Velma (2023) Review: Is HBO Max’s Adult Scooby Doo Really THAT Bad?

Did we need an adult Scooby Doo cartoon without Scooby Doo? Did we need a weird opening shower scene with a bunch of high school girl cartoon characters? Did we need a Velma that is basically universally seen as unlikable and annoying? No... but do I really think it was as bad as people said it was... kind of but not really.

So overall- I watched every episode of this show and... I kind of think I enjoyed it. I like the Scooby doo characters and they did do some interesting things with the show and I thought the cast was really great. I love how you can play around with the Scooby Doo characters, their races, sexualities, backstories can all be a little bit different. Even their names- like the Norville Character... I think the things that they did to the characters were... okay. HBO Max aired the episodes 2 at a time and I pretty much thought the second episode each week was really good but the first episodes of the week weren't my favorites... so basically I liked every other episode.

I think most people's #1 complaint about the show was that Velma was unlikable and... I would say that's fair. I didn't really like her through the show... I did kind of like that she was unsure about her sexuality and that she was attracted to basically all of her friends... and Idk I thought there was just a bit of teenage innocence to that.

The one thing that I think I didn't really like about the show was Velma's comments about her weight... and her overall appearance. No one ever really said anything good about her body or her appearance... Her weight was just sort of all used as jokes and I don't think that's funny. This cartoon wasn't really made for teenagers I guess... but teenage girls already have enough body image issues- actually there's a study that teenage girls right now are more depressed than they have been in years... especially the LGBTQ+ community. I don't think this show was aimed at teenagers- but I'm sure LGBTQ+ teens would watch it and... that's just not something we really need. I think in general... we need more POSITIVITY even in jokes and things... and less just making fun of people's weight or appearance.

The mystery itself was okay... but I think I might have rather had a different mystery each week and maybe one overarching season long story like "where is Velma's mom" or something like that... but yeah.

Would I watch a season 2... I probably would... like I said I didn't not enjoy the show but... it was just kind of hard to get through all in all. It definitely isn't the best show that it could be... and I'm kind of not sure what they would even do.

I think that's all I have to say about it... I was going to say more positive things- but then I remembered all the "Velma is Fat" jokes and... I'm just not a fan of it.

That's it... I hope you guys liked this review. What did you think about it? At least the animation was really good right?

Bye!

-Shannon