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Scooby-Doo 2 - Monsters Unleashed
Warner Bros. // PG // September 14, 2004
List Price: $27.95 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie
I'm not going to rehash the debate/discussion about some sequels being better than their predecessors (if you're hankering for that, just watch Scream 2 again). But, for the sake of argument, let's say that some sequels are better than the previous entries in the series. Sometimes this has to do with a change of spirit/direction, such as Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan. However, there are some cases where the first film was an absolute stinker and any subsequent movies would have to be better simply be default. (A good example of this is the Tomb Raider series.) This is the case with Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. As long as the movie offered Scooby-Doo and was in focus, it would probably be better than 2002's Scooby-Doo.
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed opens by doing two things correctly; First, it seems to be ignoring the events of the first film (smart move); and secondly, it embraces the elements of the classic Scooby-Doo TV show. The Coolsonian Museum in Coolsville (which is apparently where the Scooby gang lives) is unveiling a new exhibit featuring the costumes of some of the most famous villains who were captured by the members of Mystery Inc. -- Fred (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Velma (Linda Cardellini), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), and of course, Scooby-Doo. As the gang is touring the exhibit, and Velma is swooning over museum curator Patrick Wisely (Seth Green), one of the costumes ("The Pterodactyl Ghost") comes to life, wrecks the exhibit, and takes two costumes with it. A masked figure appears atop the museum and claims that he is there to take his vengeance upon Mystery Inc. Despite some negative press from reporter Heather Jasper-Howe (Alicia Silverstone), the gang is soon on the job attempting to discover who the masked figure is. However, things get tense when Shaggy and Scooby decide that their incompetence is hurting the team and decide to strike out on their own. Things get even worse when the museum is attacked again and a group of costumes-come-to-life monsters are set loose upon Coolsville. It's now up to Mystery Inc. to overcome adversity and solve yet another mystery.
Scooby-Doo made the mistake of taking only the characters from the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? show and leaving everything else behind. Instead of paying homage to a classic, it placed the familiar gang on a tropical island and tried way too hard to be young and hip. Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed rectifies that problem somewhat by openly acknowledging Mystery Inc.'s previous adventures. Writer James Gunn deserves a great deal of credit for the ingenious plot involving the costumes of the gang's old foes suddenly coming to life. Also, the group is allowed to investigate a spooky, old house, which is exactly where they should be. Another nice touch is the "Faux Ghost", a rough bar where those who have been unmasked by Mystery Inc. congregate. And the Old Man Wickles (Peter Boyle) in the film is the same character from the very first "Scooby-Doo" show. Another thing which has improved since the first film is the look of Scooby-Doo himself. While he still doesn't exactly like his animated counter-part (a movie I'll never understand), Scooby's coloring is somewhat darker this time (he's not as beige) and he shows much more detail, enabling him to come off as more realistic. The biggest applause in the film must go to Matthew Lillard, who totally loses himself in the role of Shaggy and does a commendable job acting against the non-existent Scooby-Doo.
Despite these steps in the right direction, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed is still a film searching for an audience. I never liked the way that the late Gene Siskel would talk about what a movie wasn't, as opposed to what it was, but as I was watching Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, all that I could think was, "This would make a great R-rated horror movie." The premise of the animated costumes becoming real monsters opens the door to all sorts of mayhem, and some of the monsters have the potential to be very scary. Yet, the scenes where Scooby-Doo dances and farts for laughs reminds us that this is a film ostensibly aimed at children. But, given the scary nature of the on-screen monsters, I don't know if I'd let a child under the age of 8 watch the movie. The movie is further hampered by its attempts to threw too many red-herrings into the story. While Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed does stick to its animated origins at times, it throws in new devices, such as the fact that Daphne is a martial arts master. (One can't help but wonder if this would have been different is someone other than Gellar had played the part.) And I don't remember Scooby being mentally-challenged on the show. Seth Green has some nice moments, but overall his comedic talents are wasted here. Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed is certainly better than the first film in the series, but not by much.
