Simon Cowell makes a cameo appearance in SCOOB! primarily to deliver this message: “friendship won’t save the day”. Well, he’s only partially wrong. In SCOOB!, friendship, in conjunction with some good humor, manages to keep an otherwise imperfect experience interesting.

SCOOB! opens with a heartfelt origin story of how Scooby and Shaggy met, then how the duo encounters the other three members of the Mystery Gang. But 10 years later when the opportunity to become incorporated splits the team in two, Scooby and Shaggy’s friendship is tested after they join a new team to stop the evil plan of Dick Dastardly.

Despite a convoluted plot, SCOOB! is full of fresh jokes and modern references that kept me chuckling throughout the movie. That and the above average 3D animation are the film’s two strengths, which could be all that some people need to find this movie worthwhile.

But SCOOB! is far from perfect. As a revival of a beloved property, it falls flat. The film shoehorns in familiar components like wacky sound effects, other Hannah Barbara characters, and various Scooby-Doo motifs - updating some, and using others as punchlines. It’s a hodgepodge of “nostalgia” that ultimately misses the mark.

SCOOB! is clearly not trying to be anything more than it has to be. It’s objective is to tell an endearing story of close friendship, even if that message is emphasized to a fault. So for optimal enjoyment, SCOOB! should be consumed like the defective Scooby Snack that it is.

Acting and Casting - 1 | Visual Effects and Editing - 2 | Story and Message - 1 | Entertainment Value - 1 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 1 | Reviewer's Preference - 0