Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

After the disappointing effort of the first Scooby-Doo film I wasn't much enthusiastic about this "Monsters Unleashed". But to tell the truth this film handled the characters better and the climax more interesting, at least in terms of the identity of the villain. It remained true to the original cartoon storyline in the sense that the character of the villain appeared earlier in the film. The dialogues also got better, though abandoning thick sense of humor was impossible. It failed to develop enough chemistry between the members of the gang, which is in fact faithful to the cartoon where in my opinion the characters are quite one-dimensional.

The CGI of Scooby himself has improved only slightly. The monsters could have been designed better, although there are touches of nice imagination e.g. the candy floss monster. The most irritating parts were unnecessary hip-hop dance sequences. Besides such points, Scooby Doo 2 deserves more praise than its prequel.

Live action update of Hanna-Barbara's early 70s animated TV series with lots of entertainment and amusement . The film concerns about our friends ¨the Mystery Inc.¨ group with Scooby Doo , Shaggy ( Matthew Lillard ) and the remaining group (Sara Michelle Gellar , Freddie Prince Jr, Linda Cardellini )and takes place an eerie museum of criminology where are robbed some stuffed monsters for nefarious purposes . Meanwhile , Daphne falls in love with the museum curator (Seth Greene). The equipment members are going out to investigate with its van towards a dark mansion , whose owner is a suspect old man (Peter Boyle) . A reporter(Alicia Silverstone) accuses them as responsible a robbery . The Mystery Inc soon realize that they cannot resolve this case without help from each other .

In the picture there are comedy, tongue-in-cheek , slapstick , humorous moments , mild diversion and is pretty amusing . All are given a preteen treatment which means no gore and no bad language just some old-fashioned sympathetic scares ; being funny watching humans meld into the CG characters . However , it contains bad taste when takes place a contest about fart jokes between Shaggy and Scooby . Of course , coward Scooby steals the spectacle as food-obsessed canine anti-hero with its grimace , faces and gesture . Many gags are good however the tale sometimes drags . Special mention to gags as the tournament between Fredd ( Freddie Prince) and the monsters , besides those intervening Shaggy-Scooby , they make a likable and superb comic couple . There appears even an electrifying monster similar to ¨Forbidden planet¨ film monster . Movie combines live action with computer generator animation on Scooby Doo creation , special effects are well done . The motion picture is regularly directed by Raja Gosnell who also realized the original . Kiddies may find the corny , flat humor as bemusing , but most adults will be disappointed , exception the fans the classic cartoon series created by Hanna Barbera . It is clearly aimed at the junior audience . Protagonists' antics might provide the silly smiles , but this cartoonist physical comedy is mostly ineffective . Rating : average but entertaining with lots of fun and as amused as the first , and it will be best appreciated by preteen enthusiasts of the cartoon movies .

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OK.... So it's not a great 2nd edition of the potential franchise.... But it is NOT as bad as some people want you to believe it to be, either! If this had been the first film, I think that many would have thought it was much better, but, when you weigh it against the original 'Scooby Doo' movie, it pales....

We still have the cast of "Mysteries Inc" running around in the Mystery Machine van - with Scooby Doo (created in CGI), Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), Velma (Linda Cardinelli) and Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar). This time, they're joined by some old favorites: Seth Green (as a love interest for Velma), Peter Boyle (as the classic 'Old Man Wickles'), Alicia Silverstone (as a great foil for Daphne), 'Inside Edition' host Pat O'Brien shows up and even 'American Idol' alum Ruben Studdard gets a turn to show us his acting chops.

The story line revolves around a reappearance of some of Mystery Inc.'s old school monsters coming back around in town. Alicia Silverstone plays a hard charging, up and coming news caster, trying to get the next big story - and she doesn't care who she crushes in her way up. Seth Green shows up as a curator of a museum to the greatness of Mystery Inc., and cares for all of the monsters that they've caught. It's HIS museum that gets robbed and the monsters come back to life!

The CGI here is just as good as the first time - but there seems to be a bit more of it.... Sure, the story isn't as flashy as the first one, but it's still pretty good on its own merits. There's a lot of flash and sizzle to this film, but it's more like a diet version of the first... still not bad, but sometimes leaving you wanting for just another bite!

This was a lot of fun, another great version of the old cartoon favorite. I really enjoy how much work is put into these adaptations of cartoons. Matthew Lillard as Shaggy is as always a favorite of mine, but, in this particular movie, Velma was just about as good. Plus as an added bonus, she actually looked hot for the first time. It was also good to see Seth Green in a very different role than in his previous works. Hats off to Sarah Michelle Gellar for another great performance as Daphne. I also enjoyed seeing Peter Boyle, who of course was in Young Frankenstein as the monster. He always works in these types of films. I give this film a 7 out of 10. See this at any price!

So much of the plot and script of this film is absolute trash, but shaggy and scoob are so perfect it cancels all the other rubbish out. Even aged 25 I got so many belly laughs out of the CGI Scooby's antics. I also thought the monsters were pretty cool and the CGI is an improvement on the first film. I also really respect how directly out of the cartoon the characters and outfits are. With that being said, if you aren't ready to turn your brain off and watch a CGI dog in a fake afro do a choreographed dance. This may not be the film for you. I am surprised there was never a third film or a reboot of this franchise.