Reviews Film / Daphne And Velma

Shockingly Adequate

Don't get it twisted; this isn't an underrated cinematic gem or anything. But I and the guy who put it on for the express purpose of torturing me were both surprised that it had a bit of heart and a bit of artistic vision.

First, I give it props for taking two characters who're often a bit overlooked in the broader constellation of Scooby-Doo! media and giving them both some personality and flair, and not in a way that feels like a betrayal of either character. The worst that can be said is that Velma is abrasive at the start of the film, but overall I appreciate that it draws on multiple sources to piece together something for both characters, and that it was actually rather brave to make a spin-off focused entirely around two characters who weren't Scooby and Shaggy.

Second, while its sense of humor isn't perfect, and not every joke lands, the jokes that do are often surprisingly sophisticated. I especially appreciated the ending, where a seemingly-stupid jock character delivers an hilarious send-off to an obnoxiously-obvious bit of symbolism, and not in a way that came across as just indulging in bad writing and thinking that mocking it made it okay.

The aesthetics deserve their own section. While clearly a budget production from top to bottom, I liked the Disney Channel take on a near-future tech school. Mad science isn't that far outside of the normal Scooby-Doo! setting, so while it's not as grounded as it could be it doesn't come across as a betrayal of the source material like so many other Scooby properties that add the supernatural or paranormal. Several scenes cleverly homage the original show. And the costuming splits the difference well between near-future and classic 60's.

Which brings us to the acting and casting. The budget might not've quite been there to get actresses that closely resembled their cartoon counterparts, but damn it, they're acting their hearts out and owning these roles. And the side cast all manage to play their parts appropriately over the top without fully sacrificing essential humanity... mostly.

Unfortunately, there's still a fair bit of legitimate criticism to be had. An early twist that was probably supposed to come across as a silly joke not only retroactively ruins a much better joke about Daphne always being lucky but instead seems creepy and over the line. The film is barely at the minimum for feature-length, and it needed to use a fair bit of padding to do even that. This is especially noticeable at the end, where triumphant affirmations of character development over insecurity happen twice in rapid succession. And while it redeems itself in the end, much of the social media criticism comes off as on-the-nose and ham-handed.

It's not a perfect movie, but it pleasantly surprised me. If you have a small child, or just enjoy dissecting films critically with older friends, it might be a better time than you expect.