Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

"This is tied for the most terrifying day of my life!"
"Tied with what?"
"Every other freaking day of my life!"

It is the grand opening of the Coolsonian Criminology Museum, featuring an exhibit of the costumes of the villains that were unmasked by Coolsville's own Mystery Inc.  Fred (Prinze Jr.), Daphne (Gellar), Velma (Cardellini), Shaggy (Lillard), and Scooby-Doo (Fanning), are on hand for the opening.  While they are talking with reporter Heather (Silverstone), the Pterodactyl Ghost is reanimated and wrecks havoc on the museum.  He is under control of a masked figure who vows to destroy Mystery Inc.

They return to headquarters to start the investigation.  Shaggy and Scooby overhears the others talking about them and decide to act like real detectives and solve the case on their own.  The gang suspect the original Pterodactyl Ghost, Jacobo (Nelson), is behind the attack.  But they also believe their first villain, Old Man Wickles (Boyle) is involved.  As more foes are reanimated, can the gang solve the mystery and save Coolsville?


Although the 2002 Scooby-Doo movie was lambasted by critics, Warner Bros. greenlight a sequel.  The sequel reunited the original cast and director Raja Gosnell, and was again written by James Gunn.  This film was also panned by critics, though they felt the film was closer to the series than it's predecessor.  The film won the Razzie for Worst Remake or Sequel.

I enjoyed the film.  The casting is spot-on, and the script is fun.  The monsters reanimated in this film all appear on the TV shows, and will be familiar to long-time fans.  This was the last Scooby-Doo film to feature this cast, the next 2 films were prequels that featured younger versions of the characters, which is a shame because I enjoyed this cast.  An enjoyable film.

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004) 93 minutes
Director: Raja Gosnell
Starring: Freddie Prinze Jr. as Fred
Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne
Matthew Lillard as Shaggy
Linda Cardellini as Velma
Seth Green as Patrick
Peter Boyle as Old Man Wickles
Tim Blake Nelson as Jacobo
Alicia Silverstone as Heather
Neil Fanning as Scooby-Doo