Directed by:
Raja GosnellCinematography:
Phil MéheuxComposer:
Heitor PereiraCast:
Jonathan Winters, Alan Cumming, Neil Patrick Harris, Katy Perry, George Lopez, Hank Azaria, Paul Reubens, Jayma Mays, Sofía Vergara, Anton Yelchin (more)VOD (6)
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Based on the characters created by Peyo for the 1980s television series, this family comedy is a mix of CGI animation and live action. After being chased by dark wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria) the Smurfs find themselves transported from their village in the Middle Ages to modern-day New York. There they seek shelter in the home of Patrick Winslow (Neil Patrick Harris) and his wife, Grace (Jayma Mays), but with Gargamel on the loose, the Smurfs are running out of time to get back to their village. The film features the voice talents of Jonathan Winters, Katy Perry, Alan Cumming, George Lopez and Paul Reubens. (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (3)
"The Smurfs" should remain 2D. This was the first thing that came to my mind when I found out that they will be in 3D and with real actors. Such movies usually do not end well, their quality is very low. Such a movie like "Teddy Bear" could tell. Even "The Smurfs" are not a miracle because a film with digital characters simply cannot work so perfectly. Moreover, there is another problem, especially that the child viewer is probably the one who can tolerate any nonsense that the screenwriters come up with. When I remember such a film like "Tangled" and compare it to this one for children, "The Smurfs" come out as a completely defeated loser. There is little humor here, the scenes are silly, just like the whole story, cuteness then tries to redeem itself in the weakest moments. Gargamel is just ridiculous, and Azrael is the best character. The other live actors are not offensive. The only thing that stuck in my memory is the "high four" and how Gargamel walks through the mist. I even laughed. What was the story about? Actually, I don't really know, but that's not the point, right? They are supposed to be cute and capable of causing a frenzy. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/04/jumper-babel-kung-fu-divocina-miami.html
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I don’t want to talk shit about the Smurfs. As a kid, I rather liked them. For this reason, I was quite curious about the movie adaptation. And I must say that it didn’t bother me. In my opinion, it will make children very happy, and the adults will be able to chill with it. What more could you want? By the way, did you also think about how damn hard it must be for Smurfette in that gang? Well, the most important thing is that she knows how to cook macaroni and when the water should be properly salted...
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The translation of The Smurfs into the real world was quite successful. Of course, the little blue heroes had to be somewhat Americanized, so they talk "cool" here and there, and during one (quite possibly the worst) scene they even sing so much that it almost looks like they're rapping, but the Smurf spirit of the film thankfully remained. The result is a harmless mix of entertainment for children and adults, boasting in particular the great Hank Azaria as Gargamel (his emergence from the fog is hilariously funny, and so is the Gandalf-like jailbreak), and Azrael's cat sidekick, for whom it is almost impossible to tell when he is real and when he is animated, a pleasant fairy-tale-comedy atmosphere, skillful direction with a feeling for jokes, their timing and action scenes, and nice refreshing music by Heitor Pereira, who is unknown to me. The whole film is full of good scenes and when at the end there is a leafing through the "magical Smurf book", which is a bound edition of the original Smurf strips, there is an unexpectedly strong gust of nostalgia and one just has to smile and be satisfied. I give it three and a half blue stars.
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