A HAUNTINGLY ENJOYABLE TIME JUST MIGHT BE HAD.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

LET'S SEE here, on the unofficial Doo tally sheet we have a single utterance of the phrase ``Jinkies!'' and ``Zoinks!''; two horrendously blatant acts of product placement (break out the toys, Burger King!); assorted flatulence gags for the kids; inside jokes for their toon-reared parents and, still, the strangest-looking CG canine hero brought to the screen.

And also - and it really! hurts to have to admit this - a fairly watchable 88 minutes of filmmaking.

Say what you will about ``Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed,'' the sequel to the 2002 blockbuster and the second film to be inspired by the animated series. Call it crude, pandering and moronic on about a dozen different levels. Brand former ``Buffy'' princess Sarah Michelle Gellar a sellout. Ask yourself what in the name of chocolate-covered Scooby Snacks ever happened to Alicia Silverstone's once-promising career?

It's all true and then some. But guess what else is true? Director Raja Gosnell and screenwriter James Gunn are savvy enough to recognize the demands and limitations of this franchise. They deliver what the Scoob heads have come to expect and throw in enough extras to potentially entice new audiences. Their movie's a bauble: a roller-coaster ride of chases, goo, a predictable plot and messages of affirmation. And, while he may not want ``Like, I was Shaggy'' etched on his tombstone, Matthew Lillard continues to bring off one of the deftest and daffiest cartoon-to-live action feats in recent memory.

``Doo 2'' nearly empties the best of its comic arsenal in its first 10 minutes. The opening credit sequence - clearly paying homage to Tim Burton's ``Batman'' - follows a winged creature careening through the skyscrapers of mythical Coolsville to the Coolsville Criminology Museum, where the city has turned out for an exhibition premiere.

Out of a Mystery Machine limo that takes up half a city block steps the Mystery Inc. gang. Narcissistic leader Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr.), fashion plate Daphne (Gellar), brainy Velma (Linda Cardellini), perpetual screw-up Shaggy (Lillard) and Scooby himself (voiced by Neil Fanning), a talking dog whose career as a sleuth has never been imperiled by his cowardice or his inability to pronounce the letter ``S.'' In a great bit of subversion, the gang is greeted by groups of adoring fans - sighing teens for Fred, scary-looking men with Daphne tattoos on their chests for Daphne, uber geeks for Velma, potheads for Shaggy and dogs with subtitled barks for Scooby.

Trouble is brewing inside the museum, where the costumes of phony ghosts unmasked by the Mystery Inc. gang are on display. It seems a masked figure has concocted a device capable of bringing these costumes to ghostly life. Meaning the city could be overrun by - Zoinks! Jinkies! - the reincarnated ghouls.

That the Mystery Inc. gang proves powerless to do anything provides fodder for muckraking TV journalist Heather Jasper-Howe (Silverstone). Velma, meanwhile, has another problem. She's head over heels for the museum's nerdy curator Patrick Wisely (``Austin Powers' '' Seth Green), but she's too socially awkward to do anything about it. ``Mystery is my sweet mistress,'' she tells him after he asks her on a date. ``I must heed its sweet call.'' So between Velma's heartache, Daphne's insecurity over being considered another pretty face, Shaggy and Scoob's quest to prove themselves legitimate detectives and all those monsters, there's a whole lot of angst in Coolsville.

Gosnell never needs much of a reason to stage a chase, a fight, a special-effects blitz or a musical number. Everything moves with suitable briskness and none of the real silly stuff threatens to bog down the pace. Even in the goofiest of costumes (designed by Leesa Evans), the four principals know how to play this kind of stuff straight. And you can imagine the look that lights up Lillard's face when he and Scooby find themselves trapped in a room with ... the Cotton Candy Ghost!

There figures to be a ``Scooby Doo 3.'' Like ... how could there not be?

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

SCOOBY DOO 2: MONSTERS UNLEASHED - Two and one half stars

(PG: crude humor, scary action, language)

Starring: Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini, Alicia Silverstone.

Director: Raja Gosnell.

Running time: 1 hr. 28 min.

Playing: Wide release.

In a nutshell: Exactly what you'd expect, and even a little better.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

Matthew Lillard, left, as Shaggy and Linda Cardellini as Velma return opposite the computer-generated title character in ``Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.''