I think it’s a great Scooby-Doo movie! Some fans don’t like the shift from the usual mystery solving to Hanna-Barbera superhero movie, but I think it works very well! Shaggy and Scooby still act as bait for the villain while the others try to figure out his motives and evil plan, only the Blue Falcon’s son, Dynomutt, and Deedee, (not to be confused with the girl from Dexter’s Lab!) one of the Captain Caveman angels, are there trying to stop the bad guy too and save not only Scooby and Shaggy, but the whole world!
There is an unmasking at the end too: even though Dick Dastardly is quickly revealed as the villain, there’s much more to his story than it seems at first! Sure, Dastardly kind of steals the show, but what else is new? Yes, I want a Dastardly and Muttley origin movie now, but back to Scoob! Dastardly’s and Muttley’s personalities were definitely true to their characters! The meeting between Scooby-Doo and Dick Dastardly (warning, there’s a hilarious joke on Dastardly’s first name) had me in stitches!
One thing I wish was different was that they would have kept Dynomutt’s original personality with the original Blue Falcon instead of making him so serious to be a foil to BF’s goofy son, but I liked how it tied in the 3 different “man and his dog relationships!”
The dynamic between Fred, the muscle, Velma, the brains, and Daphne, not the damsel in distress, but the compassionate one, is nicely done too! The origin story at the beginning was awesome, especially the reanimated theme song!!! The animation is a good mix of classic Hanna-Barbera style motions and computer animation! I think the movie is a good balance of nostalgia and contemporary!
Will Forte’s Shaggy was a bit awkward to listen to, not being able to take him seriously in some of his more heartfelt moments, but the others were good! Frank Welker’s Scooby voice and Billy West’s Muttley mumbling (with a recording of Don Messick’s famous snicker) aren’t as ruff on the ears! (Hehehe!)
I also was hoping for more Hanna-Barbera characters added to the mix, but they’re probably saving that for the sequel! There’s a lot of HB Easter eggs to make up for it anyhow!
I love the movie!
