©Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
These little blue guys were Belgium’s biggest export since Belgian waffles. Peyo created them way back in 1958, but they became a breakout American sensation in the early 1980s. Their hit Saturday morning cartoon even inspired breakfast cereals and Ice Capade shows. Four decades later, the franchise remains healthy, even though the last three feature films met decidedly mixed receptions. Peyo’s creations get a fresh start in Chris Miller’s simply titled Smurfs (no article, no subtitle), which releases this Friday in theaters.
The film opens with a musical number, because that is what life is like in Smurf Village. Despite the Smurfiness of everything around him, No Name Smurf is still troubled, because he obviously has no name. So far, he has yet to discover his unique defining characteristic that would provide his name, like Hefty Smurf, Clumsy Smurf, or Sound Effects Smurf (who is like a small, blue Michael Winslow). Briefly, No Name believes he might become “Magic Smurf,” but his amateur sorcery turns out poorly.
Unfortunately, No Name’s attempt to wield mystical powers allowed Gargamel’s even more evil brother Razamel to locate Smurf village and abduct Papa Smurf through a wormhole. Technically, they were not really No Name’s powers. They were surreptitiously lent to him by Jaunty, a sentient spellbook that Papa Smurf secretly sheltered in Smurf Village, to keep her apocalyptic potential out of the hands of Razamel’s cabal of sinister sorcerers. (Weirdly, a Necronomicon plays an active role in this new Smurfs movie, but at least she wants to use her powers for good, rather than ill.)
©Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
To rescue Papa Smurf, the Smurf Villagers must seek help from their patriarch’s brother Ken, who resides in the human world. These sequences offer a brief return to the live action-animation hybrid format of The Smurfs movie from 2011, which left many fans cold. In this case, the live action offers a little novelty, but is not so pervasive that it overwhelms the look and vibe of the animation.
In fact, Miller’s film excels at inventive visuals, eventually dropping No Name and Smurfette (still the only female Smurf) into stylistically distinct worlds based on vintage Atari 8-bit graphics, Japanese Anime, and child-like stick figure drawings. They are delightfully clever interludes, but, ironically, they might be somewhat lost on the younger target audience.
However, this film should be required watching for longtime franchise fans, because it comes fully loaded with surprise new family members. In addition to Gargamel and Razamel, whose sibling rivalry turns increasingly bitter, the Smurfs discover Papa Smurf had yet another secret brother, the long-lost Ron, who disappeared into the void while “guardianeering” the goodness of the world from Razamel and his fearsome foursome of wizards.
As it happens, the trio of Smurf brothers also boast the three most distinct voices, John Goodman, Nick Offerman, and Kurt Russell, as Papa Smurf, Ken, and Ron. Their crusty sounding vocal performances help deepen their respective characters. Of course, Rihanna’s musical chops, in the persona of Smurfette, sound perfectly credible, but the generic songs will be quickly forgotten.
©Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Arguably, Rihanna and James Corden maintain snappy energy-levels delivering the dialogue for Smurfette and No Name, but they never fully invest their Smurfy characters with human warmth. In contrast, JP Karliak sounds audibly delighted with the dastardly villainy of both Razamel and Gargamel, reflecting the experience and professionalism of an established voice-over artist.
Pam Brady’s dimensional-hopping, fantastical screenplay takes on a surprisingly cosmic scope. However, the film never leans into the nostalgia of pop-culture consumers hoping to revisit the light-hearted whimsy of the 1980’s weekly series. This busy film often feels overstuffed with silly characters and outlandish worlds, but at least parents can rest assured this new Smurfs outing contains no objectionable or controversial subject matter. It is safe for most kids—PG for some relatively intense scenes of magical treachery—but probably not what Gen X parental figures might expect.
Consider it Smurfy, but not super-Smurfy. Perfectly functional as a vehicle to beat the summer heat and occupy the kids, but not a film for serious animation connoisseurs, Smurfs opens this Friday (7/18) in theaters, where it screens with a pleasant bonus: Sean Charmatz’s Order Up, a brief, but appropriately goofy SpongeBob SquarePants animated short.
Grade: B-
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Here’s the trailer of the film.