Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders

It's the another masterpiece Scooby doo Movie. With Some new creatures.

On a trip across the desert, the gang encounter some sort of craft and, panicking, crash the van. As they wait for help Scooby and Shaggy claim to have seen aliens. Stuck in the town waiting for repairs to be done they investigate an old man's claims of abductions. Meanwhile Shaggy and Scooby fall in love with a local hippy girl and her dog and follow her to investigate a fenced off government area of the desert and the bank of satellite dishes.

One of a series of new Scooby Doo films, this doesn't distinguish itself in any particular way but does continue to give us what the others did – a more aware version of the old cartoon without going the whole hog and filling it with knowing adult gags. The plot (as with most of the new cartoons) involve real beasts rather than just relying on comedy monsters – these aliens are a little unsettling at times, but the comedy is still good for kids.

Scooby doing impressions is a good one, but there are also some self-aware gags that work well for those who grew up watching the old cartoon series – the best bit being where the line `and we would have got away with it etc' is cut short by an impatient policeman as the film moves on! Some of the musical numbers are a little weak but just about contain enough funny lines to cover for the poor music. Shaggy's love subplot is not as strong as it could have been but is still an amusing side of the film.

Overall this is probably not for adults but can be watched by them as long as they are fans of the series. The gentle comedy is good and the plot is farfetched but well put together (although I had major reservations at the end). If you're planning to watch it then I imagine you already know you're in the mood for that type of humour and, as long as you are, this is quite an enjoyable little movie.

I was initially just expecting this 2000 "Scooby-Doo" animated movie to be a run-of-the-mill archetypical one in the bunch of all the other animated stories. But still, as I hadn't already seen it, of course I opted to watch it.

And color me impressed. Writers Davis Doi, Glenn Leopold and Lance Falk put together one of the better stories and plots that I have seen in the many, many "Scooby-Doo" animated movies that I have seen. I was genuinely surprised with the writing and the plot in "Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders". And I have to admit that I was pleasantly entertained throughout the course of the 74 minutes that the animated movie ran for.

The voice acting in "Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders" was good, though it was not the familiar voices of the more recent animated movies. But there were some familiar voices here and there, with the likes of Frank Welker, Mark Hamill and Kevin Michael Richardson.

The animation and art style in "Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders" is good, and it is the familiar style used in the franchise. So that definitely adds to the overall enjoyment of the animated movie.

If you enjoy "Scooby-Doo" animated movies or series, then you definitely have to sit down and watch the 2000 "Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders". It was nice to see a plot that broke the usual formula with the ending.

My rating of director Jim Stenstrum's 2000 animated movie "Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

The mystery may be a little weaker than in previous Scooby movies but this is still well worth your time and showcases the huge potential in the revamped Scooby franchise.

The Mystery Inc. gang break down in the desert (déjà vu?) and have to stay the night in a nearby town where the locals rant about aliens kidnapping cattle. So obviously they are up for investigation.

I still don't like those stupid sound effects that are STILL (!!!!!!) used when Scooby or Shaggy BEGIN to run away. You know what I'm talking about. It sounds like someone rattling a quarter around in a tin can. It's pretty lame, considering all the thought and effort that has went into updating the franchise, that these old-fashioned and cruddy sound effects are being used in this day and age.

But that aside there is a lot of fun to be had as Shaggy falls in love (his song is way cool), is kidnapped by the aliens along with Scooby and the gang suspecting a rather unfriendly mechanic.

Scooby Doo is going places (even further if they do away with those sound effects) and next time the writers should focus more on plot and mystery as this one was wrapped up in a disappointingly short 74 minutes. The movies that followed progressively got weaker and weaker.

Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (2000)

*** (out of 4)

Fast and fun feature has Scooby, Shaggy and the gang breaking down in the desert so they walk to the nearest town where they hear about strange lights and cattle missing. Soon the gang is going up against some alien invaders and this is where the mystery begins. SCOOBY-DOO AND THE ALIEN INVADERS is certainly an entertaining little film that offers up a pretty good mystery, a nice story and certainly some very funny moments throughout. I think this one benefits from a short (71-minutes) running time and the fact that it really doesn't have any boring moments or down time. I think the best thing about the film are the actual aliens. I thought the animation throughout the entire thing was extremely good but the look of the aliens was quite good and it was a joy whenever they were in action. Another major plus is that the mystery itself is good. This here certainly isn't going to win any Scooby Snacks for greatness but I found it easy to get caught up in solving the mystery. The vocal work by all was good as usual and this here even threw in some romance with Shaggy and Scooby. The film's best critic was my three-year-old who was constantly having laughing fits throughout the picture. He was obviously having a blast with it. He loves everything Scooby but I've never seen him react so positively to a film.