The Smurf Movie: A Review
Posted By Kathleen David on July 30, 2011
Yesterday we took Caroline to see the Smurf’s Movie.
The Smurfs have been a part of my family since the 70s I think. We have the graphic novels at my parents house. My youngest brother has a number of the figurines that came out. We can smurf with the best of them.
I had some reservations about a Smurf movie but it had Neil Patrick Harris and Tim Gunn in it so I did want to see it.
Since it was raining yesterday morning, we decided to go the movies and found the first show of the Smurfs had sold out. So we opted to go to our secondary theater and see it there.
It was very smurfy indeed. No really, it was a good summer popcorn flick. There was enough stuff for the adults that one was not overwhelmed by all the smurfy bits that were aimed at kids.
Hank Azaria does an excellent rather over the top Gargamel and I do like how they worked Azrael where you pretty much knew what he was thinking at any given situation. How they worked Tim Gunn into it was fun and yes I know it was Tim Gunn being a character that is exactly like Tim Gunn but it was still fun esp. when he got his signature phrase into the mix,
And the Smurfs are very well done. There are some minor quibbles I had with interaction between the humans and Smurfs due to odd placement of hands and eye lines but over all it is pretty slick. It was interesting to hear Alan Cumming talk in pretty much his normal accent. The casting of the voices is pretty much spot on and the use of the word Smurf is both done affectionately and for some serious laughs. They do a nudge nudge wink wink to how absurd using the word Smurf.
Don’t go into this expecting some great cinema masterpiece but do go in and expect to walk out with a smile on your face unless you happen to think that Grouchy Smurf is the best Smurf ever. So go and have a Smurfy good time.
I will say that we saw it in 2-D and I am glad that we did since the open sequence, which probably kicks serious smurf in 3-D, would have made me motion sick in 3-D. You could see where the 3-D would have added to the experience so if you like 3-D, this one has enough to make it worth your while.
I am grateful that we had such a Smurfy Time.
Check out Robot Chciken’s mash up of the Smurfs and Avatar (“Smurfatar”). Gargamel transfer his mind into a smurf body and infiltrates the smurf village. Hysterical. It’s seven kinds of WRONG, but hysterical.
Heh.
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If you’re not familiar with something*positive, let me say it’s often NSFW, but the sequence that begins here and runs for a few strips is apropos.
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(The woman in the monster costume at the end of the sequence is main viewpoint character Davan’s girlfriend, who has … issues.)
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The following sequence (definitely NSFW) is pretty funny, too … and then you get another “Smurf” strip paying off on a short range Brick Joke.