Review of The Smurfs (2011) by Georgios L — 17 Feb 2012

(1 Star) So, the good news is The Smurfs isn't the painful alternative-to-suicide trainwreck that the Alvin and the Chipmunks movies are, but that's really not saying much. When you start with expectations this low, I guess the only way to go is up.

Might as well get the positives out of the way: Azrael the mostly-CG cat is pretty funny... the movie clearly should have been about him. The first ten minutes or so in Smurf Village aren't that bad and the village itself is a bit creative.

THEN they get sucked into the real world and the movie predictably turns sour. It's full of pop culture references none of the smurfs (or most kids watching this film) couldn't possibly understand, a dull story about Neil Patrick Harris working for a cosmetics company, and DEAR GOD MAKE THE SMURF PUNS STOP!!! I mean it, I knew there were going to be a million Smurf puns, but you never really know what that's like until you've lived it.

Usually, I would call a movie like The Smurfs harmless as children's entertainment, but if you support it with your money, they're just going to make more of them, and that's harmful to everyone.

.. I mean, they've MADE three Chipmunk movies!