The Smurfs

My cousin is spending his Spring Break over at my house, so my mother asked what he wanted to do. When asked what movie he wanted to see in theaters, he said he had a few movies he wanted to watch. I told him I already had seen “Logan,” “Kong: Skull Island” and “Power Rangers,” he said he also wanted to see “Smurfs: The Lost Village,” released on 7^th. Since I was curious to see that one as well, we went to see it. Since this is part of a franchise based on a cartoon that I never saw, I think I should review the previous installments as well.

The only way I could sum up the cartoon is that a village with small blue people fight off a wizard and his cat. With that said, let’s take a look at the first “The Smurfs,” released in 2011.

Even though the look is different, “The Smurfs” isn’t as annoying as you think it would be and is actually both charming and enjoyable, thanks to active animation, a strong script, several good jokes and amazing performances from a nice cast.

Directed by Raja Gosnell, “The Smurfs” is based on the Belgian comic strip characters created by Peyo. When the evil but ridiculous wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria) and his equally evil but ridiculous cat Azrael (Frank Welker) find the village of the Smurfs’ enchanted village, they accidentally chase six of them – Papa Smurf (the late Jonathan Winters), Smurfette (the hot singer Katy Perry), Clumsy Smurf (the late Anton Yelchin), Brainy Smurf (Fred Armisen), Gutsy Smurf (Alan Cumming) and Grouchy Smurf (George Lopez) – through a magical portal that takes every one of them to modern-day New York City.

Once there, the Smurfs quickly become friends with pregnant housewife Grace (Jayma Mays) and her stressed-out advertising executive husband Patrick (the man who played Doogie Howser and Barney Stinson on “How I Met Your Mother,” Neil Patrick Harris), who is struggling to come up with a new beauty campaign for his magnate boss Odile (Sofia Vergara). As the Smurfs hide in Grace and Patrick’s apartment, Papa Smurf quickly figures out that they have to get the power from the blue moon in order to teleport back home, but Gargamel is closing in on them and wants to capture their magical essence.

Hank Azaria is the right choice as Gargamel (he looks exactly like the comic character) and fittingly does the hilariously comic, Smurf-obsessed performance that’s the best to watch. I agree with Matthew Turner when he said in his review, “There's also strong, likeable support from Harris and Mays, while the voice cast acquit themselves nicely – Perry proves she's more than just stunt casting as Smurfette (one “I kissed a Smurf and I liked it” joke aside), while Winters is suitably wise and unruffled as Papa Smurf and Yelchin does a good job with making the potentially irritating Clumsy emotionally engaging.”

Turner goes on to say, “The animation is extremely well done, capturing the feel of the source material and nicely integrating the three-apples-high Smurfs into their New York surroundings.” Similarly, Azrael is an entirely CGI-animated cat, which works much better than you might think (a funny credit gives us that no CGI cats were harmed during the filming of the movie).

Turner said, “The plot may be fairly basic and it slightly overdoes both the pratfalls and the sentimentality of the be-true-to-yourself message, but the clever script makes up for it with several good jokes and some nice touches, such as Patrick and Grace looking up Smurfs on Wikipedia.”

“The Smurfs” is an enjoyable, well-made fantasy adventure that will attract children without annoying their parents who they beg to watch it with them. Worth seeing, although I understand if you may not be fond of it because it’s not for anyone.

“The Smurfs 2,” released in 2013, is an enjoyable sequel to the first movie, brightened by decent animation, strong comic performances, a nice voice cast and a funny, nicely written script that says there is entertainment for both adults and children.

Directed again by Raja Gosnell, “The Smurfs 2,” begins with a brief recap of Smurfette’s origin (pop-up book style), saying that she was created by Gargamel before Papa Smurf turned her into a “true blue” Smurf using a magic spell that has Smurf essence.

However, unknowingly to the Smurfs, Gargamel has created two new Smurf prototypes known as Naughties and he sends one named Vexy, voiced by Christina Ricci, through a portal to kidnap Smurfette and bring her to his Paris base, where he plans to harness the secret of the magic spell for his own evil plans.

When the Smurfs see that Smurfette is missing, Papa Smurf makes a rescue team with Grouchy, Clumsy and Vanity, voiced by the host of “Last Week Tonight” on HBO, the great British comedian John Oliver (one of my favorite comedians), and they transport themselves to New York to ask their human friends Patrick and Grace to help them find Gargamel.

Turner is right when he said, “Azaria was born to play Gargamel and he duly delivers another terrific comic performance as the hapless wizard, while Winters (who sadly died after filming was completed) is pitch-perfect as the perpetually unperturbed Papa Smurf, and Perry does an excellent job of conveying Smurfette's emotional conflict, torn between her creator, her new Naughty friends and her Smurf family.” Similarly, Lopez, Yelchin and Oliver have a likable connection as the rescuing Smurfs and the film also gives a welcome comic increase from Brendan Gleeson, as Patrick’s well-meaning stepfather Victor, especially when he’s accidentally turned into a talking duck.