Video
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed investigates DVD courtesy of Warner Home Video. The film has come to DVD in two separate versions, one full-frame and the other widescreen. For the purposes of this review, only the widescreen version was viewed. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The image here is incredibly clear and nearly flawless. The picture has no grain or defects from the source print and has an incredible amount of depth and sharpness. The film mixes bright colors with dark backgrounds and that contrast looks super here. There are some edge-enhancement problems in some scenes, and the area around Scooby-Doo is often soft, but otherwise the picture looks fantastic.
Audio
With many "kids" films, there is a trend to downplay the audio quality, but not on this DVD. The disc features a nice Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. The dialogue is always clear and intelligible (assuming that you understand Scooby). The musical cues sound fantastic, and on this well-balanced track, they never overpower the speech. Surround sound and subwoofer effects are plentiful and the sound does a good job of emphasizing the massive nature of the monsters. Overall, the audio is a great compliment to the beautiful picture.
Extras
The Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed DVD offers a decidedly mixed bag of extra features. We start with 7 deleted scenes, which can be viewed with or without audio commentary from director Raja Gosnell. These scenes offer nothing new to the story (?!) but we do get to see even more of the monster costumes in the museum. One unfinished scene has Lillard acting opposite nothing, as Scooby-Doo was never added to the frame. In "Triple Threat" (10 minutes), Scooby-Doo takes a video camera around the to explore the sets, stunts, and effects in the film. This short features a great deal of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with production designer Bill Boes, stunt coordinator J.J. Makaro, visual effects supervisor Peter Cross, and effects supervisor Betsy Patterson. "True Ghoul Hollywood Story" (6 minutes) is a surprisingly in-depth spoof of E!'s famous show which takes a look at the lives of the criminals who were foiled by Mystery Inc. It's a great idea, but unfortunately, it's not very funny. We get a closer look at how Scooby-Doo was created in "Dancing Dog" (5 minutes). The extras are rounded out by two set-top games "The Scooby-Doo Monsters Unleashed Challenge" and "Behind-the-Mystery Mystery: The Mystery of the Missing Pants", and two music videos, "Thank You Falletin Me Be Mice Elf" by Big Brovaz and "Don't Wanna Think About You" by Simple Plan.
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed opens with great promise, but never finds its groove as it vacillates between being a great continuation of the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? legacy and a silly kids film. Maybe Scooby-Doo 3 will hit the mark and simply focus on being scary.
I'm not going to rehash the debate/discussion about some sequels being better than their predecessors (if you're hankering for that, just watch Scream 2 again). But, for the sake of argument, let's say that some sequels are better than the previous entries in the series. Sometimes this has to do with a change of spirit/direction, such as Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan. However, there are some cases where the first film was an absolute stinker and any subsequent movies would have to be better simply be default. (A good example of this is the Tomb Raider series.) This is the case with Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. As long as the movie offered Scooby-Doo and was in focus, it would probably be better than 2002's Scooby-Doo.
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed opens by doing two things correctly; First, it seems to be ignoring the events of the first film (smart move); and secondly, it embraces the elements of the classic Scooby-Doo TV show. The Coolsonian Museum in Coolsville (which is apparently where the Scooby gang lives) is unveiling a new exhibit featuring the costumes of some of the most famous villains who were captured by the members of Mystery Inc. -- Fred (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Velma (Linda Cardellini), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), and of course, Scooby-Doo. As the gang is touring the exhibit, and Velma is swooning over museum curator Patrick Wisely (Seth Green), one of the costumes ("The Pterodactyl Ghost") comes to life, wrecks the exhibit, and takes two costumes with it. A masked figure appears atop the museum and claims that he is there to take his vengeance upon Mystery Inc. Despite some negative press from reporter Heather Jasper-Howe (Alicia Silverstone), the gang is soon on the job attempting to discover who the masked figure is. However, things get tense when Shaggy and Scooby decide that their incompetence is hurting the team and decide to strike out on their own. Things get even worse when the museum is attacked again and a group of costumes-come-to-life monsters are set loose upon Coolsville. It's now up to Mystery Inc. to overcome adversity and solve yet another mystery.
