A thoroughly modern twist on a retro favorite is the premise of this 2001 straight-to-video flick starring those meddling kids, and their Great Dane.
Mystery Inc.'s member, ascot-clad, egotist Fred Jones, prett damnsel-in-distress Daphne Blake, prepetually hungry Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, brainy Velma Dinkley, and of course, Scooby-Doo, are observing a video game based on their past adventures, created by their whiz kid friend Eric, when a virus becomes loose in the game. The gang is sucked into the game, and their goal is to capture the virus. Everytime they get one step closer, they travel to another level of the game, until they're at the last level, their hometown, Coolsville. They encounter a Malt Shop, andupon entering, they see cyber-versions of themselves (the original versions). The real Mystery Inc. must team up with the Cyber-Mystery Inc. to battle all of the monsters, no longer men and women in masks, but real monsters...zoinks!
I watched the various "Scooby-Doo" during the between 1985 and 1991 (Actually, the first series I saw, "13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo," came on when I was about 3 yrs. old, and was off the air by the time I was about 4 yrs. old--I never liked this series anyway), rerun episodes of "Scooby-Doo! Where Are You?" (my favorite of all the series) "Scooby and Scrappy," (one of the 4 worst series--"Pup Named Scooby-Doo" follows in its footsteps, as does "Scooby's Laff-a-lympics"-I vaguely remember this one), "Scooby-Doo Movies," and "The Scooby-Doo Show" (which was a decent mid-70s series). I hadn't seen any of the films, except for the live-action version (which I absolutely loved), and "Scooby and the Reluctant Warewolf" (which I couldn't stand), but this was a decent film. I know all of the cases, the monsters, the obvious and inside jokes...heck, I could solve the mysteries within 10 minutes. But this movie kept me guessing. It was really funny to see the characters more modernized, and what the retro counterparts looked like.
While this was a fun movie, the only complaint that I had about it was Shaggy's voice. I know it's not Casey Kasem, and it's too obvious. But once you get past that, it's not a problem. The other characters are voiced decently (they have had plenty of people voicing Velma and Daphne, but if they replaced Fred's voice, it would be a gaping hole--Frank Welker's voice is very key to the character). It's nice to know that some things don't change (like Fred being "all-ego"). But the idea of seeing him sans-ascot was pretty gutsy (that rediculous red ascot MADE Fred in the original series!). Scooby-Doo sounded the same, and he was just as loveable as ever (I never liked the cartoon much until I was the live-action film, but I ALWAYS loved Scooby!!!). Velma, however, is still my favorite character--she's smart, and sometimes has great one-liners. Daphne, for once, isn't the damnsel-in-distress---she's resourceful and smarter than her cyber-countepart. Fred was pretty cool, and Shaggy, as always, is a scene-stealer, but he's Shaggy--he doesn't need a reason.
My favorite scene was the scene where the gang meets their cyber-counterparts in the Malt Shop, and the scene at the carnival. Plus, the villians (REALLY monsters!) were cool--including the Creeper! I LOVED the episode with the Creeper (I kept chanting to myself "Creeper! Creeper!!!!" after seeing this!)
All in all, this was a decent film--plenty of laughs, and lots of adventure. If you like vintage Scooby-Doo, then this movie might peak your interest. The animation is great-and just as colorful as the original! Definitely take a look at this film--it's a cyber chase worth taking!!
