1 out of 5 stars (Currently the worst of the year)
Note: I spoke with some family friends who have younger children about Scoob!, and the kids enjoyed the film decently. A scene where Dick Dastardly rips the head off of a cute robot proved the scariest moment, many jokes flew over their heads, and all but the youngest found Blue Falcon annoying. The parents thought the ending was a tad dark for their liking.
Scoob! is like the infamous 1998 American Godzilla. It’s a heavily modernized retooling of an iconic character that begins decently before face-planting for the remainder of its runtime and insulting the property and longtime fans. The animation and voice actors are fine, but I view Scoob! as a franchise low point (hopefully) never reached again.
Mystery Inc. meets with Simon Cowell (Voicing himself) as a potential business investor, who pulls out because he sees Scooby-Doo (Voiced by series veteran Frank Welker) and Shaggy (Voiced by Will Forte) as dead weight. Soon after, incompetent superhero Blue Falcon (Voiced by Mark Wahlberg) saves the boys from the villainous Dick Dastardly (Voiced by Jason Issacs), who seeks Scooby for nefarious purposes. Meanwhile, Fred (Voiced by a distracting Zac Efron), Daphne (Voiced by Amanda Seyfried), and Velma (Voiced by Gina Rodriguez) follow behind.
Scoob! begins decently and has occasional chuckles, but the tonal shift from sweetly nostalgic to Action Superhero Extravaganza is mind-shatteringly abrupt. The script bursts with embarrassing pop culture references and buzzwords to be #relatable to modern audiences (Jokes about Toxic Masculinity, Blue Falcon constantly references his social media). Velma is the only intelligent character, the action is overloaded, and its message is forced. As an attempt at a cinematic universe, Scoob! is a poster child of bad decisions, favoring bombastic action over character establishment that could emotionally invest us.
Scoob! may entertain youngsters with the bright animation, goofy humor, and action, but their parents should consider headphones and vodka during viewings. Scooby-Dooby Don’t See It, at least until it’s free.
Rated PG for Some Action, Language, and Rude/Suggestive Humor