We took our 2 kids to see this with varied expectations after reading various reviews. There are SO many nods to the old show, and their creation, Smurfette's creation, I did not have an issue with the plot at all. Yeah take the old He Man plot and insert Smurfs, except, the Smurfs did a much better job with this than He Man ever did. They didn't use the word "Smurf" for just censorship, they used it as their verbs also. (Hey, transformers used "Slag" in Beast Wars.. what's the difference people, and Beast Wars was TV!?) At the intro we even see a glimpse of the nearby Kingdom where William and PeeWee came from, but the story doesn't go in that direction, obviously. The plot is simple, the violence is minimal, any real cursing is non-existent. So thus many people will hate this movie. No smurfs are killed, there is no blood, nothing gets blown up...well, something does now that I reflect on that. It's a fun little movie with many dry smurf jokes. Loved Grouchy's new love interest, hilarious. My 6 year old girl absolutely LOVED this movie. My 3 year old had an issue with the Smurfs not being in every scene...with his attention span. My wife and I even enjoyed it for what it was as well. No one else could have been picked to be the perfect Gargamel. Azrael was spot on and still my favorite character. So if you have the pitter patter of little feet or little blue feet take them to see this little treat, nothing tasteless here. The "chamber pot" scene was even funny. They "sort of" leave a possibility of a sequel, so bring in the "Lone Smurf" for the sequel! Almost gave it a 7/10, but changed my mind because we haven't seen a movie we could take our kids without being embarrassed about them seeing in a LONG time, plus I'm an old Smurf fan. Not much meat here, but a good clean kids movie you'll see in a LONG time. There may never be another movie made like this one, and the Smurfs look very realistic. Did we 3D? Absolutely... not!
The Smurfs
2011
Action / Adventure / Animation / Comedy / Family / Fantasy
The Smurfs
2011
Action / Adventure / Animation / Comedy / Family / Fantasy
Plot summary
When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the tiny blue Smurfs out of their village, they tumble from their magical world and into ours -- in fact, smack dab in the middle of Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down.
Uploaded by: OTTO
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
3D.BLU 720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
A Great Kids movie
Disappointing, but does have its merits
I am a big fan of The Smurfs, so I was all for seeing this movie, though I was dubious as well. The Smurfs does have its merits, but is rather disappointing too. I will talk about the merits first, while not outstanding the 3D is quite good(I've seen far worse),Hank Azaria is perfect as Gargamel, Jonathan Winters successfully manages to make Papa Smurf the most lively of all the smurfs and Neil Patrick Harris gives a comedic grace to an otherwise banal role. Feelings on the music were mixed, nice and jaunty but forgettable soon after. The editing could have been tighter also. What I didn't like so much about the film was the predictable and rather thin story, the clumsy writing and jokes(including one inappropriate Marilyn Monroe allusion),the rushed pace and that apart from Papa, Gargamel and perhaps Smurfette(though I wasn't entirely sure whether I liked Katy Perry or not, my guess is sometimes yes sometimes no, and I liked how they explained why there was one female smurf character) the characters aren't developed enough or given enough personality to make them properly interesting. In conclusion, has its merits but not recommended. 4/10 Bethany Cox
a mistake from the start
This was a risky proposition to begin with, and nothing on the screen dispelled my trepidation. I don't know whose idea it was to marry CG smurfs with the real world. It doesn't work at all. I would rather see old fashioned pencil-and-paint animated smurfs in the real world akin to 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit'. The CG smurfs look slightly creepy. They definitely don't have that childhood joy we associate with the cartoon.
There are some good actors being squandered here. Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, and Hank Azaria all try their best. I actually like Neil and Jayma as a couple. They seem like a fun duo if they don't have to keep worrying about stepping on one of the blue midgets. And Hank Azaria has mimicked Gargamel very well. The smurf voice work was pretty fair although Katy Perry is very noticeable. It wasn't Smurfette talking. It was Katy Perry talking. She's kind of a cartoon already anyways.