SCOOBY-DOO, that lovable and goofy Great Dane, undergoes a computer-generated overhaul in Raja Gosnell's low-concept, high-camp caper.

Together, Scooby (voiced by Fanning) and Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr), with Daphne (Sarah Michelle-Gellar), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) and Velma (Linda Cardellini), run the Mystery Inc. detective agency, solving strange crimes.

The kooky quintet is invited to Spooky Island, a scary amusement park owned by the oddly named Emile Mondavarious, played with gusto by Rowan Atkinson.

The eccentric host is at his wit's end. His teenage guests arrive on the island full of beans, but when they leave they look like brain-washed clones.

Mondavarious begs Mystery Inc. to investigate the possibility of foul play somewhere on the island.

Fred, Daphne et al are soon running scared from hordes of ghostly apparitions and snarling monsters, but why would anyone want to scare them away from the park?

Screenwriter James Gunn's love of the animated television series is evident. He relentlessly pokes fun at the main characters, Daphne is forever being captured by the bad guys, and ensures the plot is riddled with familiar scenarios and catchphrases, including the immortal "Zoinks!".

There's even a colourful, if superfluous, prologue in which one bad guy is revealed to be the janitor who utters the time-honoured: "If it weren't for you meddlesome kids..."

Unfortunately, as much as Gunn adores the TV series, he often fails to capture its anarchic charm, though this may be because the producers decided to play safe.

More troubling, the computer-generated Scooby lacks the sheen of realism you never once forget he has been created inside the animators' hard drives. The problem is we have grown up knowing Scooby-Doo as a cartoon dog and this one doesn't even look like a cartoon. It doesn't even look like Scooby-Doo.

It might not have been a problem if the rest of the film did not glow with cartoonish colours. It all looks gloriously touched with the Hannah Barbera palette except for the damned dog.

Prinze Jr lacks charisma in his man-made fibres and neckerchief, and Gellar goes all Buffy during her fight scenes, while Cardellini has Velma's monotone drone down pat.

The solitary joy is Lillard, who expertly mimics Shaggy's distinctive strained vocals, and generates a genuinely touching screen chemistry with his canine best chum.

Shut your eyes and it could be the cartoon original up there on the screen.

Sets and costumes look gorgeous, and there are plenty of in-jokes to please die-hard fans.

Loud, colourful and determined to entertain, Scooby-Doo should be top dog at the UK box office for some time. Pity it's not a better pedigree.