Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed is spooky comedy based on the children’s animated television series from the late 1960s and is the second in the Scooby-Doo film franchise. A mix of live-action and CGI, it was financial success but critically chided. Naturally, like every movie, it has one great moment.
The gang at Mystery Inc., including Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Velma (Linda Cardellini), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) and of course the titular Scooby (voiced by Neil Fanning) celebrate the opening of an exhibition of their past exploits at the Coolsonian Criminology Museum. But the fun is interrupted by a mysterious (or not so mysterious) masked evil-doer who steals costumes worn by previously vanquished foes and unleashes, as the title hints, monsters with a secret ingredient called randomonium. Now it’s up the the gang to track down whose behind the scheme and of course, save the city amusement park.
Our One-Line Alliterative Summary
Directed by Raja Gosnell, Scooby-Doo 2 follows the standard set by the first with lots of silliness and sub-par CGI but should appeal to younger viewers while fans of the long-running and much beloved animated series might enjoy some of the staples of the cartoon, but this isn’t much more than a simple excuse to cobble together more of the same from the dismal first. The actors are all game though and do a fine job with Lillard the stand-out who seems destined for Shaggy-iness. Watching it is a rather innocuous experience with no laughs beyond some smirks earned from the shenanigans between Shaggy and Scooby, though some of the monsters are creative and appropriately goofy. For a very, rainy day only.
The Great Moment
This moment is all about teamwork and begins when the gang suspects that an old nemesis is behind the new trouble and discover a book about creating monsters in the mansion of Jeremiah Wickles (Peter Boyle), aka, the Black Knight Ghost’s. They then find the abandoned silver mine where the rare randomonium is mined and learn Wickles is planning on turning it into an amusement park (a nice nod to the animated series), but also learn that Wickles partner in crime, Jacobo (Time Blake Nelson) was actually not his friend and the two have become enemies. Not long after, the gang find the “monster hive” where all the costumes stolen from the museum are being brought to life.
Unsurprisingly, Shaggy and Scooby fumble around with the controls and inadvertently unleash the monsters, whom terrorize the town, though the gang realizes that they can defeat them by reversing the wiring, rigging up a control panel that will do the trick. But, they have to fight their way back and do so by taking on a number of ghoulies and ghosts. The moment takes inspiration from the classic cartoon where the cast run and tangle with often bigger than life foes, finding clever ways to best the ultra-stylized monsters that do little more than pose and make loud noises. All in good fun, the moment capitalizes on the Scooby-Doo lore and while the CGI creatures are not as fun or charismatic as their cartoon counterparts, at least reminds us (minus the flatulence) of the classic TV show. Sadly, no Harlem Globetrotters.