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.

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.

Velma is the villain, and for me it just doesn't fit the premise of Scooby-Doo. I think Velma is good as a character, I just think it makes little sense. And the relationship between Daphne and Fred feels like it has been slightly weakened In hindsight then the first. I really don't like comparing, but this film just didn't hit the right notes. The summer camp, well it looks beutiful. But with a half backed story it falls flat on it's face. And none of the Characters were particularly interesting, outside of our main ones. So everything feels like it's been slightly weakened in terms of Story. It was short, but it wasn't sweet.

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.

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.