Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (also known as Scooby-Doo 2 or Scooby-Doo 2: Curse of the Lake Monster) is a 2010 live action/CGI American television film directed by Brian Levant for Cartoon Network with a screenplay by Daniel Altiere and Steven Altiere based on the Saturday morning cartoon series Scooby-Doo by Hanna-Barbera. It is the fourth installment in the Scooby-Doo live-action film series, and a sequel to the 2009 film Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins, whose cast reprise their roles again here. The film was shot in Santa Clarita, California and premiered on October 16, 2010. Dean Cundey (Halloween, The Thing, Jurassic Park) handled the cinematography. Michael Berryman has a minor role.
Plot:
School has just ended for the summer. Velma (Hayley Kiyoko), Shaggy (Nick Palatas), and Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker) meet up with Fred (Robbie Amell) and Daphne (Kate Melton) so they can go to meet Daphne’s uncle, Thornton “Thorny” Blake V, who has given them summer jobs at his country club in Erie Point.
That night at the club’s opening party, a huge frog-like monster suddenly appears and wreaks havoc. The gang decides to solve the mystery. They decide to investigate the only person who has ever taken a picture of the lake monster, Mr. Uggins, the lighthouse keeper. He then tells them the story of the lake monster: how when people were first settling Erie Point, an old woman named Wanda Grubwort warned them not to come onto her land. They paid no attention to her, so she used her magic staff – which used moonstones as the source of her power – to turn a frog into a horrible monster that attacked the villagers. Wanda was later tried for witchery and burnt at the stake…
Reviews:
‘If not for Scooby’s reduced role, Curse of the Lake Monster would be a substantial improvement over The Mystery Begins. A bit shaky in the earlier movie, Nick Palatas is more comfortable and natural as Shaggy the second time around, though his take on Norville Rogers is more vocal impersonation than full-bodied performance. Unburdened by uninteresting (and, frankly, unnecessary) exposition introducing characters that have been around for four decades, the movie is able to get down to the mystery right off the bat. The mystery itself is entirely predictable (and too reliant on the supernatural to be a classic Scooby-Doo story), but given that Curse of the Lake Monster is designed specifically for young audiences, that isn’t a deficiency worth getting hung up on.’ Judge Dan Mancini, DVD Verdict
‘The acting is subpar at best, the CGI horrid and the main freakin’ title character isn’t even in various and important scenes. While it’s not as bad as I had expected because I did manage to chuckle a couple of times and Hayley Kiyoko makes for a hot Velma that anyone can fall in love with, it’s still not wasting your time on either.’ Movieman’s Guide to the Movies
‘If you can get past the whole romance and movie not being subtle about who the villain is thing, your kids would enjoy it (though you’d might have to explain the whole relationship thing to them if they’re not aware of the birds and the bees). If you can’t, The Mystery Begins and the straight to video cartoons are your better bet.’ That Guy with the Glasses
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