Superhero Media: SCOOB!

So I guess I should address all the "controversy" around SCOOB! before I talk about the good stuff right? I mean, people seemed to really hate this film, with a passion that I didn't understand at the time and still kind of don't. One, yes, SCOOB! has the "Scooby Gang" going up against a genuinely supernatural foe, which flies in the face of much of the series before it, where there was always a rational explanation and the real enemy was capitalism. Fun fact, Carl Sagan loved Scooby Doo because of how rational it was. But, it's not like that's never happened in a Scooby Doo outing before, especially with all the crossovers that the gang has enjoyed since the 1960s. Second, it's ok that the gang are Millennials now, really, they can't be groovy first-wave boomers forever, that schtick was old when they were trying it in the '90s. Hell, Velma dressed as the Notorious RBG for Halloween and Shaggy thinking it was a Harry Potter thing was one of my favourite jokes. And the voice cast changing is to be expected really, though it was good to see Frank Welker getting around some of the supporting cast. 

That SCOOB! is clearly a blatant attempt to launch a "cinematic universe" is a little annoying, but I stopped complaining the instant Dick Dastardly sent an army of robots to capture Scooby because he needed to open a portal to the Hellenic Underworld. That's just the kind of Gonzo to keep me happy, and as that's wearing off, Tracy Jordan turns up as Captain Caveman and I'm set for the second half. This is a film for kids, so I didn't go in expecting anything more than what I got and I have to say I had a good time, even with not really being familiar with Dynamutt going in. All the classic Scooby Doo jokes I remembered are there, along with enough updates to modernise, but not too many jokes about phones, thank Dog. The Simon Cowel guest spot is odd, and seems really out of place in 2020, but gets paid off in the finale, so I kind of just let that one slide. Hell, this is a big-screen film with Muttley in it, what more can you ask for? 

How about mid-credit stings with Johnny Quest and Jabberjaw? 'Cause we've got that too! Sure, SCOOB! is dumb, more than a little bit of a cash-in and leans on tired "destiny" tropes, but for what it is, it's pretty great. The superhero stuff may be the B-story, but it's mostly unique and it's been forever since I've seen a good "evil mastermind" villain. If this is the start of something like Future Quest and I end up with a team-up film featuring Space Ghost, The Galaxy Trio, Thundaar, Birdman, Blue Falcon and Captain Caveman, sign me the hell up! At least until we get the, seemingly inevitable, "grim and gritty" reboot in which Space Ghost's family was killed. Oh wait, they did that one already. Probably not the best superhero offering overall, but SCOOB! is a fun way to spend some time painting and you'll get a few laughs out of it. Shame the rest of the planned series was canned, this could have been a lot of fun to expand on.