Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

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Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
Scooby doo two poster.jpg
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
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • 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 is a 2004 American comedy horror mystery film, directed by Raja Gosnell, written by James Gunn and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. 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 worldwide.

Plot[edit]

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 that Jeremiah Wickles, the Black Knight Ghost’s portrayer and Jacobo's cell mate in prison, is the culprit.

Going to Wickles mansion, Fred insists on ringing the door bell twice, which activates a trap door that drops the gang into a cage. Velma identifies that the lock can be unlocked with Wickles's fingerprint. Daphne ingeniously releases them all using the makeup from her bag to recreate the previous thumb print left by Wickles, thereby effectively unlocking the prison. 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’s to visit the Faux Ghost nightclub. They are attacked by the Black Knight Ghost, but escape when Daphne fights him off while Velma discovers its weak spot and disables it. Before fleeing, the rest of the gang had previously discovered through the book found in Wickle's mansion that the key ingredient to creating the monsters was a substance called "randomonium", which can be found at the old silver mining town.

After Daphne helps Velma overcome her fears of intimacy and assert herself by changing up her image, Daphne, Velma and Fred go to the museum, accompanied by the curator Patrick Wisely, but discover that 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.

Shaggy and Scooby, after overhearing the rest of the gang criticizing their tendency to bumble every operation, and especially their most recent offense failing to tie the rope and secure the Pterodactyl Ghost, resolve to better themselves and become real detectives. Following a lead from their first clue ever, which was stuck to Scooby's foot after he played around in Wickles mansion, sneak into the Faux Ghost to try and solve the mystery. After speaking to Wickles, they learn he has resolved his ways. Scooby eventually causes a scene and his disguise falls off, leading Scooby and Shaggy to escape through a trash chute. On their way out, they spot Patrick uncharacteristically assaulting who appears to be a member of his staff, ordering him to find answers to who vandalized his museum. Escaping an awkward interaction with Patrick, Shaggy and Scooby spot Wickles leaving the bar and follow him.

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 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 sees Patrick in the mines, finding a shrine dedicated to Jacobo, but Patrick proves his innocence by helping Velma after a catwalk unexpectedly gives way under her.

The gang confront the Evil Masked Figure as 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, who in turn reveals she is actually Jacobo in disguise, having escaped death and sought 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 2 Game Boy Advance game. After he succeeds, he tells the viewers to enter the Scooby-Doo 2 Game Boy Advance code. (This is only seen on the VHS and DVD release)

Cast[edit]

Voices[edit]

Cameos[edit]

Production[edit]

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[edit]

Box office[edit]

The film opened March 26, 2004 and grossed $29.4 million (over 3,312 theaters, $8,888 average) during its opening weekend, ranking #1.[7] It grossed a total of $84.2 million in North America, and went on to earn $181.5 million worldwide, more than $90 million less than the $275.7 million worldwide Scooby-Doo grossed two years earlier. It was the twenty eighth most successful film of 2004,[8] and ranks as the sixth highest grossing film featuring a dog as a major character.[9] The film was released in the United Kingdom on April 2, 2004, and topped the country's box office for the next three weekends, before being dethroned by Kill Bill Volume 2.[10][11][12]

Critical response[edit]

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."[13] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 34 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[14] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[15]

The film won a Razzie Award for Worst Remake or Sequel.[16]

Home media release[edit]

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.[17]

Soundtrack[edit]

A soundtrack[18] 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[edit]

