This post was last modified: Oct 9, 2021 at 9:09 PM by Fun With Despair.

The filmography of James Gunn has become slowly more relevant over time, likely due to his involvement in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies (some of the only worthwhile films in the MCU) and his more recent The Suicide Squad, which I did not see because the first one was bad. Likewise, the live-action Scooby-Doo films of the early 2000s also have gained some mild recognition as of late, but mostly the first one. Nobody really talks about Monsters Unleashed, and it did notably worse than the first both critically and financially.

It's a shame too, because I personally believe Monsters Unleashed to be the much better film.

The plot in this one is relatively straightforward: an exhibit highlighting Mystery Inc.'s achievements opens up at the Coolsville museum, but after an attack by the Ptereodactyl Ghost, an old costume monster from the original series now somehow transformed into a real flesh-and-blood creature and the appearance of a mysterious masked figure vowing to destroy the gang, they have to solve the mystery behind the masked man and his monster alchemy, while putting a stop to the onslaught of reanimated monsters from their past.

It's pretty basic nostalgia bait, but fuck if I don't love it. As a kid, seeing the live-action gang actually engage with Scooby-Doo content from the cartoon and reference events from it really made the movie feel more grounded in that universe, and seeing monsters like the Black Knight from the very first episode and the fucking Tar Monster again in a live-action movie was really cool.

The cast this time around, while being the same casting as the first movie, REALLY starts to shine here too, and I feel like this is the movie where almost all the iconic lines from the live-action series come from, including the legitimately funny "I think Coolsville SUCKS" bit, which remains a scathing and accurate critique of journalism to this day. The gang does a lot more stuff as a group, and this movie cuts down heavily on the amount of sex jokes and toilet humor from the first movie in favor of somewhat more clever writing, visual gags, and some hilarious line delivery (particularly from Matthew Lillard's Shaggy), which means this movie also aged a hell of a lot better.

The CGI is also much better this time around. While still visibly 2000s, Scooby himself looks a lot better and each monster has much more weight. The actors also all do a great job at interacting with the CGI creatures and Scooby himself, something that sometimes is still an issue in cinema to this very day. Overall, it's undeniably a well made movie, even if it's a movie for kids. But enough about that, let's get into the movie itself.

The movie opens on the aforementioned museum exhibit and the following monster attack, and a couple other characters are introduced, like Velma's love interest, who I will refer to as "nerdy Seth Green" because I forget his name, and a reporter lady who keeps trying to make Mystery Inc. look like shit in the media by taking things they do and say out of context to stir up controversy for clicks, or views I suppose as its the 2000s and she's a TV reporter. She has a cameraman with her as well, who doesn't really do that much but I like him anyway.

The Pterodactyl Ghost has a design that I quite like, and he serves somewhat as the "main" monster of the movie, being essentially the "sidekick" of the mysterious Masked Man responsible for the monsters, accompanying him places as he can fly and therefore be used for a quick getaway. This happens right after the Pterodactyl Ghost attacks the museum, with the Masked Man appearing to yell dramatically at Mystery Inc. and vow revenge upon them before his "noble steed" carries him away. Velma finds a scale left behind, which she identifies as something belonging to a genuine creature, and not part of an elaborate costume.

The gang heads back to their headquarters as Fred embarrasses himself on television, and they deduce that the Masked Man is likely a previous villain they caught, initially suspect the original Pterodactyl Ghost, a guy named Jonathan Jacobo, until they learn that the guy supposedly drowned escaping from prison. They then begin to suspect the guy behind the Black Knight ghost, Old Man Wickles. They pay him a house call, but end up falling into a trap designed to catch solicitors. Fair enough, honestly. I also hate mormons.

When the gang escapes from the trap via a clever plan from Daphne to fool the fingerprint lock, they investigate the guy's house for a while, finding a note about a nightclub that Old Man Wickles liked to visit and a strange old book about alchemy, which discusses a means of creating real monsters via an unstable supernatural substance commonly found as a byproduct of mining in the mines on the outskirts of town., as well as traces of the substance in his house. As they do though, the gang gets attacked by the Black Knight suddenly, appearing to have undergone the same process as the Pterodactyl Ghost.

Being a real monster, the Black Knight is actually threatening, and this is a running trend throughout the movie. These monsters, unlike the fucking Phantom or Inferno, actively fuck shit up every time they're on screen, which is nice. They managed to escape though, and Shaggy and Scooby decide to go to the nightclub in disguise while the gang learns that all the other monster costumes from the museum display have been stolen. The nightclub turns out to be a hangout for ex-cons who Mystery Inc. had captured before, and they talk to Old Man Wickles, who they learn is reformed. Scooby's disguise falls off as he's breaking it down way too hard on the dance floor, so they flee the angry horde of past villains who chase them down.

