Mel Rose

Two stars for the acting - it was great across the board and saved what was otherwise a painfully boring movie. I could never quite get into the book, but I figured the movie might be easier to get through. It wasn't. There were no substantial stakes beyond the bad PR of a barely scandalous romance between two rich kids. Half the movie was a montage to slow music. Every time they went into the politics of this alternate America, I actively stopped paying attention.

The animation and character designs are great and the story, once you get past the first couple episodes, is decently interesting. There are moments where it's almost watchable. The problem here is just that... it's so painfully unfunny and the characters, particularly Velma, are deeply unpleasant. I skip through a lot of scenes because I just can't handle the non-stop meta jokes and comedy that's so unsubtle it reminds me of children's TV. The characters will make a joke, then all stop and look at the camera. There's something really odd and unnatural about the voice acting as well - it really feels like kids TV where everything has to be over explained. Also, Scooby isn't in this because a talking dog wouldn't work for adult TV - which may or may not be a jab at Family Guy, but I don't think the staff on this show are that clever.