Scooby-Doo 2002
I remember when they were talking about making a live action version of Scooby Doo and throwing around names of different actors. While they didn't get Jeff Daniels for Fred, they still did pretty well with Linda Cardellini as nerdy Velma and Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne. Freddie Prinze, Jr. is good as a dim-witted self absorbed Fred, reminding me of Ryan Gosling as Ken in Barbie. Matthew Lillard as Shaggy is pretty much uncanny and steals the show. Ultimately the movie didn't get great reviews and I never saw it, but recently I realized that James Gunn, who hit it big with Marvel and DC franchises, wrote it, and I thought it would be worth watching just for that. And there are some funny bits at the beginning as we get introduced to these characters (on the outs after becoming famous). Unfortunately the movie gets overly involved in its plot and some big action scenes and the laughs aren't as frequent. And for that matter the CGI of Scooby is a little primitive and other CGI characters are even worse. A lot of the effects just look fake and the sets kind of cheap. I'm glad I saw it because I was thinking about using some Microsoft points to buy it and now I don't feel like I need to. The movie is easy to watch if you want something light with a little nostalgia.
Written: 23 Oct 2025