THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
It’s clear to me that kids will watch anything they identify as entertaining. One best example has to be the live action Scooby Doo from 2002 because even though it was far from good in the mind of adults, the box office results proved that kids dug it and were hungry for more. They asked for it and they received another mess they identified as fun.
PLOT
The sequel dubbed Monsters Unleashed follows the group of Mystery Incorporated: Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, Shaggy Rogers and Scooby Doo. The gang has been honored by the city of Coolsville as heroes for their past success in solving mysteries. The celebration continues at an opening exhibition at the Coolsonian Criminology Museum, commemorating their past solved cases. The celebration gets ruined when an Evil Masked Figure steals two displayed costumes thanks to a re-animated Pterodactyl Ghost who steals them. This fallout would be the beginning of a smear campaign against the gang by journalist Heather Jasper Howe (Alicia Silverstone). With Shaggy & Scooby criticized for their tendency to unintentionally bumble every scenario, including the museum, the two intend to better themselves and become true detectives like their partners. Since it was the Pterodactyl Ghost that attacked the museum, the gang does consider the possibility of a familiar foe to attack the museum. They consider it to be Jonathan Jacobo who was the original perpetrator of the fictional monster, but they drop that theory when hearing he died in a failed prison escape. So they consider the mastermind to be his cell mate Jeremiah Wickles who was known to be the masked villain, The Black Knight Ghost. When the gang heads Wickles’ manor, they fall into a trap floor. When Daph pulls off breaking them out, they split up to look for a clue. Surprisingly, it is Shaggy & Scooby that find one until the two and the rest of the gang get chased away by a re-animated Black Knight Ghost. As for Velma, she finds an instruction manual on how to create actual monsters. Further reading it, she discovers that the key ingredient is a substance called ‘randomonium’, which can be found at a mining town. Before Velma, Daphne & Fred check out the said town, they get accompanied by the museum curator Patrick Wisely who Velma crushes on. On the way, the museum was broken into again and all the costumes were stolen which disappoints Patrick. This only gives another opportunity for Heather to turn the city against them. As part of the clue, Shaggy & Scooby visit ‘Faux Ghost’, a nightclub where past villains hang out. Shaggy does discover firsthand that Wickles has mended his evil ways, but Rogers and Doo get kicked out of the club once recognized. After getting kicked out, the two find Patrick assault a staff member of his, ordering him to find out who’s responsible for vandalizing the museum. When they see Wickles exit the club, they choose to follow him instead. Fred, Daph & Velma head to the mining town and make contact with Wickles himself. It turns out that he intends to make an amusement park out of the mines, claims to have nothing to do with the museum robberies and in reality, he hated his cell mate Jacobo. Shaggy & Scoob encounter one of the two skeleton men and as they retreat from it, they take an elevator that takes them to a laboratory full of potions they try out. They would meet up with the rest of the gang and together, they find the stolen costumes. When Fred, Daph, & Velma choose to further explore the lair, Shaggy & Scooby accidentally activate the machine that reanimates the costumes into monsters. The lineup they re animate include: a zombie, Miner 49er, Captain Cutler and the Tar Monster. When the other three see what has occurred, Fred quickly snatches the control panel before the rest of the gang make a break for it. On the way out, they also encounter the skeleton men and the Ten Thousand Volt Ghost. As the gang takes cover and hides in their old clubhouse, the monsters attack the city alongside their superior, the Evil Masked Figure. When Captain Cutler and the Pterodactyl Ghost tracks the gang down, they head back to the mines with the intent to undo the Re-animation. When they get there, the majority of them split up when encountering more monsters. Fred & Daphne are able to overcome the Black Knight and Ten Thousand Volt Ghost together when unable to take down one alone. Velma distracts the skeleton men while Shaggy & Scooby avoid Miner 49er and devour the Cotton Candy Glob as they head back to the lair to undo the Re-animation. When Velma goes through the mines, she finds a shrine of Jacobo set up by Patrick as he’s trying to uncover the mystery like her. He proves his innocence by saving her from falling off a catwalk giving way before he gets abducted by the Pterodactyl Ghost. When she reunites with the gang and return to the lair, they get cornered by all the monsters. When Fred, Daph, Shaggy & Velma get pinned down by the Tar Monster, Scooby uses a fire extinguisher to freeze its body. He also outwits the other monsters in order to undo the re-animation as planned, freeing his friends in the process. When the gang is able to apprehend the Evil Masked Figure, it is revealed that the perpetrator is Jacobo who survived his prison escape, adapted the persona of Heather to turn the press against the gang and frame Wickles by leaving the instruction manual in the manor. Along with that, the news cameraman Med was his accomplice. The film would end with Mystery Incorporated celebrate solving the case at Faux Ghost.
