Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster

I grew up with the Scooby Doo cartoon and loved it as a kid and when they brought out the first Scooby live action movie; I was dubious. Thing was, I loved it! I also quite enjoyed the second movie although not as much as the first.

When it came to the original cast, I had issues with Freddie Prinze Jr as Fred as I felt he wasn't butch enough and Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne, because she was both a little too short and I had not yet got over my Buffy crush; but Matthew Lillard as Shaggy was, quite simply, awesome.

This, unfortunately is where this movie falls down. Though I don't doubt the effort of Nick Palatas as Shaggy and indeed his acting chops (he is a young actor starting out) but following Matthew Lillard's Shaggy was always going to be a tall order. What also doesn't help is having a dark haired Fred in the form of Robbie Amell, I struggled to recognise him as Fred.

However, the Daphne (Kate Melton) character I though was excellent and if I could transplant her for Gellar in the first; I would without a second thought.

Bottom line, not a great movie but I guarantee your young children will enjoy it. For the rest of us, its a sad reflection.

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.

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.

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.

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