Mystery Inc. solves silver screen caper

Scooby-Doo -- PG
Starring: Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar
Directed by: Raja Gosuell
Showing: Showplace West 12 The plot of this buddy movie is exceedingly simple, and the same as every Scooby Doo cartoon ever made. The only new twist is that after a split-up caused by internal jealousies, the group is brought back together to solve a deep, dark caper. Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby don\'t get along for much of the movie. Now that you have recovered from the shock, we can move on. The group reconciles its differences, then takes on the evil forces that have been brainwashing spring breakers. The plot has some crazy and unbelievable twists, but isn't that why we go to the movies? The plot is simple, but the movie finds a way to be laugh-out-loud funny. Drug references and sexual innuendos abound as Mystery Inc. save the college kids on "Spooky Island." The cast brings the Hannah-Barbara cartoon to life. Freddie Prinze Jr., becomes Fred, the "me first narcissistic" de facto leader of the group. Daphne hates being labeled the damsel in distress. I'm sure Sarah Michelle Gellar has had similar struggles herself. The casting makes Velma (Linda Cardellini) a lot sexier than Velma could ever hope to be. Rounding out the Mystery Inc. gang are Norville Rogers and Scoobert, otherwise known as Shaggy and Scooby. Matthew Lillard plays the roll of the gangly, always hungry Shaggy. Scooby, the lovable and loyal Great Dane, comes to life via computer generated animation. The two are an incredibly funny duo and will probably win the MTV Movie Award for best on screen duo. The rest of the cast was also great. They were corny, one directional and dynamic enough to undergo a change for the better during the film -- exactly what is expected for a movie based on the 2D characters of the famous cartoon series. Rowan Atkinson plays the theme park creator, Emile Mondavarious, who reunites the team to save his vacationers. The film is billed as a family movie, and is great for parents to take their kids to the movie. The comedy is both slapsticky enough for those who don't get the nuances but includes situational humor throughout the movie. I loved the way the movie sugar-coated blatant references to a drug subculture. Hannah Barbara cartoonists had the pulse of the '70s counter-culture. The antics of Shaggy and Scooby would rival that of Cheech and Chong.