THOUGHTS
I feel like my younger self was an innocent dumbass because I even thought this was a good film as well. Growing up, I found out the hard way this ain’t even close to being better, it’s just worse. It’s clear to me James Gunn and Raja Gosnell heard the criticism from before and wanted to take some kind of step back to satisfy fans, but it backfires for feeling too late. The word of the day is ‘Nostalgia’ because that was what they were aiming for when deciding to have the monsters from the shows as the central villains, but I honestly wish that was the plot the first time around which would’ve made this more bearable the first time around. Due to the bigger budget, you know they deliver with the set pieces but they still repeat the same mistakes. I said before I don’t mind women dressing however they want, but I refuse to believe these characters would show off cleavage in a movie kids are going to watch. I am back and forth with the visuals again because while Scooby still looks fine, I can’t say the same with every monster we see. Ten Thousand Volt and Black Knight Ghost whereas I can’t say the same with the likes of Pterodactyl Ghost and the Tar Monster. The nostalgia truly kicked in when Captain Cutler came from the bayou because I felt like I was watching one of the animated episodes and I say that in a good way. Again, it is the chemistry of the main cast that maintain whatever investment remains because from the beginning, you know how genuine it is between them all. Matthew Lillard and Neil Fanning are straight up carrying the film again because they’re just as lovable as they were before playing Shaggy & Scooby. You’re rooting for them the most because you relate for their desire to be better versions of themselves. They definitely are the true heroes here since their first clue led to them finding Jacobo’s lair and I don’t think the others would’ve found it without them. Seeing them feel confident enough to do what they think is right is enough to prove the the point of theme where you can’t rush improvement. I find it ironic due to the films quality. Since these two characters remind me of my funny bone. The biggest laugh they gave me has to be when they were trying out potions without caution. Shaggy going from having a feminine to a muscular body is one thing, but I was bawling with laughter seeing Scoob go from becoming a three eyed monster, to the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Tunes to becoming a smarter version of himself that undoes their transformations. If anything else, I do relate to them devouring Cotton Candy Glob because I don’t see myself hesitating if encountering such a monster. Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar definitely kept things a little interesting by showing Fred & Daphne as people who want to prove their own maturity, that they’re known for more than the looks. It seems to me that these two characters are still together because they both relate to the said situation because I don’t see any other reason apart from the actors being married. Linda Cardellini still had us interested in Velma because she knows how vulnerable it is to let her heart do the talking instead of her brain. It’s through her encounters with Patrick where she accepts that the brain doesn’t always have the answers. I love Seth Green, but I felt like Patrick should’ve had a bigger role than what he already got. He seems to be a guy who was an ideal suspect during the whodunnit, but since he was innocent, it basically proves you gotta step out of the comfort zone to do what has to be done. And in his case, it was being aggressive to his staff member about the museum’s vandalism and having his own investigation shrine over Jacobo. I do feel like he should’ve told the gang about it, but at least he had good intentions unlike the many villains this franchise has provided. Was I sure Tim Blake Nelson and Peter Boyle would be put to good use in their supporting roles? As If! Nelson is so forgetful as Jacobo which is disappointing since he’s the mastermind. He’s straight up a selfish power hungry guy and there’s nothing else to him. Boyle was definitely wasted as well because they had something going for the role of Wickles and I don’t think they fully capitalized. He hates the gang for putting him in jail, yet grew to have regret for his past. Since he ain’t over what they did, it defends the case why was at the museum grudgingly watching them from afar. If he really grew regret for being the Black