By: Keaton Marcus

After more than a dozen years since the last Mystery Inc. movie, we finally get an animated update dubbed Scoob. One thing's for sure, nobody asked for one after 2004's Monsters Unleashed, but this remake does some justice to the classic television series and will be more than enough for kids. Still, the manic, unfocused plot and only sporadic laughs make it little more than colorful eye-candy with a talented voice cast. More and more animated films today are becoming distractions, and except for Pixar flicks, just flat-out cash-grabs. Thankfully, Scoob isn't an awful movie, and it does its job extraordinarily well, benefitting from a couple terrific moments. But I was still disappointed that this was the best they could come up with, a storyline populated with stock characters and the dumbest plot I've seen from here to Timbuktu. I wasn't horribly let down, however, because none of the trailers really caught my eye--so that helps, I guess.

Oh, man. Here comes the premise. We get a little sneak peek of how Shaggy (voiced by Will Forte) finds Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker), which was nothing less than adorable. Then as the film goes on, the iconic duo befriends three teens named Fred (Zac Efron), Daphne (Amanda Seyfried), and Velma (Gina Rodriguez) who form the Mystery Inc. Together, as friends, they solve little crimes around the city. However, many years later, Scooby and Shaggy are abandoned by their three pals and saved from these scorpion robots (don't ask) by superhero Blue Falcon's son, Brian (Mark Wahlberg), his robotic dog Dynomutt (Ken Jeong) and ally Dee Dee Sykes (Kiersey Clemons). The two then find that a villain named Dick Dastardly (Jason Isaacs) wants to take Scoob to open a magical portal. But there's so much more. Guys, this plot is just exhausting, and I'm not getting into it anymore.

The cast, as you now know, is extremely talented, and while they feel a little wasted, they all have their moments. Led by charming performances from Will Forte and Frank Welker, the screenplay doesn't help much, but they have some great chemistry that helps them succeed. Their two characters also have that classic friendship bond, similar to what's in the series, which is most likely my favorite aspect of the film. Mark Wahlberg also gets his quips in as Brian/Blue Falcon, despite phoning it in a bit. Ken Jeong is also in the movie as a robotic dog, and while he is a lot of fun, I've seen better. The supporting cast was kind of left in the dust, with Zac Efron, Amanda Seyfried, and Gina Rodriguez not being in most of the film and Kiersey Clemons abandoned with little to do. And don't get me started on the generic bad guy performance by Jason Isaacs.

One major issue I had with this movie was the way it was directed and written. The direction felt a little too much, with helmer Tony Cervone attempting to make this film go too many different directions until it leaves audiences exhausted. Looking at his career, he's not even a director, known for being in the art department for Space Jam and Cats & Dogs. In fact, the only things he helmed were a bunch of TV films. But that's not the worst of it. Scoob was written by four people. Maybe that is why the movie just felt a little much, too chaotic. But this is an animated movie, so I guess you can forgive some of it. On the contrary, this is 2020, people! Don't children deserve better than this? Eh, whatever, my younger siblings enjoyed it, other people will. Anyway, this is quarantine, so who gives a f..k?

The final opinion is: Scoob! is enough for younger viewers and fans of the franchise, though it may leave the older ones wanting a little more plot-wise...$KIP IT

Rent for $19.99 and buy for $24.99 on Amazon Prime Video