Throughout the ages one hero has cowered above the rest.
Two years after a clash of egos forced Mystery Inc to close its doors, Scooby-Doo and his clever crime-solving cohorts Fred (Freddie Prinze Junior), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) and Velma (Linda Cardellini) are individually summoned to Spooky Island to investigate a series of paranormal incidents at the ultra-hip Spring Break hot spot.
Concerned that his frightfully popular resort might truly be haunted, Spooky Island owner Emile Mondavarious (Rowan Atkinson) tries to reunite those notoriously meddling detectives to solve the mystery before his supernatural secret scares away the university crowds. Scooby and the gang will have to overcome their personal differences and forget everything they think they know about fake ghouls and phony creatures to crack the case, save themselves and possibly... the world.
Special Agent Matti
An average attempt at resurrecting a TV show for the big screen. Some parts are excellent (Matthew Lillard does a great Shaggy), some parts are ok (Digi-Scoob), some parts are questionable (Buffy reincarnates as Daphne). The decision to bring the gang forward to the 21st century worked well for the Brady Bunch (even though they only reached the 1990s) because the Bradys were abnormal even in their own time. For Mystery Inc it makes them seem less than real. (Ok, sure, they're cartoon characters, but no matter how few dimensions a person has, they still deserve some semblance of reality.) That is why the writers split the gang for two years (to add another dimension), pity it didn't work. They just come across as cardboard cut-outs with a bit of fluff tacked on. Fred, Daphne, Velma and especially Shaggy are products of psychadelia and should stay in their native culture, otherwise they're like fish out of water.
There was no reason to cast Rowan Atkinson as the bad guy. He adds nothing to the character and less to the film. What were they thinking?
As for the story (weird things happening at holiday resort), it's neither original nor deep. Were this film an episode of the animated series it might well fit in, but in the live action big screen world it doesn't cut the mustard.
You might not enjoy this version but you will be entertained; nevertheless, Scooby-Doo has revived enough happy memories to enough old people that a sequel is already under way.
86 minutes (1:26 hours)
Film: 20 June 2002
DVD retail: 2 December 2002
VHS retail: 2 December 2002