Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Raja Gosnell
Produced by
Written by James Gunn
Based on Scooby-Doo created
by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears
Starring
Music by David Newman
Cinematography Oliver Wood
Edited by Kent Beyda
Production
company
Mosaic Media Group
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • March 20, 2004 (2004-03-20) (Hollywood)
  • March 26, 2004 (2004-03-26) (United States)
Running time
 93 minutes[1]
Country United States
Canada
Language English
Budget $25 million[2]
Box office $181.5 million[3]

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (also known as Scooby-Doo 2 or Scooby-Doo! Monsters Unleashed) is a 2004 American horror comedy mystery film directed by Raja Gosnell, written by James Gunn and released by Warner Bros. Based on the animated television series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?, it is the second installment in the Scooby-Doo live-action film series and a sequel to 2002's Scooby-Doo. The returning cast features Freddie Prinze Jr. as Fred, Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne, Linda Cardellini as Velma, Matthew Lillard as Shaggy and Neil Fanning as the voice of titular protagonist Scooby-Doo. Series newcomers include Seth Green, Tim Blake Nelson, Peter Boyle and Alicia Silverstone, who appear in supporting roles. The film was released on March 26, 2004, received negative reviews and grossed $181 million.

Plot

Mystery Inc. (Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo) attend the opening of an exhibition at the Coolsonian Criminology Museum commemorating their past solved cases with monster costumes on display. However, the celebrations are interrupted by a masked man known as the Evil Masked Figure who steals two costumes using the reanimated Pterodactyl Ghost. The gang are ridiculed by journalist Heather Jasper Howe, who starts a smear campaign against them. Concluding an old enemy is the mastermind, the gang revisit old cases, dismissing the former Pterodactyl Ghost, Jonathan Jacobo, due to his death during a failed prison escape, they guess Jeremiah Wickles, the Black Knight Ghost’s portrayer, is the culprit.

Going to Wickles’ mansion, the gang find a book that serves as an instruction manual on how to create monsters. Shaggy and Scooby-Doo find a note inviting Wickles’ to visit the Faux Ghost nightclub. They are attacked by the Black Knight Ghost, but escape when Daphne holds him off. Shaggy and Scooby sneak into the Faux Ghost, speaking to Wickles, but learn he has resolved his ways. The rest of the gang discover the key ingredient to create the monsters is a substance called "randomonium" which can be found at the old silver mining town. They go to the museum, accompanied by the curator and Velma’s love interest Patrick Wisely, but discover the rest of the costumes have been stolen. Heather Jasper Howe ridicules the gang further by turning the city against them. The gang go to the mines, finding Wickles's plans to turn it into an amusement park. As they confront Wickles, he states that he and Jacobo were cell-mates who hated each other and that he has no connection to the museum robberies.

The gang then find the Monster Hive where the costumes are brought to life as real monsters. Shaggy and Scooby play around with the machine’s control panel, bringing several costumes to life, and the gang flee the city with the panel as the Evil Masked Figure terrorizes the city. Escaping to their old high school clubhouse, the gang realize they can reverse the control panel’s power by altering its wiring. Captain Cutler’s Ghost emerges from the bayou, forcing the gang to head back to the mines, encountering the various monsters along the way. Velma encounters Patrick in the mines, finding a shrine dedicated to Jacobo, but Patrick proves his own innocence by rescuing Velma from falling through a catwalk.

The gang confront the Evil Masked Figure, but the Tar Monster captures all of them but Scooby, who uses a fire extinguisher to freeze the Tar Monster’s body. He reactivates the control panel, transforming the costumes back to normal. The gang take the Evil Masked Figure to the authorities, unmasking him as Heather, but in turn reveal she is actually Jacobo in disguise, having escaped death and tried to get revenge on Mystery, Inc. by discrediting them. Jacobo’s cameraman Ned is also arrested as an accomplice. Mystery, Inc. are praised as heroes once again in Coolsville. In the Faux Ghost, the gang celebrates their victory with the now reformed criminals whom they unmasked in the past (including Wickles).

