![]() had a falling out and the four members, Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Velma (Linda Cardellini) and Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), along with his best friend Scooby-Doo (voice of Neil Fanning), go their separate ways. ![]() Two years ago, the crack private eye team of Mystery, Inc. "Scooby-Doo" may be the first summer movie to be enjoyed not with popcorn, but with Rooby Racks. Still, there's fun to be had with some personality switching and a comically exaggerated martial arts fight that for once doesn't parody "The Matrix." While some implied pot humor (Shaggy's given a love interest - Mary Jane (Ilsa Fisher) - his favorite name, and smoke bellows out of the Mystery Machine) will amuse the adults while flying over the tyke's heads, eventually "Scooby-Doo" loses steam with a bloated climax that matches its bloated bad guy. "Scooby-Doo," though, is definitely for the kids. Cinematographer David Eggby ("Pitch Black") does an expert job blending all the elements with a seamless look. Costume design is terrific, from Daphne's ever changing lilac wardrobe to the spooky staff of Spooky Island. Bill Boes' ("Monkeybone") production design is both bright and dark, featuring both a fine eye for detail and a tinge of Tim Burton. ![]() Additional effects, including ghosts, a couple of Gremlin-like monsters and protoplasmic floating heads, are also beautifully rendered. The visual effects team, supervised by Peter Crosman ("Monkeybone"), perfectly incorporate the creature into the action. Scooby Doo himself is a wonderful blend of real looking Great Dane motion and cartoonish anthropomorphism, including a disguise as a Mrs. Prinze's real-life squeeze Sarah Michelle Gellar also gets a dye-job and plays against type as the red-headed dimwit Daphne who's used the two year downtime to 'turn her body into a dangerous weapon.' Matthew Lillard not only gets the voice and body language of Shaggy, he does terrific work acting with his best pal Scooby, a CGI creation not present on the set. Cardellini, who looks like Janeanne Garofalo's little sister, is Velma personified, although a brief bout with possession uncovers the sexpot within. While his bleached blonde do gets updated after the film's first scene, his ascot remains. is just right for egotistical Teen Beat cover boy Fred. James Gunn's ("Tromeo and Juliet") story and screenplay feature all the elements of a Scooby episode and introduce just enough differences for the film's feature length. Raja Gosnell ("Never Been Kissed") directs a perfectly cast group of young actors and brings Hanna Barbera's long-running cartoon to loopy life.
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