Knight Ghost, he would’ve not went because that was just the beginning of reasons putting him in the suspect list. The end of it is still having a trap floor. If he really didn’t want a Girl Scout at his door, he could’ve left a bunch of locks on the gate. This is just only a fraction of problems I had with this movie because the general story had so many moment that made no damn sense to me. Going from the top, why would Mystery Inc. keep the costumes in the first place before donating them to the museum? That shit is evidence for the police to collect. This movie wants me to think I’m stupid, but I assure you I’m not when I can totally tell Patrick jumped before he fell. Green could’ve just dropped instead of such a pointless jump. I know Shaggy would be too excited/scared to tie the rope like he was supposed to, but it’s a goddamn shock for Fred, Daph & Velma to believe him when they know he can mess up so easily. He’s lucky to save himself from fire when he grabs a pan, but there wasn’t even one on the table until the next cut. As if they would think of being sneaky with continuity errors. Also, I know cops are regularly written to be dumb in kids movies, but god it had to be embarrassing running from a guy obviously in costume of a pterodactyl. There were a lot of lights on in that area, so you can’t say you mistook it with an actual dinosaur. And if that ain’t ridiculous, how about the fact that nobody recognizes Scoob in disguise? I don’t want to say it’s a disguise because even I would know that’s a goddamn dog. One of the ladies at Faux Ghost was so attracted to Scoob she ended up dancing with him. I’m glad it only got to there. And let’s be honest, nobody took the toilet brush from Wickles’ manor. Meaning Scoob only misplaced it when he tried think of it as a clue. I know Patrick felt embarrassed when the museum got vandalized, but he made it hard for himself trying to figure out whose responsible on his own. And who listens to business pitches at night? I know business doesn’t sleep, but that’s a stretch for those investors to visit Wickles at the mining town just to hear a pitch about a new theme park. The same thing goes with that rando citizen who gets attacked by Tar Monster while being caught up in traffic. This leads to me admitting the monsters confuse me a whole bunch. The zombie only drives around and vomits on a reporter. Whereas the Tar Monster proves to be powerful enough to pin down multiple people at will, yet didn’t think of doing that when Fred took the control panel. Forget being a new born, if you know you can do just do it. I want to complain it’s possible for Shaggy & Scooby to pull of sledding with trash can lids, but I’m getting more pissed off on it being possible for Fred to pull over and know were they’d land. If the girls saw what was happening through the window, please clarify this shit. I’m even wondering whether or not Heather was a real person because if she actually reports to a news station, Jacobo must’ve had unholy commitment to that career while hatching a big scheme. I don’t blame Velma for trusting Shaggy & Scooby to take the control panel because they know where to go. But let’s be honest, it would’ve been easier for them to distract the skeleton men whereas she would’ve dodged a bunch of obstacles without trying. I do respect the detail that Ned was helping Jacobo/Heather when one shot actually showed head to the van to dress up, but how did no one see him go up towards the building? It’s not like there wasn’t a crowd. I don’t care how much of a happy ending you want this movie to have, but too much bullshit happened in the last five minutes. It’s a pointless joke for Ned to say he was romantically involved with Jacobo/Heather and at the same time, my confusion raises exponential heights when two of the Faux Ghost regulars are cheering on for Mystery Inc. solving another case. They completely forgot so fast they put them in jail that they were willing to allow them host a party at their go-to bar. That’s more pointless than having Ruben Studdard have delightful singing number. I really hate this fucking movie. I refuse to believe you can ignore this after I’ve said it aloud. To get this over with, Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed is a really bad sequel for not fully capitalizing on whatever momentum it had at the time. If you really are a fan of this franchise, please skip this plus the predecessor and stick with the animated content because you’re saving yourself regret.
Comments