Ed's Review Dot Com

Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Kerner Entertainment Company

Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Hank Azaria, Sofía Vergara, Jonathan Winters, Katy Perry, Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen, George Lopez, Anton Yelchin, Kenan Thompson, Jeff Foxworthy, John Oliver, Wolfgang Puck, B.J. Novak, Paul Reubens

Gargamel (Hank Azaria) finally finds the way into the Smurf Village, and in escaping from him, the Smurfs (little blue people) are sucked into a portal that drops them in the middle of Central Park in New York City. Of course Gargamel has to follow them, and the chase is on. The Smurfs meet humans Patrick Winslow (Neil Patrick Harris) and Grace Winslow (Jayma Mays) who make friends and try to help them to find a way to return. But with Gargamel and his cat on their tail, and with all the dumb stuff they do to sabotage themselves, the Smurfs may not live long enough to get back home.

Ok, I may be a little harsh on this film, but I have to admit right of the top, I was too old for the Smurfs and did not develop a fondness for the little creatures that I always did feel were a little creepy. After all, the film did just barely make it’s budget of 100 Million back, so it wasn’t a complete disaster, probably due to those that did grow up with the Smurfs and are nostalgic to see them again. But taking a half hour cartoon and trying to stretch it out into an hour long films just doesn’t always work. Many stories do much better in a half hour format.

This film, to me, seemed just a lot of silliness. I never felt a kindship to the little guys, and didn’t really care if they got back or not. A number of films of the same genre are a lot better done. Enchanted for example, was pretty clever, as was the unique Gnomeo and Juliet (which I also did not LOVE, but it was way better than this was). I didn’t hate this film, but I just didn’t really get into it. It was hard to keep interested in it, and when it was over, it seems highly forgettable to me.

I think two age groups would enjoy it. Obviously those who grew up with the Smurfs and really want to see them again will no doubt like it. Also I can imagine the little folk who don’t know the Smurfs will enjoy seeing them too, as they are well animated and quite unique in that respect. But anyone who’s looking for a story, this is pretty week.

Two other comments. I much preferred Neil Patrick Harris in A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas. He was really funny there, as he is in How I Met Your Mother. He was good dramatically in a number of holiday films that are shown on the Hallmark channel and Lifetime at Christmas. But in this movie, he’s more like a prop. Not a complaint on Mr. Harris, he just wasn’t given anything to work with. Secondly, Sofia Vergara plays Patrick’s boss. I don’t know how they could possibly manage to make her appear non-sexy, as she is one of the most beautiful women in the world. But her plain Jane character in this film somehow makes her look neutral. I don’t know how they could do that! Not awful. Watch it if you’re interested, but it just wasn’t good enough to get me excited about it.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog