Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster

After the success of 'The Mystery Begins' it was no surprise to see the cast of that film return for more antics in these prequels to the live action Scooby films of the early 2000's.

I think this one is much more of a homage to classic Scooby Doo, from the actors starting to wear much more 'traditional' costumes for their characters, to the inclusion of classic gags and monsters.

The Shaggy/Velma love plot won't please everyone but it is well played by the actors who seem much more into their characters this time around.

The only sticking point for me is the inclusion of the musical numbers that seem out of place with the rest of the film but that's only a small down side to what is actually a good fun film.

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

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

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.

I'm a fan of the original animated Scooby Doo TV series (1969-1970). It was against these episodes I judged the theatrical releases Scooby-Doo (2002) and Scooby Doo 2: Monster's Unleased (2004). When I saw Curse of the Lake Monster was a feature length movie, without thinking about it I had my expectations set for something comparable to the two theater releases. Oops! Curse of the Lake Monster was a B-movie in many ways, including overt over-the-top acting. I'm not a fan of B-movies and must confess to having some trouble sitting through it all. I would say the movie is a bit worse than Scooby Doo 2. The pace was good and the plot moved along reasonably well. I had no problem at all with the special effects--they were fine.

I consider the brown-haired Fred a production decision blunder. While it stopped bothering me half way through the movie, I never started thinking of Fred as Fred. He was more like a new character to me. Shaggy is very difficult to translate from animation to live action, and I think greater energy put into the character would have been an improvement. The girls will be played better as the actresses gain in confidence and experience.

If you liked Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleased, then Curse of the Lake Monster is probably worth watching.