Nobody does "mild peril" better than the Mystery Gang. When that phrase sums up the worst the MPAA can find to qualify the PG rating for Warner Home Video's new DVD release Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins, you know things are going to be highly kid friendly. In fact, there is plenty of spooky and creepy stuff contained here, but mostly penciled in the margins. The center-stage material in this DVD release is comedy, pure and simple. The first two theatrical releases from years past were so focused on appealing to a wide demographic that one was never sure whether they were winking or downright mocking the original franchise. In Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins, we find a live-action film that clearly reveres the original animated series. If you ever wondered how the Mystery Gang got together and became the meddling bunch they turned out to be, look no further.

Taking the bunch all the way back to high school is a smart move, so we can see how each of them had a unique niche in the social ecosystem before teaming up. Scooby-Doo is, of course, a special case, but Fred, Shaggy, Velma, and Daphne all come from different backgrounds and bring individual flair to the team. Casting dark-haired Robbie Amell as Fred is an interesting move, considering the bleached out impersonation that Freddie Prinze, Jr. turned in for the first Scooby-Doo film in 2002. Hayley Kiyoko is a rather liberated and inspired choice to play Velma, considering that few fans probably saw Velma as Asian; she does a classic "good-girl gone bad" costume change that will have tween boys swooning and parents pulling nervously at their collars. All in the spirit of fun, right? Nick Palatas turns in a nice enough Shaggy performance, but it's as much Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure as original-issue Scooby-Doo.

In a twist on the old formula, the Mystery Gang end up together because they've been incriminated in a plot to run kids out of the old high school. Rather than give in, the kids band together and resolve to fight for their good names, solving a mystery in the process. The mystery is loaded with spooks, ghosts, and life-threatening adventure that always seems to come across as funny. There is plenty of good physical humor, and sophomoric fare such as the reprisal of fart-jokes from the first film. What works once (albeit to critical disdain) may work again, but the creators of Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins do seem to find a good midpoint between snarky teen humor prevalent on any live-action show being televised currently, and the hokey humor and action of the old Scooby-Doo series. Fans of both idioms will find something to watch in Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins, but the overall product is pretty bland. It feels like a straight-to-video production, especially playing third fiddle to two star-studded theatrical releases that weren't anything to write home about themselves. Recommended for core 'Scooby fans, only.