Critic's Grade: A+

A cool, funny, edgy and fun family film that is very good and is worth the money to buy.

The film begins at a toy factory where we see that Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar- Scream 2, TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer) the beautiful rich teen has been kidnapped (always) buy a mysterious ghost looking man. Coming to her rescue with a plan is Velma (Linda Cardellini- Legally Blonde) the brians of the group, Fred (Freddie Prinze, Jr.,- Down to You, Summer Catch) the handsome crime fighting team, and Shaggy (Matthew Lillard- Thir13en Ghosts, Wing Commander) the weird but funny friendly one of the group. After successfully saving Daphne and stopping the ghost, the team has a minor arguement and go their seperate ways.

Two years later, all of the team have realized that they all recieved letters to vacation on "Spooky Island", a fun and dangerous amusement park where the teens who visit end with a mean and cruel personality. After hearing and seeing mysterious happenings to the teens, the group as well as Scooby gets back together where they must solve one of the biggest mysterious of their time.

I wanted to see the film in theaters but since I didn't have a chance, I decided to just wait for the DVD. The other night I rented it and by my surprise was I shocked by how good the film was. Besides the two bad words it's a true family film, that has comedy, romance, drama, action, suspense and everything else created for an excellent film..

Even though I didn't get the same affect as in the theater, I still enjoyed every minute of the film. Directed by Raja Gosnell ("Big Momma's House", "Never Been Kissed") the film really is visually wonderful and the lead actors are great.

Freddie Prinze, Jr., left his high-school stud looks and decices to become a crime fighter. Although it wasn't the best performance of his career, but based on his recent film flops "Summer Catch", and "Boys and Girls" he really shined and brought his character to life.

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Linda Cardellini both delivered outstanding performances and really made you believe that they were the actual people. Sarah's portrayal as Daphne was right on schedule and Linda really proves she has true talent.

The real scene stealers in the film are Matthew Lillard and the computer generized Scooby himself. Their performances were excellent and many times during the film you believed that Scooby was a real dog. The person who did the voice was wonderful, and Lillard really had the whole Shaggy character working.

The DVD features includes over 10 minutes of additional scenes, audio commentaries by the filmmakers, and the cast. Also DVD-rom features, a few games for the kids, several behind the scenes featuretts including special never before scene features, the Outkast music video from the soundtrack and several other features.

So if you want to see a great family comedy on a weekend then rent or buy "Scooby-Doo" tonight.

Out of a possible 4 stars, this film deserves a good 3 stars.

All Reviews by James Edwards
If you are the author of this review, you may edit it by signing in.