Scooby-Doo made the mistake of taking only the characters from the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? show and leaving everything else behind. Instead of paying homage to a classic, it placed the familiar gang on a tropical island and tried way too hard to be young and hip. Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed rectifies that problem somewhat by openly acknowledging Mystery Inc.'s previous adventures. Writer James Gunn deserves a great deal of credit for the ingenious plot involving the costumes of the gang's old foes suddenly coming to life. Also, the group is allowed to investigate a spooky, old house, which is exactly where they should be. Another nice touch is the "Faux Ghost", a rough bar where those who have been unmasked by Mystery Inc. congregate. And the Old Man Wickles (Peter Boyle) in the film is the same character from the very first "Scooby-Doo" show. Another thing which has improved since the first film is the look of Scooby-Doo himself. While he still doesn't exactly like his animated counter-part (a movie I'll never understand), Scooby's coloring is somewhat darker this time (he's not as beige) and he shows much more detail, enabling him to come off as more realistic. The biggest applause in the film must go to Matthew Lillard, who totally loses himself in the role of Shaggy and does a commendable job acting against the non-existent Scooby-Doo.
Despite these steps in the right direction, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed is still a film searching for an audience. I never liked the way that the late Gene Siskel would talk about what a movie wasn't, as opposed to what it was, but as I was watching Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, all that I could think was, "This would make a great R-rated horror movie." The premise of the animated costumes becoming real monsters opens the door to all sorts of mayhem, and some of the monsters have the potential to be very scary. Yet, the scenes where Scooby-Doo dances and farts for laughs reminds us that this is a film ostensibly aimed at children. But, given the scary nature of the on-screen monsters, I don't know if I'd let a child under the age of 8 watch the movie. The movie is further hampered by its attempts to threw too many red-herrings into the story. While Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed does stick to its animated origins at times, it throws in new devices, such as the fact that Daphne is a martial arts master. (One can't help but wonder if this would have been different is someone other than Gellar had played the part.) And I don't remember Scooby being mentally-challenged on the show. Seth Green has some nice moments, but overall his comedic talents are wasted here. Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed is certainly better than the first film in the series, but not by much.
Video
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed investigates DVD courtesy of Warner Home Video. The film has come to DVD in two separate versions, one full-frame and the other widescreen. For the purposes of this review, only the widescreen version was viewed. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The image here is incredibly clear and nearly flawless. The picture has no grain or defects from the source print and has an incredible amount of depth and sharpness. The film mixes bright colors with dark backgrounds and that contrast looks super here. There are some edge-enhancement problems in some scenes, and the area around Scooby-Doo is often soft, but otherwise the picture looks fantastic.
Audio
With many "kids" films, there is a trend to downplay the audio quality, but not on this DVD. The disc features a nice Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. The dialogue is always clear and intelligible (assuming that you understand Scooby). The musical cues sound fantastic, and on this well-balanced track, they never overpower the speech. Surround sound and subwoofer effects are plentiful and the sound does a good job of emphasizing the massive nature of the monsters. Overall, the audio is a great compliment to the beautiful picture.
Extras
The Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed DVD offers a decidedly mixed bag of extra features. We start with 7 deleted scenes, which can be viewed with or without audio commentary from director Raja Gosnell. These scenes offer nothing new to the story (?!) but we do get to see even more of the monster costumes in the museum. One unfinished scene has Lillard acting opposite nothing, as Scooby-Doo was never added to the frame. In "Triple Threat" (10 minutes), Scooby-Doo takes a video camera around the to explore the sets, stunts, and effects in the film. This short features a great deal of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with production designer Bill Boes, stunt coordinator J.J. Makaro, visual effects supervisor Peter Cross, and effects supervisor Betsy Patterson. "True Ghoul Hollywood Story" (6 minutes) is a surprisingly in-depth spoof of E!'s famous show which takes a look at the lives of the criminals who were foiled by Mystery Inc. It's a great idea, but unfortunately, it's not very funny. We get a closer look at how Scooby-Doo was created in "Dancing Dog" (5 minutes). The extras are rounded out by two set-top games "The Scooby-Doo Monsters Unleashed Challenge" and "Behind-the-Mystery Mystery: The Mystery of the Missing Pants", and two music videos, "Thank You Falletin Me Be Mice Elf" by Big Brovaz and "Don't Wanna Think About You" by Simple Plan.
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed opens with great promise, but never finds its groove as it vacillates between being a great continuation of the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? legacy and a silly kids film. Maybe Scooby-Doo 3 will hit the mark and simply focus on being scary.
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