Director Gosnell obviously subscribes to the theory that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", and in this case to winning effect.

The Seventies tea-time classic about Mystery Inc - a crime-solving company made up of four adults and a dog - has basically been lifted out of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon and plonked on the big screen.

What Gosnell has done is use state-of-the-arts special effects - i.e. a CGI-created Scooby-Doo - and seamlessly placed the greedy Great Dane in a live action comedy caper.

The characters remain essentially the same - Fred (Prinze Jr) is a vain pin-up (after the first crime busting success he's on the arm of Pamela Anderson in a cameo) while Daphne (Gellar) is a self-obsessed teen queen.

Velma (Linda Cardellini) is the well-upholstered super-sleuth while Lillard's Shaggy isn't that dissimilar to the slacker original, except that he can pull hippy chicks of Isla Fisher's calibre.

What has changed is that a few adult-orientated gags have been tossed into the mix (do children really need to know what colonic irrigation is?) while a lot more acreage of cleavage is on show for the more red-blooded among us.

After a clash of egos caused the premature demise of Mystery Inc, the five crime-solving cohorts are summoned individually to the Spooky Island theme park by its dodgy owner Emile Mondavarious (Atkinson).

He wants them to discover what is making the up-for-it college boys and girls turn into zombies by the time they have to leave the island.

Spooky Island is a particularly splendid creation and plaudits must go to production designer Bill Boes, who has put together a wonderfully macabre theme park.

In one memorable scene the team find themselves trapped in haunted castle replete with swinging axe heads and a roller-coaster which makes your normal funfair ride look like a trip with Thomas The Tank Engine.

The chemistry between Shaggy and Scooby is also nicely realised with the double act never devalued by intrusive special effects.

Their dinner table duel on hot chillies is one of the highlights of the film, while a well-staged hotel lobby fight between ghouls, Scooby and his crime-busting chums is a neatly integrated scene.

Perhaps the less said about the wind-breaking contest the better (gross-out kings the Farrelly Brothers have a lot to answer for)

So what we have is a loyal realisation of the original that should appeal to youngsters (although some of the scarier scenes may prove a little too much for ankle-biters).

There's more than is required to keep the nippers quiet on a Sunday afternoon - anyone for a Scooby snack?

Tim Evans