Sometimes, as a critic, you have to deal with reviews of films for which you're clearly not the target audience, where you need to disconnect a bit and experience them as the target audience. But it all depends on one thing: whether the film actually resonates with the people they want it to reach.
To put this in context, a long time ago, four evil wizards captured four magic books and tried to steal all the good things in the world, but luckily, one of the books escaped, and the spell was ruined. Some time later, all the Smurfs of Smurf Village join together to sing their daily song. But there's one outdated Smurf: Nameless Smurf (James Corden). Smurfette (Rihanna) tries to help Nameless Smurf find his treasure, even when Shark Trainer Smurf has been kidnapped.
Director: Chris Miller
Writers: Pam Brady, Peyo
Stars: Rihanna, James Corden, Nick Offerman
However, while collecting smurfberries, Nameless Smurf discovers his secret talent: magic. But there has never been a Magical Smurf, and we find out why when a magic pulse alerts Razamel (JP Karliak) to the location of Smurf Village, and he captures Papa Smurf (John Goodman) to tell him where the last book is. Now the Smurfs have to go on a rescue mission to save Papa Smurf and the entire world.
Well, this movie was a frustrating mess. But even in that mess, some things worked well. While they refuse to compromise on the musical premise, the opening number was fantastic, and if you have Rihanna in the cast, you'd be foolish not to let her shine on a song or two. Overall, the voice cast was perfect; there were times when, looking at the cast list, I thought, "Wait, they were in the movie," but there were even a couple of moments where they really shone. The animation was also good. The production team managed to integrate the Smurfs into the modern aesthetic without losing the essence that made them so visually recognizable. In fact, the highlight of the film was when they broke away from animation styles and gave us a walk down memory lane.
However, the biggest frustration of this film is that it has no idea who it's trying to reach. If you're looking for little kids, well, that initial rush of stories was a trip to Sleepyville. None of the humor reached the kids, except for one joke in the third act; not a word was spoken throughout the entire viewing. They tried adding a bunch of wacky new characters, but none of them really hit the mark. In fact, the only real fun I witnessed was when they ran around the theater after the movie ended. A couple of families started leaving toward the end and never came back.
But then, was it for the parents? No, I don't think so either. The humor is mild, not very disguised. The joke about them saying "Smurf" instead of swearing doesn't even make it the third-best comedy before it starts to get irritating. Also, if you're a Smurfs fan and want to take your kids to see one of your favorite movies, well, the overwork they do to fit The Smurfs into a modern cinematic universe-style setting undermines a lot of what you might like, and you'll probably end up feeling like you're taking a bad drink.
Then there were the more frustratingly inconsistent elements. For example, they went to a lot of trouble to film the Smurfs in the real world, which must have required an interesting camera setup. That juxtaposition was one of the aspects that worked best. But when they arrive at Razamel's castle, while they make an effort to show it's in the real world, they use a cartoon aesthetic for it and the people who inhabit it, and I don't know why this discrepancy bothers me so much, but it essentially did. Then there was the marketing that positioned Rihanna's Smurfette as the protagonist. Still, the story was still trying to foreground James Corden's Nameless Smurf, and I think it's clear which of the two was the better choice. Besides, if they're going to completely revamp the Smurfs story, at least let it be good, and not the same standard garbage we've seen time and time again.
Ultimately, do we recommend The Smurfs? Sadly, the answer is no. While some elements work, in the effort to reimagine The Smurfs for the 21st century, they've lost what made them interesting in the first place.
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