Movie Review: Scooby Doo! Camp Scare (2010)

The animated film uses voices from Grey DeLisle, Frank Welker, Tara Strong, Matthew Lillard, Mark Hamill and Mindy Cohn.

I let my oldest daughter talk me into watching this movie while waiting for the Green Bay Packers to play at noon today. I’ve seen other Scooby Doo movies with her in the past and, for the most part, have enjoyed them. And, as it turns out, this was yet another great film.

There were a couple things I really liked about this particular movie. One of the main ones was the fact it had a really enjoyable mystery. As expected, I figured the main bad guy, the Woodsman, was just someone in disguise. However, the motive for it wasn’t overly clear until toward the end of the film. After all, why would anyone want to terrorize an ordinary summer camp? And, when they discovered that town under the lake, it just added even more mystery.

Another thing I liked about this particular movie was the bad guy wasn’t as easy to figure out as I thought it would be. There were quite a few suspects, including the typical red herrings. But, as I watched this mystery and learned a little more about the underwater town, I realized the villain wasn’t as obvious as expected. I was actually able to guess at who it was. However, to be perfectly honest, it was just a guess and I didn’t know for sure until the movie confirmed it.

I think my biggest complaint about this movie had to be the camp kids that were helping them out. They were obviously meant to be young clones of Fred, Velma and Shaggy, at least as far as personalities went. But, their contributions were kind of limited and it became obvious they were really only in this movie because it made it easier to hide the villain.

I wasn't really sure what I would think of it when I started watching it with my daughter. But, this actually isn’t too bad of a movie. It’s obviously geared toward kids. But, I did enjoy it almost as much as my daughter did and am glad I took the time to watch it with her today.

My Grade: B