# Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (also referred to as Scooby-Doo 2 or Scooby 2) is a 2004 American mystery adventure comedy horror film based on the animated franchise Scooby-Doo. The second installment in the Scooby-Doo live-action film series and the sequel to Scooby-Doo (2002), it was directed by Raja Gosnell, from a screenplay written by James Gunn, and stars Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Linda Cardellini, Matthew Lillard, Seth Green, Tim Blake Nelson, Peter Boyle and Alicia Silverstone, with Neil Fanning reprising his role as the voice of Scooby-Doo.
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on March 26, 2004. Like the first film, it received mostly negative reviews from critics but eventually amassed a cult following. While profitable, the film grossed less at the box office than its predecessor, resulting in a third film, set to be written and directed by Gunn, being canceled.

## Plot

Mystery Inc. attends the grand opening of the Coolsonian Criminology Museum, featuring an exhibit of monster costumes from Mystery Inc.'s past cases. However, the celebrations are crashed by an "Evil Masked Figure", who announces the gang's destruction, before stealing several costumes with help from a supernatural version of the Pterodactyl Ghost. A smear campaign against the gang is started by journalist Heather Jasper-Howe. Scooby-Doo and Shaggy Rogers, feeling responsible for ruining a plan to stop the villain escaping, reflect on how many times they have accidentally ruined a plan. They vow to stop bungling up in cases, making attempts to solve the mystery themselves and be brave which confuses the others.
The gang suspects a former enemy may be the culprit. After dismissing the former Pterodactyl Ghost, mad scientist Doctor Jonathan Jacobo, due to his apparent death during a failed prison escape, they settle on his cellmate Jeremiah Wickles, the former Black Knight Ghost.
The gang drives to Wickles' residence, finding a grimoire previously owned by Jacobo that serves as an instruction manual for creating monsters through black magic and mad science. Shaggy and Scooby find an invite to the "Faux Ghost" nightclub, a hang-out for unmasked criminals. They are attacked by the Black Knight Ghost, but the gang escapes. Shaggy and Scooby sneak out to the Faux Ghost in disguise to interrogate Wickles but escape when the patrons see through their ruse. Velma identifies a key ingredient in the grimoire as "randominium", located in the old silver mines. Fred Jones, Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley then visit the museum, accompanied by its curator Patrick Wisely, whom Velma has a crush on. However, they discover its entire exhibition has been stolen.
Fred, Daphne and Velma confront Wickles at the mines, learning he is planning to reopen them as an amusement park. Upon learning Wickles hated Jacobo, they conclude that he is innocent. The gang reunites upon finding the Monster Hive, containing a machine that transfigures the costumes into real supernatural creatures. Shaggy and Scooby play with the machine’s control panel, carelessly activating it and transfiguring some costumes as the gang flees with the panel.
The Evil Masked Figure, along with the monsters, begins to terrorize Coolsville, forcing the gang to flee to their old school clubhouse in shame. The gang realizes they could reverse the control panel's power by altering its wiring. When the Ghost of Captain Cutler emerges from the nearby lake, the gang races back to the mines to reinstall the panel and reverse the Monster Hive's effects. One by one, the gang split off to lure away the monsters, leaving Shaggy and Scooby to deliver the panel to the Hive. Velma finds a shrine dedicated to Jacobo seemingly built by Patrick, leading to her suspect that he is the Evil Masked Figure; however this is proven false when he saves her from a collapsing catwalk.
The gang confronts the Evil Masked Figure and the other monsters in the Hive, but are all captured one by one by the Tar Monster. Luckily, Scooby freezes the Tar Monster with a fire extinguisher, before reconnecting and resetting the control panel, reconfiguring the monsters back into lifeless costumes. Mystery Inc. then unmasks the figure as Howe, only to reveal she is actually Jacobo in disguise. Having unintentionally faked his death, he plotted revenge against the gang, even framing Wickles to cover his tracks. With Jacobo brought back to justice, the gang is praised as heroes once again as they celebrate their victory at the Faux Ghost.

## Cast
### Live action

* Freddie Prinze Jr. as Fred Jones
** Ryan Vrba as the young Fred
* Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne Blake
** Emily Tennant as the young Daphne
* Matthew Lillard as Shaggy Rogers
** Cascy Beddow as the young Shaggy
** Nazanin Afshin-Jam additionally portrays Shaggy's likeness when he briefly gains femininity from a serum at the Monster Hive.
* Linda Cardellini as Velma Dinkley
** Lauren Kennedy as the young Velma
* Seth Green as Patrick Wisely
* Peter Boyle as Jeremiah Wickles
* Tim Blake Nelson as Doctor Jonathan Jacobo
* Alicia Silverstone as Heather Jasper Howe
* Karin Konoval as Aggie Wilkins
* Joe MacLeod, Brandon Jay McLaren and Aaron Ydenberg as a trio of skateboarders
* Calum Worthy as a bicycle-riding youngster
* Stephen E. Miller as C.L. Magnus
* Zahf Paroo as Ned
* Christopher R. Sumpton as The Zombie
* C. Ernst Harth as The Miner 49er
* Kevin Durand as The Black Knight Ghost

