"Zoinks! Jinkies! Like, wow! Raggy! Reeeeelllllllllllllp!"

Ah, happy days. The living room rang to the supercharged sounds of Scooby-Doo (PG) when I was a little excitable boy (and a big unexcitable student).

Every week, the thrill-seeking teens and their petrified pooch would investigate a mystery at an old mill/paddlesteamer/ fairground and discover that the ghostly goings-on were actually the creepy old janitor in a silly mask. It was the same every episode but that's why we loved it.

So it's pleasing to see that Hollywood hasn't soiled my childhood memories with this live action adaptation of the Scooby cartoons the movie is as familiar as you like, with Shaggy's happy ineptitude, the Scoobster dressing up as a grandmother in an old straw hat (to avoid suspicion, naturally) and an assortment of perils facing Daphne, Velma and Fred.

The plot, if you need one, concerns the boss of Spooky Island theme park (Rowan Atkinson) who tricks the squabbling members of Mystery Inc to find out why the holidaymaking college kids are arriving in high spirits and leaving like zombies.

So the ever-hungry hippie Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) brings along the world's most terrified dog, Scooby-Doo (a fine piece of computer animation) to eat enormous sandwiches and outwit the monsters.

Meanwhile, Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar) intends to do something other then get captured, Fred (Freddie Prinze Junior) attempts to carry off a cravat-and-tanktop combo, and Velma (Linda Cardellini) is, as ever, the brains of the outfit (but blind without her glasses).

It's wholesome family fun conducted at a cracking pace, a pantomime on film, with the odd adult gag chucked in for the knowing parents and older Scooby fans. And as for Scooby, the potential stumbling-block, the voice is good and the movement is cartoony without ever being too ridiculous.

Fun enough to keep you entertained, whatever age you might be.

Out today.

July 12, 2002 12:00