The Smurfs

I remember “The Smurfs” on TV when I was a kid but it wasn’t my favorite show. I saw this film because I could see it for free and it is clearly designed for a younger audience as opposed to families. The story relates too much to Disney’s “Enchanted” and it wasn’t as sincere as that film. The film wasn’t horrible because of some funny gags but it wasn’t great either. Some casting decisions worked while others did not.

I like how they incorporated elements from the TV show such as the theme song. I enjoy how there is a running gag of the song being annoying. What makes me laugh the most is that Gargamel is singing the song when we first are introduced to him. There were other humorous cracks on the characteristics of "The Smurfs" such as one girl in a village of guys. I also like it when Neil Patrick Harris’ character asks out of frustration what the word “smurf” means. He also calls Papa Smurf the "little blue Santa man". The film makes fun of its origins, which is cleaver. Raja Gosnell, the director of “The Smurfs”, has a lot of experience in the family genre. Before he became a director, he edited some memorable films including the first two “Home Alone” films. He directed the third one as well as both of the “Scooby Doo” films. "The Smurfs" looks good and the special effects were well done but the story was not very well crafted. The biggest problem with the story is that it resembles “Enchanted” too much: animated characters are transported to modern day New York City and help mend an unstable family relationship. In terms of how much turmoil Patrick and Grace’s relationship is in, it is not much when compared to Robert and his daughter on “Enchanted”. The contrast between the animated characters and the humans was not enough in my opinion. I am not talking about how the animated characters look & interact against real life actors & settings because that was done well enough. Rather, I am talking about the Smurfs’ behavior and their reactions to New York City. Maybe the lack of originality is what is bothering me. If I were looking for an actor to portray an ordinary soon-to-be father, Neil Patrick Harris would have been low on the list. I did not believe his acting a lot of the time. Other than that casting choice, everything else works in terms of the acting. Hank Azaria has the best performance in the movie by far. He had Gargamel’s voice right in that it sounds like Paul Winchell’s performance from the animated TV show. I loved his character’s intro in this film as well as the banter between him and Azrael throughout the whole movie. The reference to "The Lord of the Rings" with the moth was pretty funny. If Azaria were a decade older, he would have been the perfect Gargamel. Also Asaria was a little too tall in my opinion. It was also great to have the late Jonathan Winters as Papa Smurf. He did very well. Here is a neat coincidence. Don Messick, the original voice of Papa Smurf on television, plays the son of Jonathan Winters' character on TV's "Tiny Toon Adventures". George Lopez made sure that he arrived to work grumpy by driving in high traffic and not drinking coffee among other things so as to best perform Grouchy. It was also fun to hear Anton Yelchin, Kenan Thompson, Jeff Foxworthy, Paul Reubens and Tom Kane as various Smurfs. One thing that the film did perfectly was the portrayal of Smurfette. She is genuinely cute in design and animation. Also, Katy Perry's voice is very unique and therefore great for the character.

“The Smurfs” is meant for young kids and not for whole families. The casting both worked and did not work. The story was unoriginal and had flaws. The film had its moments and some elements of the film worked just fine but without a good story, I wasn't satisfied. The sequel however was surprisingly an improvement.

3 Stars