### Voice cast

* Neil Fanning as Scooby-Doo
** J. P. Manoux additionally portrays Scooby when he briefly gains high intelligence from a serum at the Monster Hive. Manoux had previously voiced Scrappy Rex in the first film.
* Scott McNeil as The Evil Masked Figure
* Dee Bradley Baker as the vocal effects of the Pterodactyl Ghost, the Zombie and the red-eyed Skeleton Man
* Bob Papenbrook as The Black Knight Ghost
* Michael Sorich as the Tar Monster and the Cotton Candy Glob
* Terrence Stone as The 10,000 Volt Ghost
* Wally Wingert as the vocal effects of the green-eyed Skeleton Man

### Cameos

* Pat O'Brien
* Tasmanian Devil
* Ruben Studdard
* Kester Moorhouse
* Big Brovaz

## Production

In June 2002, at the time of the release of Scooby-Doo, Dan Fellman, the president of Warner Bros., confirmed that a sequel was in the works and was slated for a 2004 release. In March 2003, it was announced that Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Neil Fanning, Matthew Lillard and Linda Cardellini would reprise their roles in the sequel. Filming for the sequel began on April 14, 2003 in Vancouver, with Seth Green and Alicia Silverstone joining the cast. During the film's 20th anniversary in 2024, screenwriter James Gunn revealed that the original title for the sequel was Scooby-Doo Unleashed.

## Reception
### Box office

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed opened March 26, 2004, and grossed $29.4 million (over 3,312 theaters, $8,888 average) during its opening weekend, ranking No. 1. It grossed a total of $84.2 million in North America, and went on to earn $181.5 million worldwide, more than $90 million less than the $275.7 million worldwide Scooby-Doo grossed two years earlier. It was the twenty-ninth highest-grossing film of 2004, and ranks as the sixth highest-grossing movie of all time featuring a dog (animated or otherwise) as a major character.
The film was released in the United Kingdom on April 2, 2004, topping the country's box office for three straight weekends before being dethroned by Kill Bill: Volume 2.

### Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed holds a rating of 22% based on 119 reviews and an average rating of 4.3/10. The site's consensus reads: "Only the very young will get the most out of this silly trifle." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 34 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, an improvement over the previous film's "B+".
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two stars out of four, stating, "This is a silly machine to whirl goofy antics before the eyes of easily distracted audiences, and it is made with undeniable skill." Dave Kehr of The New York Times gave the film a negative review, saying, "In the strictly secular-humanist world of Scooby-Doo, there are no real ghosts, but only humans desperate for attention who disguise themselves as supernatural figures."
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film a two out of five stars, stating, "it's straight down the line family fare, nothing inspired, nothing objectionable: a few funny lines." Nick DeSemlyn of Empire Magazine also gave the film two out of five stars, saying, "This sequel is a step up from the first. Scooby's animation is improved, there are some fun action sequences and a smattering of amusing moments. But the same manic mugging that spoiled the original mars this movie, and the result is a film only a six year-old on a sugar rush could love." Common Sense Media gave the film two out of five stars, saying, "Sequel is milder than original; potty humor, peril, violence."
The film won the Razzie Award for Worst Remake or Sequel.

## Home media

Warner Home Video released the film on DVD and VHS on September 14, 2004, in both full-screen and widescreen editions. The DVD included deleted scenes from the film's production and other special features, such as two music videos, a "making of" and trailers. On November 9, 2010, Warner Bros. released both the film and its predecessor as a double feature Blu-ray.

## Video games

Two video games loosely following the plot of the film were released in 2004 to coincide with the film's release; a 3D point and click adventure on the PC and a 2D beat 'em up platformer on the Game Boy Advance. In both games, one ending could only be seen by entering a code displayed at the end of the film after the credits.

## Soundtrack

A soundtrack was released on March 23, 2004, on compact disc and cassette tape.
* "Don't Wanna Think About You" by Simple Plan (Simple Plan had also performed the titular theme song)
* "You Get What You Give" by New Radicals
* "Boom Shack-A-Lak" by Apache Indian
* "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" by Big Brovaz
* "The Rockafeller Skank" by Fatboy Slim
* "Wooly Bully" by Bad Manners
* "Shining Star" by Ruben Studdard
* "Flagpole Sitta" by Harvey Danger
* "Get Ready for This" by 2 Unlimited
* "Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry
* "Here We Go" by Bowling for Soup
* "Love Shack" by The B-52's
* "Friends Forever" by Puffy AmiYumi
* "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" by MxPx
"The Rockafeller Skank", "Flagpole Sitta", and "Love Shack" are not featured in the film. Certains songs are omitted from the CD, including Mark Provarts "Circle Backwards" and "Monsters", Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive", and Clay Aiken's "The Way".

## Canceled sequel

In October 2002, Warner Bros. approved production of a third film. Dan Forman and Paul Foley were hired to write the script for Scooby-Doo 3. In August 2004, Matthew Lillard said in an interview that the third Scooby-Doo film was canceled because the second had not done as well as expected, which he attributed to Warner Bros. releasing it at an inappropriate time. In a 2019 interview, James Gunn revealed that he was set to write and direct but the film did not happen due to the financial disappointment of the previous film, stating, "although it did well, it didn't do well enough to warrant a third, so the movie was never made." Gunn tweeted the plot for the canceled film in 2020. Which was that "The Mystery Inc. gang are hired by a town in Scotland who complain they are being plagued by monsters but we discover throughout the film the monsters are actually the victims. Scooby and Shaggy have to come to terms with their own prejudices and narrow belief systems."