  • This takes place when the gang infiltrates Wickles Manor. Shaggy and Scooby are looking around in a hallway. Shaggy points out that he and Scooby both have fleas through a magnifying glass. Shaggy points out they need to split up to double their chances. When Shaggy goes to another hallway, Scooby moves upward and bites his tail because of his dog-like instincts.
  • This takes place after Fred, Velma, Daphne and Patrick get into the Mystery Machine to go to the museum. At the museum, two of the security guards there are playing with static electricity jokes. While they are having their game, the 10,000 Volt Ghost, now turned real by the Evil Masked Figure, emerges from an electrical outlet and electrocutes the museum security system, letting the Black Knight Ghost in. As the guards were about to give each other the "ultimate shock", the 10,000 Volt Ghost puts its finger in between and shocks them and making them fly across the room, with one of the guards landing on the Cotton Candy Glob costume's arms. The Black Knight then talks to the inanimate costumes and tells them that the Evil Masked Figure will give them the power to destroy Mystery, Inc. This scene was mentioned in the film, but the 10,000 Volt Ghost was replaced with the Pterodactyl Ghost that helped the Black Knight instead. But it is possible that the 10,000 Volt Ghost left after immobilizing the guards and was unnoticed while the Pterodactyl Ghost came in afterwards and helped steal the costumes.
  • This takes place after Scooby and Shaggy enter the Faux Ghost in their disguises. The man who figured out Shaggy's true identity later in the movie walks up and tells the sleuths the Faux Ghost is a private club for people dressing as a terrifying creature and scaring people. Shaggy and Scooby save themselves from their cover being blown by saying they are the "world-famous Westside Pickleaculas", where they are "50% pickle, 50% Dracula, 100% terrifying." The man responds by telling them he was the Cotton Candy Glob. The scene then goes to where the inhabitants show their intense hatred for Mystery, Inc. through their slightly awkward games, with the gang being modeled into a game of Whack-a-Mole, and a darts game. Shaggy then worries what the urinals look like.
  • This takes place when Velma suspects Patrick of being the Evil Masked Figure. Scooby then does an act of what Patrick was acting like...or what he was sort of acting like, which seemed to scare Shaggy as well.
  • This is where the Skeleton Men chase Scooby down the hill. The whole scene was in CGI. Scooby uses a tree branch to get behind the Skeleton Men, who crash into a tree. Scooby throws a bone out of his mouth rather than the Skeleton's head. The Skeleton Man then forms into a bird-like creature with its hands, head and ankles and feet together. It jumps to get help, but breaks into pieces again.
  • This takes place after Velma leaves to distract the Skeleton Men so Shaggy and Scooby could get past. The Skeleton Men are more modified in this scene rather than the other deleted one. The red-eyed skeleton has been modeled into a machine gun-like creature and chase after Velma. The green eyed one shoots Velma with the skeleton machine gun, and covers every inch of her body with skeleton bullets, narrowly escaping.
  • This takes place before Scooby and Shaggy encounter the Miner 49er. They both hide, and feel this is the end for them. To give the movie a touching moment, Scooby and Shaggy profess their love for each other. They then head to the Monster Hive to install the control panel, but encounter the Miner 49er who blocks their path.

Cancelled sequel[edit]

In October 2002, during the filming of Scooby-Doo 2, Warner Bros. gave the green light for production of Scooby-Doo 3. Writers Dan Forman and Paul Foley were hired by WB to write the script for the third film.[19]

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. [20]

Prequels[edit]

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[edit]

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, set for a September 21, 2018 release.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Scooby-Doo-Collection-Family-Feature-Blu-ray/dp/B0023RSNUW/ref=tmm_mfc_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
  2. ^ "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)". The Numbers. Retrieved November 25, 2016. 
  3. ^ "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 25, 2016. 
  4. ^ "Scooby Doo 2 In The Works Says WB President". June 17, 2002. 
  5. ^ "Original Cast Returning For Scooby-Doo Sequel". March 31, 2003. 
  6. ^ "Seth Green Joins 'Scooby-Doo 2' Cast". April 7, 2003. 
  7. ^ Scooby Doo 2, Box Office Mojo
  8. ^ 2004 rankings, Box Office Mojo
  9. ^ [1], Box Office Mojo
  10. ^ "Weekend box office 2nd April 2004 - 4th April 2004". www.25thframe.co.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2016. 
  11. ^ "Weekend box office 9th April 2004 - 11th April 2004". www.25thframe.co.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2016. 
  12. ^ "Weekend box office 16th April 2004 - 18th April 2004". www.25thframe.co.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2016. 
  13. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/scoobydoo-2-monsters-unleashed/
  14. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/movie/scooby-doo-2-monsters-unleashed
  15. ^ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com. 
  16. ^ "2004 RAZZIE® Nominees & "Winners" - The Official RAZZIE® Forum". Razzies.com. Retrieved 2013-01-27. 
  17. ^ "'Scooby-Doo/Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed' Announced for Blu-ray | High-Def Digest". Bluray.highdefdigest.com. 2010-08-18. Retrieved 2013-01-27. 
  18. ^ [2] Scooby Doo 2 soundtrack
  19. ^ "'Scooby-Doo 3' Gets The Green Light". 15 October 2002. 
  20. ^ "Matthew Lillard says no Scooby Doo 3". 27 January 2006. 

External links[edit]

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