They also run into Nerdy Seth Green, who is acting pretty shady. I haven't mentioned him that much so far past the start, but that's because he's mostly involved in a Velma romance subplot that plays out through the movie. He is a suspect though, and he's not handled terribly.

The gang heads to the mines in two groups, Shaggy and Scooby finding a huge ancient alchemical machine deep below the facility that seems to be able to create the monsters via the costumes and Randomonium, while Daphne, Fred, and Velma follow Old Man Wickles to the mine and learn that not only did he hate his cellmate Jacobo for petty reasons, but also that his motives for being at the mine were entirely unrelated to the monsters. Shaggy and Scooby though, being morons, accidentally activate the monster machine after drinking a bunch of potions and pressing buttons they shouldn't be pressing. This spawns in a bunch more guys, which leads to this iconic moment:

The Masked Man, now with many more ghosts on his side, takes to the streets to declare war on Mystery Inc, threatening to destroy the city and kill everyone unless the citizens hand the gang over, leading to the gang to flee to their old teenage hideout, where they reminisce for a bit until this diving suit asshole shows up and attacks them, blowing their cover. They resolve to shut down the monster machine while all the monsters are out looking for them, and they head off to the mines, where they explore the machine area a bit. Fred jousts the Black Knight on a fucking motorcycle and Daphne fights off the 10,000 Volt Ghost

Velma finds a bunch of stuff related to Jacobo, including a recent newspaper clipping that has him in the background in a photo which was taken after his death. Curator guy shows up and she suspects him but he saves her from a deadly fall as the monsters show up to ambush Shaggy, Scooby, and the gang as they go to deactivate the device, which will destroy the monsters as well.

There's a big fight in which the Tar Monster almost kills most of them due to being a huge blob of tar that can't really be hurt or stopped, but ultimately Scooby succeeds by going Tony Hawk's Pro Skater on his ass, and the monsters are destroyed. The Masked Man is captured, and unmasked as the reporter lady who keeps slandering the gang, who is then unmasked as Simon Co- nah, it's Jonathan Jacobo, having survived his escape and was living as a woman on top of as the Masked Man in order to avoid capture, the cameraman filling in as the Masked Man while the reporter/Jacobo was present during a monster attack.

I don't think this whole thing makes Jacobo trans, but it does make him weird.

To be honest, my perception of this movie is colored by both nostalgia and many good memories, but I think it's actually pretty good. I do a worse job of describing it than I'd like, because most of this movie's appeal is in being actually pretty funny. The casting is great as usual, and while the story itself isn't amazing by any standards, this movie is so much fun, and unlike the first live-action entry, this one is a proper Scooby-Doo story from start to finish, complete with a masked villain. Every member of the gang is useful and plays to their skillset, and it's just a genuinely good time from start to finish, especially if you play the drinking game version:

-1 drink every time they say "Coolsville"
-1 drink every time they say "Mystery Incorporated"
-1 drink every time a new monster shows up
-1 drink every time Scooby is in a costume, 2 if he is in drag
-3 drinks every time someone says "Scooby Dooby Doo"
-Finish your drink when the villain is unmasked

Gets you nice and drunk right at the start and then lets you coast through the rest of the movie without too many drinks. It's fun and actually turns this from a good movie into a GREAT movie, just trust me on that one. I was however, sober for the duration of my engagement with it for this garrison, and still liked it. Either way, this is definitely the most enjoyable movie on the list so far, so I'm sticking this one with an...

8/10

Ranking:
#1 - Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed - 8/10
#2 - Scooby Doo: Abracadabra-Doo - 7.5/10
#3 - Scooby Doo: Stage Fright - 5.5/10
#4 - Scoob! - 4/10
#5 - Scooby Doo and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon - 3/10

I like the first live action scooby so i really should watch this one some time

the amount of passion and joy in this post is inspiring. i will watch this film just for despair's love of it alone

This post was last modified: Oct 9, 2021 at 11:23 PM by Fun With Despair.

i almost certainly make the movie sound better than it actually is, but the drinking version is 100% certified fun

I think Coolsville SUCKS

Wow, I can't believe you think Coolsville sucks.....

I remember not getting into this one cuz I was mad it felt like it disregarded the first movie? but I don't even like the first movie? This definitely seems like the right way to do a live action scooby doo

the first movie for the most part is self-parody and all the characters are just blatant warped caricatures of themselves for the sake of most of the joke, and I found that it did all this in a way that wasn't actually misunderstanding it all and made it pretty enjoyable. the second movie drops (almost) all of this, and instead delivers a more or less straight interpretation of a scooby doo plot when compared to the first and does a really good job at it. there is some continuity between the two though I feel, the whole being famous and the media frenzy surrounding the gang in the second felt like a natural extension of what they were kinda going for in the intro segment of the first.