Smurfs feels like it belongs to two different eras. Unlike so many other films that have brought classic animations to life on the big screen, Smurfs is not a mixture of animated characters mingling with human characters, though the тιтle characters do pᴀss through the human world via portals. It’s a very contained adventure that has solid themes, but peters out as it nears its finish line. The songs are fine (if not memorable), but they also don’t match the world. While I wanted to be more enthusiastic about it, something is missing that a fun adventure can’t make up for.
It’s another wonderful day in Smurf Village, where every Smurf — including Papa Smurf (John Goodman) — has a role to play. All except No Name (James Corden), however, who, like his lack of a name suggests, doesn’t have that one thing that will make him special. Thousands of name options and occupations have been taken and, since he’s no good at clog making, and shark taming was already taken (the final name in a long list), No Name, with the encouragement of Smurfette (Rihanna), wished for nothing more than to be something special.
What he got was magic, thanks to Jaunty (Amy Sedaris), one of a few magical books the evil wizards — led by Gargamel and his equally nefarious brother Razamel (both voiced by JP Karliak), are trying to use to rid the world of good. It’s a simultaneously involved plot and a rather simple one. No Name’s search for an idenтιтy is a core focus before the film veers more into an adventure that doesn’t fully stop to let characters breathe, even as new characters are introduced.
Smurfs Has A Lot More Adventure Than It Does Heart
While the film struggles in other areas, its themes regarding idenтιтy and discovering yourself on your own terms instead of relying on others to define that for you were lovely. It’s a new avenue of storytelling for the Smurfs, and it could’ve focused more on that than on the adventure portion of the film. To that end, Smurfs becomes a film devoid of genuine heart. Smurfette and No Name’s friendship is a core part of the narrative, but it can also feel hollow, with the bare minimum effort put into making their relationship.
There were stretches of the film when I forgot the story was supposed to be primarily about [No Name] and his journey.
The music also took me out of the film a few times. It’s not that the songs were inherently bad — though they’re not particularly catchy either — but there was a dissonance between the modernness of the songs and dialogue (Razamel mentioning Zoom meetings and other references that felt shoehorned into conversations in an odd attempt to be funny), and the timelessness of the central story involving No Name. There were stretches of the film when I forgot the story was supposed to be primarily about him and his journey.
The voice cast delivers fine performances, but there’s no particular standout. Everything is merely serviceable yet underwhelming, but not great. There’s a sense that nothing is getting as much effort put in as it should. Some voices are more recognizable than others — like Natasha Lyonne as the wild Mama Poot and Nick Offerman as Papa Smurf’s brother Ken — but, rather than the cast’s voices blending into the world and the story, they’re occasionally distracting.
Smurfs Soars In Its Animation
But It’s Not Enough To Make It Memorable
The film’s animation is quite good, and is where the blend of modern and traditional actually works. Smurfs mixes its CGI animation with that of Peyo’s original comics style to bring the spirit of the characters to life. The animation is colorful and fun, spunky without being flat, and occasionally even exciting. The scene of the Smurfs having to move through a Paris dance club is especially well done. The film is never dull to look at visually, and the animation team does a fantastic job with the use of color.
Smurfs is not terrible, but it’s nothing to write home about either. I appreciate that director Chris Miller and screenwriter Pam Brady tried to do something different from previous Smurfs projects. Ultimately, that turned out to be hit or miss (more miss than not). The script has its moments, and I chuckled a bit at a few points.
But what the film lacks is genuine heart and warmth. It’s too preoccupied by the adventure, which sees the characters moving from one place to another too quickly. Even No Name’s story gets overshadowed at various points. Perhaps the kids will love Smurfs while they’re watching, but I’m not sure it’s a film they’ll remember too long after having seen it.
