Velma
First of all, I didn't know Velma had a last name. That's probably because I've almost never watched Scooby Doo. I wasn't a stoner when it first came out, and now I'm just too old. I know the basic premise and am familiar enough with the cartoon to recognize the characters and voices, which means I know just enough to get a lot of the jokes on this iteration of the story. I see the appeal; it has a lot of colorful action and not very scary monsters and bad guys. It was "looks like it's for kids but has a lot of adult content" before Pixar made bank on that concept. I appreciate it as an American cultural institution, but that doesn't mean I'll watch it.
But I sure didn't hate it like the guys who commented on the iMDb. This Mindy Kaling vehicle is a prequel to the whole Scooby phenomenon, showing how the gang got together in high school. It's a teen angsty journey that begins with none of the characters behaving like they do in the canon shows, which seems to be their main complaint. Yep, it isn't exactly like the show they've been watching since they were toddlers, so whiny whine fest.
The show begins with an in your face I'm-not-your-stoner-grandpa's-Scooby-story with an immediate sarcastic snark about not being an origin story with the super guy, an image from Velma's journal that says "I Hate Daphne" followed quickly by fornicating cockroaches. In the first minute of the show, that's a lot of "this is different" imagery and it hooked me. Then it kept me laughing with a funny lesbian joke about the women cops (voiced by real life lesbians Wanda Sykes and Jane Lynch). "Aren't lesbians supposed to be great at solving crimes? It's like the one positive stereotype perpetuated by cop shows."
Like the original Scooby, the artwork and animation is flat and colorful, i.e., cheap looking, and the action is clunky and simplistic with improbable action sequences. It doesn't have the rounded edges of original Scooby shows, or the jaded sharpness of the more modern series. The original themes are there, with a horrid crime the gang, except they're not a gang yet, must work together to solve, and more than a hint of answers about questions people have been asking for decades. ARE Velma and Daphne secretly a thing? Was Shaggy always a stoner?
Reading up on the original show was really interesting, and I may revisit it some time knowing more about its history. In the meantime, I will continue to watch this show for its still goofy but updated messaging and irreverent humor. I recommend it, but maybe not as a show you can watch with your kids and laugh at the jokes that go over their little heads.
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CFR: In Addition
Well this is embarrassing. I did not like Velma at all. sorry cranky.
Normally I don't mind a good updated redo that is raunchy but alas. For me Velma was really way too nasty and I just couldn't see how these characters would turn into Scooby-Doo which I liked.
Sorry again, Cranky. But I am really really really glad you liked it!
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