Scoob! is a 2020 animated film that serves as both an origin story of Shaggy and Scooby’s friendship and a reboot for the Scooby-Doo series.
Scoob! acts as both an origin story of Shaggy (Forte) and Scooby’s (Welker) friendship and a reboot for the Scooby-Doo film series. It does show how they eventually meet up with Fred (Efron), Daphne (Seyfried) and Velma (Rodriguez), and form the mystery-solving team known as Mystery Incorporated. If you’re expecting it to be what you normally remember from these characters’ spooky adventures, it’s not that at all. You’re going to be really disappointed. Instead, it’s a generic superhero flick with the two best buds being beamed up into a spaceship by the Blue Falcon (Wahlberg), and they go on a mission to stop the evil Dick Dastardly (Isaacs) from causing the “dogpocalypse”.
The animation style is pretty cool, which is obviously the best part of the film. It’s actually quite impressive seeing 3D iterations of these cartoon characters that are normally in 2D. The main voice cast does a good job for the most part, with Efron, Wahlberg and Isaacs standing out from the rest. The bummer is that Shaggy and Scooby don’t really interact that much with the other members of Mystery Inc., because the movie just wants these two teaming up with the Blue Falcon in their own separate adventure. When they do reunite, it’s too little, too late. The filmmakers are more focused on introducing to the audience some characters that have nothing to do with the Scooby-Doo franchise, as they quickly want to set up a Hanna-Barbera cinematic universe.
What’s really jarring about Scoob! is that it desperately tries so hard to appeal to millennials with lazy jokes. The first thing you’ll ask yourself after watching Scoob! is, “Why is there a Tinder joke in a kids movie?” The screenplay, written by Adam Sztykiel and Jack C. Donaldson & Derek Elliott and Matt Lieberman, has some truly unfunny moments that will make you cringe with its annoying pop culture references. For some reason, there’s even a guest appearance from Simon Cowell, which is completely unnecessary.
While kids will undeniably be entertained with Scoob!, it’s still wasted potential for not sticking to the fun spooky formula of the Scooby-Doo franchise. There’s enjoyment to be had with this movie, especially with its fun animation style and talented voice cast. However, it doesn’t change the fact that this is yet again another desperate attempt from Warner Bros. wanting to create another cinematic universe instead of making a memorable film. Ruh-roh!