THE SMURFS (Theatrical Release USA 2011)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 3.5|5.0 Starsììì

The Smurfs—more or less a flop—tries so hard to be a masterpiece, but fails to follow through with strong, meaningful presentation of characters. Neil Patrick Harris seems a little weak for the character of Patrick Winslow and Hank Azaria plays the character Gargamel too much ‘over the top’. Somehow, Gargamel’s raid on Smurf City, right up front, isn’t timed well, perhaps due to lack of preparation within the story itself for the raid.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

Gargamel finds the secret entrance that separates Smurfdom from the rest of the world and passes through to attempt a capture of the Smurfs for his laboratory. But, as Clumsy Smurf (voice of Anton Yelchin) runs to the Forbidden Waterfalls, Clumsy, Papa (voice of Jonathan Winters), Smurfette (voice of Katy Perry), Grouchy (voice of George Lopez), Brainy (voice of Fred Armisen), and Gutsy (voice of Alan Cumming) are sucked into a vortex that causes them to arrive in present-day New York City with Gargamel and Azrael (Mr. Krinkle) hot on their trail. Gargamel throws Azrael through the vortex to see if it is safe for him to pass and as soon as he hears Azrael’s meow on the other side, he jumps through and the story is on.

Additional Thanks

Good Work for Director Raja Gosnell. Thank you to Executive Producers Ben Haber, Paul Neesan, and Ezra Swerdlow for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: Grace Winslow (Jayma Mays), Odile Anjelou (Sophia Vergara), Henri (Tim Gunn), Model (Madison McKinley), Model (Meg Phillips), Newscaster (Julie Chang), and Newscaster (Roger Clark).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Maybe. The film seems written for children around 10 years of age and not for the adult. While the film has its high points, the children’s films Rango, Hop, or Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil have more entertainment value.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers