Though it was much better than I expected (granted, I had really low expectations), I am in no way crossing my fingers for a sequel to Scooby Doo, which would likely be marketed in some crafty way (SD2 or Doo Two).  It's always a tough proposition to turn a 22-minute television show into a feature film, and the creative forces behind Doo do as good a job as just about any other attempt – other than The Brady Bunch, which, crazy as it seems, has become the benchmark for that particular genre.

If you are (or were) a fan of the show, Doo will likely entertain you in the very same way.  Other than the longer running time, the live-action actors and the CG Scooby, there really isn't anything different.  The film rips on the idiotic things that made the show fun, and the characters say all the things you came to hear them say ("Let's split up," "Oh, no!  My glasses!" "I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids," and, "Would you do it for a Scooby snack?").  The trouble is that the things that made the show fun were never really that good to begin with.

You know it's a bad thing when the action kicks off with a hip-hop version of the television show's theme song (and you know it's worse when you see an appearance by a popular band [Sugar Ray]), but that's just what we get before Doo dissolves into the tail-end of a mystery solved by the Scooby Gang.  As usual, Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr., Summer Catch) hogs the spotlight, Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) plays the damsel in distress, Velma (Linda Cardellini, Freaks and Geeks) pouts because she's the unrecognized brains of the outfit, while Shaggy (Matthew Lillard, 13 Ghosts) and Scooby (voiced by Scott Innes) continue to shrug off their obvious attraction to one another.  Things are said, feelings are hurt and the Gang decides to break up for good.

Flash to two years later, when the owner (Rowan Atkinson – what, was Alan Cumming unavailable?) of an amusement park called Spooky Island separately invites each gang member to solve a mystery.  It seems that his largely college-aged clientele arrive at the park in a giddy, fun-loving state but depart as super-strength zombies (Zoinks!  Did somebody say “zombies”?). Fred, Daphne and Velma try to be the first ones to crack the case, while Shaggy and Scooby longingly stare into each other's eyes over the all-you-can-eat buffet.  Eventually they team up and get down to some serious crime-solving.

Say what you will about Prinze and his freshly dyed locks, but I think the blond hair distracts from his abysmal acting.  Actually, Prinze is perfectly cast – Fred is supposed to be a dumb, bland Joe Vanilla, and that's just what he is.  Gellar is also a pretty decent selection, since she's nearly as vapid and worried about her public image as her Daphne is.  Cardellini is the only one who breathes any life into her character (and she's way hotter than Gellar, which, like, totally makes no sense), while the extremely unlikable Lillard manages to nail a very strong Shaggy impression.

While Doo does manage to keep its running time shorter than most films, it still seems to take forever to get to the inevitable conclusion while making you long for the brief and much funnier spoof done in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.  Like its Hanna-Barbera cousin Josie and the Pussycats, Doo also deals with the mass hypnosis of our country's youth (hey, hasn't The Gap been doing that for years?) via endless product placement.  Oh, and for all of you parents who used to get baked while you watched the show in college, the drug references are kept to a minimum, so it's okay to take little Zachary and Madison to see it (plus they were probably conceived when you were on the stuff).

1:28 -

for some rude humor, language and some scary action