Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases


Scooby-Doo (2002)

Director: Raja Gosnell

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Although its breezy CGI ghosties and many fart jokes are clearly aimed at the junior audience, this live action update of Hanna-Barbera's early '70s animated TV series will be best appreciated by fans of the original. The film-makers have latched on to its mild scares, teenage sleuthing and food-obsessed canine anti-hero with unpretentious affection. While the jaunty computer-generated Scooby doesn't wholly convince, it's fun seeing humans meld into the cartoon roles. Vapid poster-boy Prinze is all too credible as cravat-sporting, self-proclaimed gangleader Fred; Gellar struggles to make flouncy Daphne more than a squealing damsel in distress; Cardellini plumbs unexpected depths of smart-girl resentment as bespectacled Velma; while Lillard is uncannily excellent as Shaggy, down to the quavery vocal inflections, dopey flower child sincerity and the telling instinct for pioneering sauce combinations. The plot? Well, you don't go to a Scooby-Doo movie for the plot. After an acrimonious split, the team reunite when they're summoned by magnate Emile Mondavarious (Atkinson, slippery but not quite sinister) to his Spooky Island resort, where dark forces are turning visitors into soulless zombies.

Author: TJ

Time Out Film Guide


  • Find Show Times

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields




Most popular on this site


Top Stories

Has David Cronenberg turned tame?

Has David Cronenberg turned tame?

Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?

The 10 worst date movies

The 10 worst date movies

Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made

Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films

Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films

Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas

10 unlikely badboy biopics

10 unlikely badboy biopics

Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects

Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'

Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'

The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing

Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day

Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day

Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing