The Mystery Inc. gang have broken up but find themselves together on Spooky Island. Strange things happen on the island resulting in the gang getting together to solve the case.

The Mystery Inc. gang have broken up but find themselves together on Spooky Island. Strange things happen on the island resulting in the gang getting together to solve the case.

Ghosts haunting spooky old factories? Hip kids being brainwashed? The Darkopalypse about to engulf the world? Scooby-Doo, where are you? But the gang have all fallen out and dissolved the Mystery Inc partnership for good. Jinkeys! Luckily a strange invitation to solve a mystery on Spooky Island has unwittingly reunited the now-flopped members of the team. Can ghoul-getting gang get along again?

The latest in a long line of live-actioned-up retro cartoon faves, Scooby-Doo features superb action set-pieces and seamlessly blended live actor/CGI interaction--our eponymous hero is rendered with particular panache. What's more, the special effects are backed by a scarily well-written script and some frighteningly good performances. The Buffy-tastic Sarah Michelle Gellar was born to be Daphne, and Matthew Lillard is show-stealing as the dream-to-play Shaggy. The characters themselves are darkly developed--Fred is now a vain egotist, Velma a last-picked-at-sport geek and Daphne a Clueless-style airhead. Happily, Shaggy and Scooby are still a pair of snack-happy gormless goofs for whom friendship outweighs all else.

Scooby-Doo manages to be great fun for the kids without neglecting the fans of the original (1969!) series. Alongside the fun, frights and frantic action are clever in-jokes and even a few hints at some rather adult goings on--Shaggy getting "toasted" in a smokey hippy-style camper van may explain why he's always so peckish. Throw in a surprise appearance from a love-to-hate familiar face, some Charlie's Angels-style wire work and a storming rap-rock soundtrack and this'll frighten the life out of the competition. If you're thinking of missing it--Scooby-Don't.

On the DVD: Scooby-Doo is beautifully realised in this anamorphic widescreen transfer--the picture is crisp, the colour dazzling and the sound crystal-clear. The menu screen is entertainingly presented with plenty of extras to explore. Highlights include the "Daphne Fight Scene", the Outcast music video and the "making-of" short "Unmasking the Mystery", which features a rare appearance from an ancient Joseph Barbera and reveals the cast and crew to be a personable, fun-loving bunch. The real stand-out here, though, is the "Alternative Scenes" section. The dropped scenes--which include a superb cartoon intro sequence--really add an extra level of understanding to the film, and one suspects that it's only because of today's attention-span challenged audiences that some of the best bits ended up on the cutting-room floor. --Paul Eisinger

After an acrimonious break up, the Mystery Inc. gang are individually brought to an island resort to investigate strange goings on.

Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase takes the finest ingredients from the television series--the original Scooby Gang (minus Scrappy-Doo) and their groovy exclamations ("Zoinks, jinkies!")--and updates the proceedings with a modern recipe. In this animated adventure, the gang's past exploits are immortalised in a video game. Due to an evil computer virus, however, they get sucked into that very game. It consists of several levels, including the Roman Colosseum (shades of Gladiator) and a prehistoric jungle (shades of Jurassic Park). To move from one level to the next, the gang has to find the box of Scooby Snack. With the irrepressible, ever-hungry Shaggy and Scooby--and their cyber-counterparts--part of this intrepid crew, how can they fail to find the snacks, return to reality and, most importantly, bring the creator of the virus to justice? (Ages 3 to 12) --Kathleen C Fennessy, Amazon.com