By James Sabata
Three years have passed. Gargamel is Paris, a respected illusionist, loved by the world, but secretly working on his next evil scheme. Patrick and Grace have a child named Blue. Patrick’s step-father is ruining their lives. Smurfette has a birthday coming up, and it seems everyone has forgotten it… while all the other smurfs are extremely busy planning Smurfette’s big surprise party. It must be nice being the only girl. Smurfette wanders away from the village, feeling badly about herself, when she is kidnapped by Gargamel’s gang. Papa, Clumsy, Grouchy, and Vanity meet up with Patrick, Grace, and family and go to Paris to get Smurfette back, only to find that she actually kind of likes it with Gargamel.
The Good:
Gargamel’s cat, Azreal really stole the show. Whether he’s just being a cat, rolling around, falling in puddles, or being thrown out a car window, or being a tech-savvy cohort, checking his Facebook account or creating power point presentations to explain things to Gargamel, the audience was really into anything he did. Anytime Azreal was on the screen, the crowd was laughing.
For the most part, the mixing of animated characters and human actors worked. Azreal was a little strange in places, but for the most part, it works. Also, Hank Azaria is a workhorse in this movie, really pouring himself into the role of Gargamel and owning the character.
Whoever wrote this movie knows their Smurfs. There were several references to Peyo’s original work, many nods to the 80’s cartoon, and they managed to update it and add things that made it not feel outdated at all.
The Bad:
There isn’t a lot that is bad with this movie. If you look at it as what it is – a kids’ movie that is going to be predictable but fun, it’s hard to find a whole lot wrong with it. If I had to complain about anything at all, it would be the over use of the word Smurf. Some were funny, like “Smurphy’s Law.” Most were annoying. However, that was true when I was a child watching The Smurfs on Saturday mornings, too.
Overall:
The 3D was used effectively in most places, particularly in the opening scene with the pop up book. The adults seemed to be just as into the show as the children were. Every time I looked around, adults were smiling. It may have been a predictable movie, but none of the adults appeared to be asleep. I’d also add that I did not see the first Smurfs movie. This was still very enjoyable and did not feel like a sequel. At the same time, I cannot say if they recycled a lot of the same jokes from the first movie, so people who saw that one might not feel the same way. I enjoyed it. Hopefully you do as well.
4 out of 5
