Review of The Smurfs 2 (2013) by Thequietgamer — 11 Aug 2016

I liked the first one. Admittedly it's kind of hard to complain about this one as well. It's perfectly suitable for kids. The younger the better though. It's humor isn't sophisticated enough to make it a hit for the whole family. It's probably better to leave this one as a watch exclusively for the kids.

It's basically just more of the same, only more cringe-worthy. Both the humor and plot are very simple and almost exactly like what we saw in the first movie. Kids will still get laughs, but the parents and members of the family older than 12 are likely to be pretty bored. Even as a fan of the first, I only found a few minor chuckles here and there.

Part of what makes the thing so hard to watch for older audiences are the performances. The Smurfs themselves bring down their own movie. The majority of them are underused. The focus is primarily on Smurfette and the two new characters. Katy Perry and Christina Ricci put no effort into actually delivering their lines. The rest of the Smurf cast does fine, but like I said they are underutilized.

The human character are much better. Their drama, while familiar, is actually likable and does a better job of delivering the message of family than their Smurf counterparts. They too, however, are underutilized. So underutilized that it leads you to wonder why they were even brought back for this sequel in the first place.

I could go on and on listing flaws with the movie, talking about things like how bad some of the dialog can be, but none of that really matters in the end. This is simply a movie meant for really young kids. In that department it succeeds wildly. It's harmless, sugary sweet entertainment that will dazzle and amuse any kid who watches it. It's definitely going to bore the majority of older audiences and tries to shove way too much pop culture down the kiddies throats, but it's not bad for what it is.

Pick it up and let it entertain your kids for a while. You'll be able to get some stuff done and they'll get plenty of laughs. Just don't make it one that you watch with them for family movie night. Even as an older movie watcher who really like the previous Smurfs, I didn't have much fun here.