Scooby-Doo et le Monstre du lac

I have been a big fan of Scooby Doo for as long as I can remember. The original series, The Scooby Doo Show and The New Scooby Doo Movies I love, Mystery Incoporated was a pleasant surprise, Shaggy and Scooby Doo:Get a Clue was a disgrace(the only one I hate) and What's New Scooby Doo and 13 Ghosts are growing on me. I have also been pleasantly surprised by most of the animated movies, and the live action ones too. I wanted to like Curse of the Lake Monster but it didn't work for me really. There are some good points, Scooby is very cute, Shaggy is still the likable goof-ball I love and Daphne and especially Velma are spot. I didn't like Fred though(but I actually didn't mind him Mystery Begins), and this is not just because of the appearance, for my liking he wasn't macho or cool enough here. Some of the locations are nice and the soundtrack has this infectious energy. However, the editing is rather sloppy in some scenes, sometimes rather hectic in the more tense moments. Also the writing was weak with one too many gags that tried too hard and failed due to lacklustre timing and insipid dialogue and the story is rushed and predictable with the whole Shaggy and Velma idea absurd and never once believable. None of the support characters struck me as memorable either, and the rest of the acting as well as the direction seemed rather bland for my tastes. All in all, didn't work but not a complete disaster. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster" is one of those movies you throw on during a lazy Sunday when you just wanna chill and laugh a little. It's got that classic Scooby-Doo vibe: Scooby being goofy, Shaggy eating everything in sight, and the rest of the gang trying to solve a mystery like they've got it all figured out... kinda.

What works is that the movie doesn't try too hard - and that's actually a good thing. The actors do a solid job playing the OG crew, and there are a few moments that'll get a laugh just 'cause they're so random or over-the-top.

But let's be real, it's not all smooth sailing. The plot's pretty basic and doesn't bring anything new to the table. If you've seen a couple Scooby-Doo stories, you'll probably guess what's going on early. And the romance between some characters? Kinda awkward, like it was thrown in last minute just to shake things up, but it doesn't really hit.

As for the effects... yeah, they're kinda rough. The lake monster looks more silly than scary, but hey, it's a kids' movie, so it's not tryna be some horror masterpiece.

Bottom line: if you're not expecting anything deep and you just wanna kick back with some popcorn and good vibes, it does the job. Fun, light, and easy to watch - just don't go looking for a mystery masterpiece here.

First, some background: I have no childhood memories of Scooby-Doo, because he did not exist until I was 22 years old. Due to the vagaries of life, I was not aware of Scooby and friends until I was about 35, but I'm glad I've gotten to know them, as they're so inculcated into modern culture. Without having seen them, I would not have known what Deadpool's girlfriend meant when she said "Ruh-Ro!" I've now seen both animated and live-action Scooby tales, and I think this is one of my favorites, and definitely better than the 2018 films. I also prefer it to the 2002 story, with Freddie Prinze Jr. I shall continue to enjoy Scooby in my dotage.

The second of two TV movie prequels to the 2002 and 2004 big screen live-action outings. Standout (again) is Hayley Kiyoko's Velma, whilst Nick Palatas continues to be a pretty good Shaggy (although his voice does cross the line into 'annoyingly grating' a couple of times). Kate Melton and Robbie Amell seem more settled in the roles of Fred and Daphne this time around, and Frank Welker does his usual great job voicing Scooby. This movie carries even more nods/winks to the cartoons than the first, with some nice references, visual gags, sound effects, and meta-humour. The CGI on Scooby is pretty good. Plot-wise it's typical Scooby fare, following the live-action trend of involving the 'real' supernatural AND somebody in a mask. Slightly better than the first. 6.5/10

This Scooby Doo movie was a bit light on the Actual Scooby Doo. Whether it was just too hard to act with an imaginary dog, or too expensive to animate him into every scene, the gang spends a lot of time with out Scooby. Which makes the Mystery fairly easy to guess who the monster is.

On the up side, there are some great Rubber Suit Frog Monsters! And there is a wonderful "By the Light of the Moon" sequence too. Generally I hate songs in cartoons, but this one was awesome.

There was a lot of great touches that made this feel like a Japanese TV show of the likes of Ultraman or Masked Rider. The cartoon feel was prevalent, though many gags failed.

The cast was pretty good. Coming off the first one, "The Mystery Begins" I feel they gelled better this time out. Shaggy does steel the show.

I think more money and better production values would have helped, and maybe a better helmer, but I enjoyed it and look forward to the next one.