Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004) starring Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini, Seth Green irected by Raja Gosnell Movie Review

Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) and Scooby in Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

Double Doo Doo

For a review of "Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" please read my review of "Scooby Doo: The Movie", well you might as well because everything I said about the first movie, the likes and dislikes can be repeated for this sequel. As such I can only presume that "Scooby Doo" the movie turned enough profit for them to make a sequel but rather than trying to come up with something a little different they repeated the formula of the first movie. Okay so a little lie we have a different storyline but beyond that the gags are the same, the CGI is the same and it still feels like a 30 minute storyline stretched out to try and make it a movie. None of which will bother a young child who will enjoy the visuality of the movie but for adults well there is zilch to entertain.

The work of Mystery Inc. is being honoured with an exhibition at the Coolsonian Criminology Museum featuring all the costumes they have collected over the years of solving mysteries and capturing bad guys. But the party is spoiled when one of the costumes, The Pterodactyl Ghost, appears to come to life and wreaks havoc before flying off with a couple of other costumes. Confused it soon becomes a little clearer when a masked villain shows up and declares that Coolsville will be plagued by monsters. It's up to Mystery Inc. to solve the mystery and stop who ever the masked villain is before Coolsville becomes Monsterville.

Linda Cardellini as Velma in Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

So with "Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" we have a storyline which sees Mystery Inc battling a series of former nemesis' or at least their outfits. It is a slim storyline and the various sub plots which feature Scooby and Shaggy feeling like they are mess ups whilst Velma falls for Patrick a museum curator add nothing of any depth. Now I know that this is really a movie aimed for young children and most young children who this will appeal to are not going to be following storylines but for those poor parents who find themselves sitting through this will a child will come out brain dead. It doesn't help that in reality we have a storyline which is barely enough for 30 minutes drawn out to cover 93 minutes.

But as I already said this is a movie which is visual candy for young children and whilst some of the effects are ropey it certainly feels like a sugar rush for your eyes. From various bad guys, to comic set pieces such as Scooby and Shaggy looking fly everything is about grabbing your eye and making you smile. And to be honest it does grab your eye even when it doesn't grab your mind. Although I do question those who felt that with Velma falling in love she needed a Daphne makeover which puts her in a tight red leather outfit, sexing up a character in a children's movie just feels wrong.

And in many ways that is all there is to say about "Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" because it is just more of what we watched in the first movie. The returning cast are still fun especially Matthew Lillard as Shaggy and the stars they attracted for this sequel which include Seth Green and Alicia Silverstone get in to the swing of things. But other than the scene where Scooby looks fly and maybe Linda Cardellini looking hot in a red leather outfit none of it is memorable.

What this all boils down to is that "Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" is basically the first movie with a slightly different but totally uninteresting story. It still has the same good points and bad points and in reality is purely a movie made because the first one made a decent enough profit.


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