Movie Review: Scooby-Doo 2 - Monsters Unleashed

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Decent mystery, fun story

Cons: Mindless and forgettable

The Bottom Line:

Better than the first

It's still not a great movie

But it is funny

The Mystery, Inc. Gang Faces Old Foes

Now here's a rarity in the world of Hollywood, a sequel that's actually better then the original.

It's a big night in Coolsville. A museum is opening and its main exhibit is a tribute to the Mysteries, Inc. gang featuring the costumes of many of the creatures they've defeated over the years. Naturally, everyone is on hand for the opening. But things don't go smoothly. Much to everyone's shock, the Pterodactyl Ghost comes to life and starts flying around the museum. When Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) and Scooby-Doo try to stop it, they make a mess of the museum.

Fred (Freddie Prinz, Jr.), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), and Velma (Linda Cardellini) immediately spring into action trying to figure out how and why the monster came to life. The obvious suspect is Old Man Wickles (Peter Boyle), a former foe just released from jail.

When more of their former foes come to life, the townspeople turn against the gang. Can they stop the monsters, stay alive, and solve the mystery?

As I said before, I haven't seen many of the cartoon episodes, but this movie actually made me wish I had. These monsters were creepy yet cool at the same time. Overall, the story was much better then the original movie with several viable suspects. I thought I knew who was behind it, but I didn't know for sure until the end.

One complaint fans made about the first movie was that the gang had broken up. Here, they actually work together the entire time to solve the crime. There is a sub-plot with Shaggy and Scooby attempting to shed their goofy image and gather actual clues, but even that unfolds better then the competition in the last one.

While the cast does an okay job acting, once again it is Matthew Lillard and Linda Cardellini that are the standouts in the cast. They perfectly embody everything I remember from the one or two episodes I have seen. Joining the cast this go around are Seth Green as the museum owner with a crush on Velma and Alicia Silverstone as the TV reporter who turns Coolsville against Mystery, Inc. They're both lots of fun to watch and greatly add to the movie.

As with the first movie, the special effects are decent. The 3-D Scooby and the ghosts look like they really are involved in the movie. Yes, they do look like cartoons, but considering I'm watching a movie with a talking dog, I'm not really going to complain.

Fans of the series disappointed by the original movie should give Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed a try. While still forgettable, it's a better movie that solves some of the problems with the first one.