Turner noted, “Gosnell's experience with CGI/live action hybrids (e.g. Scooby Doo) makes him pretty much the perfect director for the Smurfs franchise and the blending of live action and animation is commendably seamless here, with the Paris locations used inventively throughout. Similarly, the witty script is packed full of good jokes (for both adults and children) and manages to deliver a strong message (about the importance of any kind of family) without resorting to sickly sentimentality.”

Turner noted, “The main problem with the film is the depressing amount of completely unnecessary product placement (especially considering the age of the film's target audience) – prime offenders here include Gargamel learning how to use an iPad and the Smurfs apparently having both the internet and ‘Smurfbook’, while the aggressively pop-friendly soundtrack feels both distracting and out of place.”

Along with that, J.B. Smoove’s Hackus (the other Naughty) is underdeveloped and never really becomes a character, while the animation on the entirely-CGI cat Azrael (a deservingly nice accomplishment) is once in a while a little scary.

“The Smurfs 2” is a pleasing and enjoyable sequel that should attract both children and adults who are asked to watch this with their children. Once again, I say you should see it, but if you don’t like it, I completely understand.

Now with all of that said, it’s time to talk about the latest in the franchise, “Smurfs: The Lost Village,” which isn’t a sequel, but a restart to the series, especially since they were planning a third movie, but cancelled it since Jonathan Winters has passed.

How many times can you go back to a seemingly creative place before it gets old? It looked like we had done that with the Smurfs after the two previous films that had failed and didn’t succeed in resurrecting the franchise.

Barbara VanDenburgh stated in her review, “The prospect of a third film sounded less like a fun family outing and more like a sociological experiment in pop-culture Stockholm Syndrome.”

Thankfully, “Smurfs: The Lost Village” is what the franchise needed in order to be fixed. It doesn’t go anywhere near the bad idea of combining animation and live action and the juvenile humor that no one really liked in the last two movies, and aims the jokes and joys at the children audience. This fully animated reboot captures the Smurfs Saturday morning cartoon roots and creates an energetic, brightly colored, age-appropriate movie for children that are new to the Smurfs.

Smurfette, voiced this time by the hot singer Demi Lovato, is the main character here. She’s going through some sort of an existential problem. Originally created by evil wizard Gargamel, voiced by Rainn Wilson, from a lump of blue clay, Smurfette isn’t exactly like her members – she doesn’t even know if she can call herself a “real” Smurf. In a village where everyone is named by their one characteristic – like her friends Clumsy (Jack McBrayer), Brainy (Danny Pudi) and Hefty (Joe Manganiello) – Smurfette is different.

While she’s thinking where she belongs in Smurf Village (and anywhere in life), really close to the wall that separates the Forbidden Forest she sees two big eyes and a little bit of blue skin – a Smurf! However, the mysterious Smurf runs off into the Forbidden Forest.

Meanwhile, Gargamel is still really focused on his hunt for Smurfs, creating new evil plans to capture the Smurfs and drain them of their essence. When Smurfette accidentally informs Gargamel about the existence of a possible lost Smurf Village in the Forbidden Forest, the wizard runs off to capture them. Smurfette must warn the Smurfs, so she leaves with Clumsy, Brainy and Hefty through the area that is forbidden to them to save them.

VanDenburgh credited, “The animation is bright and simple, unsophisticated but not artless. The Forbidden Forest is flush with creative, often treacherous flora and fauna, such as fire-breathing dragonflies and bioluminescent “glow” bunnies.”

VanDenburgh assures, “Importantly, this Smurfs adventure isn’t suffused in the sort of crude potty humor that has become de rigueur. There’s a touch of it — butt-biting “bottom feeder” fish, belching flowers, a noxious reference to underpants cheese — but mostly the experience is pure. It’s also not drowning in anachronistic pop-culture references, and the pop-song interludes are mostly harmless — except for a remixed resurrection of Eiffel 65’s Europop hit “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” which is better left buried in the ashes of the late ’90s.”

“Smurfs: The Lost Village” keeps its focus on positive messages delivered by the main characters. It’s a story about women in power, staying with your friends and making your own mission in the world, regardless of who you are. It’s a kid’s movie happy to be just that, and after the last two Smurf films, the serious ambition is a welcome relief.

In the end, if you didn’t like the last two Smurf movies, then definitely see this one. You will love it, I promise you. As a matter of fact, I find all of these movies to be harmless, family fun films.

Thank you for joining in on my review of the Smurfs movies. Stay tuned next Friday for the next installment in “Jack Nicholson Month Part 2.”