a good name for an aquatic love interest, and Rowan Atkinson, as always, steals every single scene that he's in (especially when he emerges from the depths). For once in my life I was happy to see a dog taken off to the pound, and yes they got the right dog.
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