Review By Paul Mount, 3.5 out of 5
One of the year? biggest box office hits, SCOOBY DOO was pulling in the punters even as the reviewers were raging about just how bad the film was, how devoid of any artistic merit and imagination and ingenuity. Well, what did they expect? Only the meanest-minded could loathe SCOOBY-DOO with such a passion – or only those so dulled by po-faced genre epics and sweeping arc-heavy fantasies. SCOOBY-DOO does exactly what it says on the tin – it? a live-action version of a long-running cartoon series. It? done with energy, enthusiasm, bags of fun and colour and with several clever nods to its audience? familiarity with the clich?of the cartoon some nice contemporary updating of the characters of Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby. Its?a childish cartoon writ large; there are gags for the adults, fart contests for the kids and scary monsters for everyone. Ignore the miseries and indulge yourself in some mindless fun for a change. You know it makes sense.
THE DISC: DVD was made for films like this. Bursting with vibrant colour, it? a flawless transfer but it does tend to show up some of the deficiencies of the dodgier CGI sequences. Loads of extras to; a string of deleted scenes, some of which are better than the actual film, particularly the alternative cartoon-style opening sequence and the flashback sequences excised from the airport reunion scene. Two commentaries, featurettes and other bits and pieces make up a generous collection, reasonably priced both on the high street and online.
