Review of Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017) by Dave M — 08 Apr 2017

Are you familiar with the term "Les Schtroumpfs"? No? Well, how about its Dutch/English translation, "The Smurfs"? Les Schtroumpfs was the original name for the small, blue humanoid soft-cap-wearing creatures that the Belgian cartoon artist Peyo (the pen name of Pierre Culliford) created way back in 1958. Peyo's comic strips featured a small group of male Smurfs who had mushroom-shaped homes and lived together in a sort of forest collective, led by Papa Smurf. They all had the "last name" of Smurf, and each had a "first name" that identified his primary personality characteristic or vocation. Eventually, there came to be over 100 Smurf characters, including Brainy Smurf, Grouchy Smurf, Hefty Smurf, Farmer Smurf, etc., and just a few female Smurfs, most notably Smurfette. She was created by the Smurf's archenemy, the evil human wizard Gargamel, as a way to help him capture the Smurfs so he could throw them into his cauldron and make a potion to harness their magic, but Papa Smurf was able to turn Smurfette from bad to good and she became a full-fledged member of the Smurf community.

Of course, these developments took place over a long period of time in which Peyo's Smurf comics grew in popularity, spread internationally and became a much-loved American cartoon on NBC from 1981 to 1989. The Smurf characters also naturally found their way into the marketplace and the cultural consciousness in the form of toys, music, food products (in case you ever wondered what a Smurf tastes like), commemorative coins, theme parks, ice shows, video games, other cartoon properties and even a UNICEF humanitarian campaign. Of course, there are Smurf movies too. Feature films were released in Europe in 1965 and 1976 (the latter of which was dubbed into English and released in the U.S. in 1983 as "The Smurfs and the Magic Flute"). A number of short films and DVD and Blu-ray releases have also come out. 2011's "The Smurfs" and 2013's "The Smurfs 2" brought the animated little blue men (and girl) into the live-action world in which they're pursued by Gargamel (Hank Azaria) and helped by a New Yorker named Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris) and his girlfriend, Grace (Jayma Mays), with the Smurfs voiced by Johnathan Winters, Katy Perry, Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen, George Lopez, Kenan Thompson, Jeff Foxworthy, John Oliver, B.J. Novak, Paul Reubens, John Kassir and Anton Yelchin and many others. 2017's "Smurfs: The Lost Village" (PG, 1:29) is a computer animated reboot of the Smurfs film franchise.

Like the previous cinematic outing in 2013, 2017's "Smurfs: The Lost Village" focuses on Smurfette more than any of the other Smurfs. The movie starts by explaining who the Smurfs are and then, after illustrating the appropriateness of the names of the male Smurfs, the narrator asks what a Smurfette is. And she's also asking that question herself. After we're reminded of her origin story (as explained above), we're told that the only thing that really distinguishes Smurfette (the voice of Demi Lovato) from her fellow little blue people is her gender. In the 21st century, that's just not enough - for her or for us. As she searches within Smurf Village (and within herself) for who she really is, Smurfette stumbles upon a mission for herself that may end up giving her the sense of identity and purposes that she craves.

When Smurfette joins Brainy Smurf (Danny Pudi), Hefty Smurf (Joe Manganiello) and Clumsy Smurf (Jack McBrayer) for a day of fun outside their village, Smurfette sees a pair of eyes looking at her from just this side of the Forbidden Forest and retrieves a cap that is similar (but not identical) to those worn by all the Smurfs she knows. Just then Monty, the pet vulture of the evil and comically egotistical wizard Gargamel (Rainn Wilson) captures Smurfette and takes her back to Gargamel's castle. He sees the cap that she is trying to hide from him and comes to the conclusion that what it means is another village of Smurfs. He makes a plan with Monty and his other helper, his cat, Azrael, to find that village and capture those Smurfs, along with the original Smurf Village, so to increase the Smurf magic that he can steal.

Brainy, Hefty and Clumsy are able to infiltrate the castle and free Smurfette, but she is very worried about Gargamel's plans - and what she did inadvertently to lead him to make those plans. Back in Smurf Village, Papa Smurf (Mandy Patinkin) is very upset at his four Smurfs for the danger that they put themselves in and he grounds them. Smurfette throws off Papa by quickly and enthusiastically agreeing with everything he says. She uses her grounding as cover for leaving Smurf Village again to warn whoever is in the Forbidden Forest about Gargamel. Brainy, Hefty and Clumsy discover what Smurfette is up to and insist on coming along to help. When they enter the forest, they encounter some unusual and potentially dangerous creatures and then they meet the forest's primary residents, a large group of ________ - and they're all ________! (I'm afraid that my no-spoiler policy precludes me from revealing the big surprise that leads into the second half of the movie, but I will tell you that it's a game-changer.).

"Smurfs: The Lost Village" is aimed squarely at kids and is only mildly entertaining for those in their tween years and above. (And one big scene may be too intense for the littlest Smurfs fans.) Eschewing the live-action of the previous two Smurf films, this one keeps its characterizations, plot and script (by Stacey Harman and Pamela Ribon) very simple and inoffensive. But as director Kelly Asbury brings those ideas to (animated) life, he sure keeps the screen bright - VERY bright! In addition to the extraordinarily detailed computer animation, this movie is as colorful as you can possibly imagine (similar to 2016's "Trolls"). The script and the types of scenery that we see presented are more reminiscent of the Smurfs' origins in Peyo's comics. The voice work is entertaining and diverse. (The voice actors mentioned above are joined by the likes of Gabriel Iglesias, Gordon Ramsay, Jake Johnson, Tituss Burgess, Jeff Dunham, a certain big-name pop singer and an Oscar winner.) The problem is that all this isn't quite enough to entertain most people whose age is expressed in two digits and the little kids in the theater with me seemed similarly unimpressed. The film's big reveal is a big step forward in the franchise, but the film's oversimplification seems to be a step backwards. Call the end result... a step sideways. "C+".