A lot of fans (myself included) were Singing a Happy Song when the Smurfs returned to the big screen for the first time in nearly 30 years this past summer. They got a CGI makeover, but are still true blue! And everyone who watched the TV show, read the books and bought the merchandise was not disappointed in the movie. If you missed it when it was out you can now check it out on DVD and (of course) Blu-ray. Let’s “Smurf” to it!
For the uneducated, the Smurfs are small, blue mythical creatures, three apples high, who live in a faraway land. Their village is a fun, peaceful place that’s invisible to outsiders. Everyone lives in mushrooms houses and each Smurf has a job to do. There are 99 male Smurfs and one girl – Smurfette. And they’re all named and identified by their one outstanding trait. And their leader is the great Papa Smurf.
The movie begins with the Smurfs preparing for the Blue Moon Festival. Everyone, that is, except for Clumsy who, for obvious reasons, no one wants around. The Smurfs enemy, the evil wizard Gargamel (played by the hilarious Hank Azaria) finally gets into the village and attack the Smurfs, along with his cat Azrael. During a chase scene six Smurfs escape into a magic portal and end up in New York City. And soon Gargamel and Azrael follow. The Smurfs end up living with a young couple (played by Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays (“Glee”) and together they try to figure out a way to get back home and avoid being captured by Gargamel.
This had the chance to be just another movie with classic cartoon characters going CGI in the real world (“Alvin and the Chipmunks”, “Garfield”, even “Hop” in a way), but it rises above the genre because of the very clever script. In fact, “The Smurfs” is so Smurfin’ funny that I almost Smurfed. The dialogue, especially between the Smurf characters, is filled with jokes and wisecracks and there are several scenes that will have you laughing loud and long.
But what makes the movie really work is that the filmmakers poke fun at the whole Smurf world (at one point Harris points out just how annoying their song is) but they don’t MAKE fun of it. You can tell they really love these characters, and they also realize how ridiculous having these 6 little blue people and an evil wizard in modern day NYC is. When Gargamel stops on the street so he can slowly walk through the smoke coming out of the subway because that’s what evil wizards are supposed to do, you know that the writers are in on the joke.
“The Smurfs” is filled with laugh-out-loud moments, but it also has a lot of heart. It’s impossible not to like all the characters, even Gargamel, who gets many of the great lines. And the CGI work on Azrael’s mouth may be the funniest ever done on a real animal on screen. And the animation is fantastic (the 3D in theaters was excellent). The movie comes from Sony Pictures Animation, which previously brought us “Open Season”, “Surf’s Up” and “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”. They now prove they can do the CGI characters in the real world technique better than anyone. The Smurfs look right at home interacting with the actors and traveling around NYC.
The voice cast is top-notch: Jonathan Winters was a nice choice for Papa Smurf; George Lopez, Alan Cummings and Paul Reubens also voice Smurfs and Katy Perry is Smurfette (and yes, she kisses a Smurf and she likes it!). The live-action supporting cast includes Sofia Vergara (“Modern Family”) and fashion guru Tim Gunn.
“The Smurfs” is rated PG for some very mild action and a little rude humor. Of course it’s good for kids, but I can’t think of a group that won’t enjoy this film. The 3-disc Holiday Blu-ray gift sets includes games, deleted and extended scenes and a new short: “The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol”.
So Smurf it for yourself. You’ll laugh so hard you’ll turn blue.
On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, “The Smurfs” gets a B+. It’s one of the funniest family films of the year.