Review of The Smurfs (2011) by Simon W — 04 May 2012

I was a big fan of the Smurfs as a child and the prospect of a movie should have been an exciting prospect. However, the decision to set it in New York actually put me off. I wanted to see Smurfland (for some reason now referred to as Smurf Village). Fortunately, we do get a brief glimpse of this world, and I was pleased to see Gargamel and Azriel in tow as well.

Unfortunately, a lot of the mythology is buried in amongst the raucous chaos that ensues. Rather than stick to a story, they throw stuff at the screen in the hope that you're distracted enough to notice that nothing's actually happening.

That said, I can't say I wasn't entertained. The cast were very good, the visual effects were decent enough, and the post-modern self-referencing was kept to a tolerable minimum.