SCOOBY DOO 2
MONSTERS UNLEASHED

"Scooby Dooby Doo"

At the grand opening of a museum exhibit dedicated to the masked villains apprehended by Mystery Inc over their many adventures, the gang are confronted by a new foe that has the power to make the fake monsters real. Suffering a crushing defeat at his hand, Fred (Prinze Jr.), Daphne (Gellar), Velma (Cardellini), Shaggy (Lillard) and Scooby Doo have to solve this mystery to regain their reputation in Coolsville but this means going up against the toughest foes they have encountered but this time they are real.

Scooby and the Gang return for their second adventure and the good news for fans is that it is more of the same high-jinx.

The first movie was fun but nothing special. The story was flimsy at best but the main villain reveal at the end was a real highlight. What made it memorable were the performances of Matthew Lillard as Shaggy and Linda Cardellini as Velma. The good news is that the filmmakers have realised this and made those two characters the emphasis of the sequel.

To quote a good friend "Matthew Lillard was born to play Shaggy" and this is probably his career-defining role. The lives and breathes the way out Hippy and is probably one of the best TV to film characterisations to grace the silver screen. This is real credit to an actor who usually comes across as annoying and not very talented in every other role he has ever played.

Linda Cardellini is becoming a really good character actor and the role of Velma shows this to be true. If you have seen her in TVs "ER" or "Freaks and Geeks" you will know that she is as far from Velma's geeky persona as you could get. This is a very talented and beautiful woman playing a geek's dream and she does it really well.

Freddy Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar are fine as Fred and Daphne but their characters were never the most interesting in the cartoon anyway. Fred just comes across as being full of himself again and Daphne is just played as a more purple fashion conscious version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The support is also better in this one. Seth Green is as likeable as ever as Velma's love interest. He is an actor who can play the geek with real charm and also has a gift for comedy. Peter Boyle and Tim Blake Nelson are also good even though they are not on screen for two long. The same can be said of Alicia Silverstone but it is just nice to see her on the big screen again anyway.

The computer-generated animation of Scooby Doo has been greatly improved from the original but it still isn't that great compared to other CG characters like Yoda, Hulk and Gollum. Scooby and some of the villains look far too CG in places, making the effects look very cheap but cheerful. Scooby is still a good character however and he really interacts well with Shaggy, much to the credit of Lillard.

The story is a lot better in this one, with the gang having to face all of their previous foes who appeared on the opening credits of the TV show. It also twists and turns enough to keep you guessing who the masked villain really is and throws in a few good laughs along the way.

Scooby Doo 2: Monster Unleashed is just as much fun as the original movie. Kids will laugh at the antics of Shaggy and Scooby and the adults will remember the medley of ghosts from the cartoon that the gang have to face. Now where are those Scooby snacks?

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is very good. The picture quality is first rate, accentuating the bold colours of Scooby and the gang and cartoon look of Coolsville. The sound quality is also very good, especially when the monsters appear.

BONUS FEATURES

Deleted Scenes (7.15 mins)
With optional commentary by director Raja Gosnell, these seven deleted scenes entitled "Wickles Hallway", "Museum Robbery", "Westside Pickeackulas", "Psycho Street", "Lil' Skelly Fella", "Skelly Gun" and "I love you Scoob", don't really add much to the movie but the director does explain why they were removed.

Triple Threat Featurette (10.21 mins)
Scooby-Doo takes his Scooby-Cam behind the scenes of the movie. He talks to production designer Bill Bones, fight choreographer James Bamford, visual effects supervisors Peter Crossman and Betsy Petterson, animation director Leon Joosen, art director Mike Meeker and stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prince Jr, Alicia Silverstone, Seth Green, Linda Cardellini and Matthew Lillard as he reveals the secrets of the sets, stunts and the special effects.

True Ghoul Hollywood Story (5.47 mins)
Are the villains in Scooby-Doo just misunderstood people who suffered a bad childhood, this featurette investigates why so-called monsters like 'The Candy Cotton Glob', 'Redbeard's Ghost' and 'The Ozark Witch' turned to a life of crime.

Dancing Dog (5.30 mins)
Animation director Leon Joosen, visual effects supervisor Betsy Petterson, dance choreographer Anne Fletcher and stars Linda Cardellini and Sarah Michelle Gellar reveal how Scooby-Doo learnt to dance to well in all that disco gear.

The Scooby-Doo Monsters Unleashed Challenge
Shaggy and Scooby host an interactive mystery where you have to travel around Coolsville finding clues to help the gang.

Behind-the-mystery Mystery: The Mystery of the Missing Pants
KCLS reporter Gretchen Saunders challenges you to find the clues that you reveal who has stolen Shaggy's pants. The clues are hidden in secret places throughout the DVD and it is up to you to find them.

Music videos (7.39 mins)
Your chance to watch the Scooby-Doo promotional music videos "The Things You Do (We Wanna Thank you)" performed by Big Brovaz and "Don't Wanna Think About You" performed by Simple Plan.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban trailer (1.40 mins)
Watch a preview of the third Harry Potter movie.

OVERALL

A fun kids movie gets the fun kids DVD treatment in a good package. The bonus features are above average, though more aimed at the younger audience that the movie fan. A commentary track from either the director (who strangely comments on the deleted scenes but not the film) or the cast (A Shaggy and Scooby track would have been great) would have only added to the value. This aside, fans of the movie will not be disappointed with the latest Scooby-Doo DVD.

DVD

Scooby Doo

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2004