Way before the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there was the Hanna-Barbera universe...even though it wasn’t called that. You had shows like Dynomutt, Dog Wonder and Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels. But my favorite were the reruns of Scooby Doo, Where Are You? and, to a lesser extent, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo. While my first horror memories are of watching Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, I think Scooby-Doo got me into the horror genre.

Copyright: © 2020 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures — Copyright: © 2020 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

That’s a trend that has seemingly continued throughout the decades as even now, younger members of my generation wax fondly about Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, for example. Which makes reviewing Scoob! kind of difficult because it doesn’t feel like a Scooby-Doo movie. And, in fact, the Mystery Inc. crew almost feel like guest stars. Because instead of being a kid’s version of a horror movie, it takes its inspiration from a completely unlikely source: the MCU.

Scoob! is a sci-fi superhero movie that’s also trying to establish its own cinematic universe.

It all goes back to the beginning, showing how Shaggy (Will Forte) met Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker) when they both needed a friend the most. As they bond and go trick-or-treating, Shaggy’s bag o’ candy gets knocked into the Creepy House on their block. Before they can slink on their way home with their figurative and literal tails between their legs, they meet Velma (Gina Rodriguez), Daphne (Amanda Seyfriend) and literal knight in shining armor Fred (Zac Efron). Of course they go into the scary house for the candy. Of course, it’s haunted by a creepy ghoul. Of course that ghoul turns out to be a man who’s been stealing electronics and would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for…

You know the routine.

After this brief introduction, we’re jolted ahead ten years (after a cute montage scene aping the original show’s opening) as the gang tries to make Mystery, Inc into a profitable business. They enlist the aid of Simon Cowell (you read that right) who, in typical fashion, reduces each member to their benefit to the team. And he sees Shaggy and Scoob lacking, friends or now. “What’s more valuable than friendship, “ Shaggy tries to reason.

“Literally everything. Friendship won’t save the day,” Cowell scoffs back.

The meeting fractures and through a brief action sequence involving adorable/creepy robotic scorpions with chainsaws for claws and laser-shooting tails, the pair end up saved by Blue Falcon (Mark Wahlberg). Well, actually, it’s not the Blue Falcon from the original show. It’s his son, Brian, who has taken on the mantle, along with the original dogkick Dynomutt (Ken Jeong) and pilot Dee Dee Skyes (Kiersey Clemons), the actual brains of the operation.

Yes it’s as ridiculous as it sounds.

Turns out, the dastardly Dick Dastardly (Jason Isaacs) wants Scooby because of his ancestral ties to a mythological dog and he will stop at nothing to capture him. As Scoob, Shaggy and co. set off on a McGuffin quest while trying to stay a step ahead of Dick, the rest of the Mystery Inc. crew sets out to rescue their friends.

So...I think you can probably tell from the description above that this isn’t a haunted house or deserted carnival attraction-type Scooby-Doo mystery (though it ironically has both locations in it). It’s a globe-trotting expedition to find the three heads of Cerberus in order to stop Dick Dastardly from unleashing horrors on the world.

And this is where the movie could have lost me.

At one point, the new iteration of Blue Falcon, decked out in his Avengers-like attire, announces his presence with a gaudy light show and an exclamation of, “This ain’t your daddy’s Blue Falcon.” In some ways, it plays like a meta moment because it pretty much sums up this iteration of Scooby-Doo, too.

Gone are the spooky ghosts or mysteries or, really, anything tying Scoob! to any of the previous versions of the show. They’ve been replaced by sleek spaceships and WALL-E-styled robots with chainsaws and massive set pieces with lasers and explosions and earth-destroying consequences. Blue Falcon and Co are basically a superhero team and even bequeath Scooby his own sleek, superhero outfit that rips a hole in his and Shaggy’s friendship. And like superhero movies from both Marvel and DC, it tries to insert a bunch of Hanna-Barbera characters into the narrative that, I’m sure, Warner Brothers is hoping will each spin off into their own franchise. It’s so stuffed with these additional characters that our mystery-solving folks feel minimized…in their own movie.

And yet, I enjoyed Scoob!

The humor is sharp and a couple moments, like bowling alley attendant Judy (Maya Erskine), drolly and apathetically telling Scooby and Shaggy, “no running,” as they’re chased by murderous robots. Or the way she then casually rips Daphne, Velma and Fred’s hearts out with her deadpan line delivery. actually had me laughing. Some of the callback gags are also charmingly incorporated and I particularly loved the love affair Fred has with his van.

And, unlike a lot of superhero movies, the reason Dastardly is seeking Scooby is actually incredibly relatable and more morally gray than I’d expect from a cartoon for kids. It’s a well-crafted and animated film with heart and humor and I think kids will completely be in love with it, even if, for me, it wasn’t a Scooby-Doo movie.

But hey, any film whose moral is proving Simon Cowell wrong is OK in my book.