After the credits, Scooby-Doo is seen playing a Scooby-Doo Game Boy Advance game. After he succeeds, he tells the viewers to enter the Scooby-Doo 2 Game Boy Advance code.

Cast

Voices

Cameos

Production

In June 2002, at the time of the release of Scooby-Doo, Dan Fellman, the president of Warner Bros., confirmed that a sequel was in the works, and was slated for a 2004 release.[4] In March 2003, it was announced that Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Neil Fanning, Matthew Lillard and Linda Cardellini would reprise their roles in the sequel.[5] In April 2003, the next month, filming for the sequel began in Vancouver, with Seth Green joining the cast.[6]

Reception

Box office

The film opened March 26, 2004 and grossed $29,438,331 (over 3,312 theaters, $8,888 average) during its opening weekend, ranking #1.[7] It grossed a total of $84,216,833 in North America, and went on to earn $181,466,833 worldwide, more than $90 million less than the $275,650,703 worldwide Scooby-Doo grossed two years earlier. It was the 28th most successful film of 2004,[8] and ranks as the 6th highest-grossing film featuring a dog as a major character.[9]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 21%, based on 114 reviews, with an average rating of 4.2/10. The site's consensus reads, "Only the very young will get the most out of this silly trifle."[10] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 34 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[11] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[12]

The film won a Razzie Award for Worst Remake or Sequel.[13]

Home media release

Warner Home Video released the film on DVD and VHS on September 14, 2004 in both full-screen and widescreen editions. The DVD included deleted scenes from the film's production and other special features, such as two music videos, a "making of" and trailers. On November 9, 2010, Warner Bros. released both the film and its predecessor as a double feature Blu-ray.[14]

Soundtrack

A soundtrack[15] was released on March 23, 2004 on Audio CD and Compact Cassette.

  1. "Don't Wanna Think About You" by Simple Plan (Simple Plan had also performed the titular theme song)
  2. "You Get What You Give" by New Radicals
  3. "Boom Shack-A-Lak" by Apache Indian
  4. "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" by Big Brovaz
  5. "The Rockafeller Skank" by Fatboy Slim
  6. "Wooly Bully" by Bad Manners
  7. "Shining Star" by Ruben Studdard
  8. "Flagpole Sitta" by Harvey Danger
  9. "Get Ready for This" by 2 Unlimited
  10. "Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry
  11. "Here We Go" by Bowling for Soup
  12. "Love Shack" by The B-52's
  13. "Friends Forever" by Puffy AmiYumi
  14. "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi

Deleted scenes

Cancelled sequel

In October 2002, during the filming of Scooby-Doo 2, Warner Bros. gave the green light for production of a sequel. Writers Dan Forman and Paul Foley were hired by WB to write the script for Scooby-Doo 3.[16]

However, after the release of Scooby-Doo 2, Warner Bros. felt the film should have made more money, which prevented the production of another sequel. In January 2006, during a press conference for the release of Without a Paddle (2004), Matthew Lillard stated that the third film had been cancelled, and was not going to go ahead. This was due to the second film being less successful than expected.[17]

Prequels

The third main film Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins was aired by Cartoon Network on September 13, 2009, the 40th anniversary of Scooby-Doo. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 22. Directed by Brian Levant. The plot is an origin story for the Mystery, Inc. gang, portraying the beginning of everything: how the gang met, their first mystery, their lives at school and how they got the Mystery Machine.

The fourth main film Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster was aired by Cartoon Network on October 16, 2010, with the same director and cast from the previous film. In this film, the Mystery, Inc. gang is heading towards a beach club owned by Daphne's uncle, for temporary summer jobs. While involved with their tasks, they stumble on a new mystery.

Reboot

On June 17, 2014, Warner Bros. announced that they will restart the film series, with Randall Green writing a new film. Unlike the previous films, the reboot will be an animated film titled S.C.O.O.B.

See also

References

External links

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