Scoob!

Zoinks! The venerable anthropomorphic canine crime-fighter gets another misguided cinematic treatment with Scoob, a hyperactive animated feature that doesn’t modernize its source material in any meaningful way.

Basically, it struggles to reconcile its desire to salute the throwback charms of the Scooby-Doo legacy built on sleuths and small-time crooks, while gently lampooning the retro concept for a 21st century setting where high-tech superheroes rule.

Of course, there’s a mystery that needs solving, and an over-the-top supervillain whose scheme would have worked if not for these meddling kids. There are breaks for oversized sandwiches and Scooby Snacks, and makeshift hideouts in outrageous costumes.

After starting with a rather uninspired origin story, we flash forward to our present-day teenage gumshoes — including Fred (voiced by Zac Efron), Velma (Gina Rodriguez), and Daphne (Amanda Seyfried) — wanting to raise their profile.

As they usually do, best pals Shaggy (Will Forte) and Scooby (Frank Welker) become separated from the group, and are later recruited by brash wannabe hero Blue Falcon (Mark Wahlberg), along with his pilot (Kiersey Clemons) and loyal cyborg pooch Dynomutt. They’re trying to stop the evil Dick Dastardly (Jason Isaacs) in his corrupt attempt to clone a wicked beast and reclaim some lost treasure.

The kid-friendly mix of sight gags and one-liners might appeal to the target demographic, who also might respond to the half-hearted lessons about loyalty and teamwork. The persistent chaos is meant to cater to short attention spans.

However, the attempts at nostalgia (the Mystery Machine van, the catchphrases, the cheesy opening montage and theme song) feel more cursory and strained, especially since the dialogue is so jammed with contemporary pop-culture references, from Harry Potter to Tinder to Shaggy’s bizarre vendetta with the cranky Simon Cowell. The convoluted story is neither clever nor compelling, as if the entire movie was crafted around a few anachronistic punchlines.

Alas, despite some visual flourishes and scattered laughs, the rationale here seems more financial than creative, clearly with franchise goals in mind. The suddenly verbose Scooby must think he’ll be paid by the word, just like the quartet of screenwriters.

Marking the feature directorial debut of veteran animator Tony Cervone. the film evolves into a barrage of elaborate CGI action sequences that stray gradually further from the spirit of the original Hanna-Barbera cartoons from which Scoob draws its inspiration. In this case, the result is more exhausting than endearing.

Rated PG, 94 minutes.