The Smurfs

The Smurfs

Starring: Hank Azaria, Neil Patrick Harris, Jonathan Winters, Katy Perry, Jayma Mays

Directed by: Raja Gosnell

Reviewed by: Conor Flynn

 

When it comes to originality, ‘The Smurfs’ film lacks invention, that said, the fantasy elements, while lazily executed (the story is set in our world as opposed to the Smurf universe), offer some chuckles along the way. It maybe tiresome from an adult point of view, but from a kid’s perspective, it’s refreshing and new, which makes it almost critic proof. That said, critics’ have assembled in overwhelming numbers to slate this film, but is it really all that bad?

After years of searching, evil wizard Gargamel (Azaria) has finally found the location of the Smurf village. With the destruction of their home, the Smurfs split up. Lead by Papa (Winters), the Smurfs find themselves whisked through a wormhole which leads them into New York City. Now, with the help of Patrick (Harris), an advertising artist, the Smurfs must defeat Gargamel and find a way home. 

‘The Smurfs’ is packed with fast paced slapstick and self-referential humour. Whether or not it’s funny is strictly down to your knowledge of both. For the most part the film is pretty innocuous stuff, though one awful moment of toilet humour, where Gargamel urinates near a dinner table, threatens to derail the film entirely. It’s also impossible to ignore the amount of rampant product placement in the film, referring particularly to a scene blatantly promoting the video game ‘Guitar Hero’. Also, if you are a parent, you may recognise the dusted down, off the shelf, storyline which is very similar to 2007’s ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’. Once again we have a number of cute creatures disturbed from their home, who then hide inside a container carried home by a kind hearted, but career driven man, who can’t achieve all his goals without a little helping hand.

On a slightly more positive note, the film never strays too far from its source material; that said; Gargamel using Smurfs to extract their magical essence is much better than him eating them (which never made sense). Hank Azaria, as Gargamel, is hammy, but fun, never more so when throwing his CGI cat Azrael through wormholes and asking, “Are you dead?” Everyone else doing a live action part phones it in. The voice talent, on the other hand, is great and quite believable. The CGI is excellent, whereas the 3D is nothing special, with only a few moments (namely the opening scene) standing out.

Although adults will have to grin and bear some gratuitous flogging of merchandise, ‘The Smurfs’ is harmless and lightweight stuff. Better than expected, though not by much; overall the film is worth the endurance.