Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins

My brother & I probably watched every episode of the original Hannah Barbara Scooby Doo cartoons in the 80's and so I am very leery of all these newer versions that keep popping up. There was a certain feel in those originals that will never be reproduced and perhaps Scooby is best left in the 70's. I was pretty let down by the Freddie Prince Jr. movies which tried to update Scooby (like a lot of CGI updates, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Smurfs, Garfield, Transformers, etc.)with modern lingo & culture which for some reason means crudeness, krass jokes and even sexual innuendos. This movie was better in that sense, but is annoying when they stray from the original (Freddie is blond, ghosts are ALWAYS people in masks, etc.) And since we're making a "realistic" version, why is Scooby CGI? Why not just use a real Great Dane? Nick Palatas, though doing a decent impression of Casey Kacem's "Shaggy" voice comes across annoying and contrived after a while. Maybe I'm a purist...maybe I'm a grouch, but I kind of wish people would leave the old cartoons alone.

This made for TV prequel to the fun, all-star Warner Brothers movies suffers from dodgy casting decisions (a non-blond Fred, a Japanese Velma, a rather chunky Daphne, a curly haired Shaggy), very iffy CGI, and a mystery that is far too easy to figure out. It's lightweight, silly, spooky fun, and passable entertainment for the kids, I suppose, but it's not a patch on the gang's two previous live-action outings.

The simple story sees a young Shaggy (Nick Palatas), Scooby (voiced by Frank Welker), Fred (Robbie Amell), Daphne (Kate Melton) and Velma (Hayley Kiyoko) teaming up to find out who is behind the resurrection of a pair of ghosts who are haunting their high-school. In traditional Scooby Doo style, there are several suspects, but the real culprit should be glaringly obvious to anyone who has been paying attention.

Admittedly, there's some fun to be had from seeing how Mystery Inc. formed, and I enjoyed the scene in which Velma gets a sexy makeover by Daphne (gotta love a hot Asian nerd!), but all in all, this adventure lacks the magic, spectacle and quality that a better cast and a bigger budget allows.

It may not have the gloss of the two previous live action Scooby films but this one still has all the heart and fun of those two films. It will entertain families in the same way that the classic cartoon did over forty years ago.

An all new cast do a fair job of playing the iconic characters and the story plods along at a pace that can be enjoyed by both parents and kids alike.

There are flaws in the plot but it does come across as more than just a DVD spin and that is a testament to the cast.

Overall this is funny and entertaining enough of a film for those who have enjoyed the previous live action Scooby outings.

Casting not perfect but still good for the adaptation of the saga of mysteries that wants to tell the first adventure of the group by bringing the story of how the group came together for the first time to solve the mystery of their school. Too family-friendly and slightly too ridiculous film that seems to have crossed the line between faithful adaptation and too ridiculous to seriously consider. Even the story itself is not that great because it is too hasty, for heaven's sake, the idea is not bad but it is developed in a very fractious and poorly cared for way so much that it is unable to make the general idea that the adaptation would like to give well .

I give this a 7, because the acting is decent, the story is fairly original, and it's Scooby Doo! Now, for those who liked the first 2 live-action films, this is a cartoon network film, so while they are all Scooby movies, they have no other relationship to one another. That's not to say it has no faults. It's fairly campy, though not much, and it does stray from it's origins a bit. Scooby fans will know what I mean, once they see this. It does have good action, and CGI effects are well done. The story moves along without getting bogged down by trying to flesh out the characters. I think Hayley Kiyoko did an awesome job as Velma. It's hard to believe she's only 17. I recommend this one as a family fun film. Kids will love it, and adults will enjoy it as just as much.