Based on the comic book created by Belgian artist Peyo, Paramount Pictures have come back with Smurfs, an animated musical movie that revives the beloved characters back on the big screen.
The film opens up to a full blown musical dance sequence, where we’re promptly introduced to the Smurfs and each of their names slash roles in the Smurf Village. We meet characters like Papa Smurf (John Goodman), Smurfette (Rihanna – who also produced the film), Vanity (Maya Erksine), Brainy (Xolo Maridueña), Hefty (Alex Winter), Worry (Billie Lourd), Sound Effects Smurf, and many more. Until we see a timid smurf named No Name – a smurf desperately trying to find their calling in a world where everyone has their “thing.” Amidst No Name trying to figure out what the universe has in store for him, the Smurf Village gets infiltrated by the evil wizard Gargamel (JP Karliak) and his henchmen Joel (Dan Levy), who captures Papa Smurf in hopes of finding a magical book that will help Gargamel take over the world. The world is left in the hands of No Name and Smurfette who do everything in their power to get Papa Smurf back and save the world along with their friends.
While the cast is full of incredible actors and great music (cue Please Don’t Stop The Music by Rihanna herself), the star power isn’t nearly enough for a story that unfortunately falls quite short.
Understandably, this is a children’s film and the core audience is not an adult demographic. But it’s hard not to compare the experience of watching an animated movie from the 90s or early 2000s to the movies we see today. Majority of the animated movies as of late have little to no impact, but there are many aspects of older animated films that created a sense of appeal and relevancy until now. Whether that be the fact that they used to rotoscope live action footage to add the element of realness, or that they had more time with the technology back then to make films feel more fluid, or at a bare minimum even having an overarching storyline that leaves viewers with an important lesson, the animated films of today lack any of that magic.
Particularly with Smurfs, where the marketing revolved around Rihanna’s involvement in the film – heavily putting emphasis on the new music that she’ll be releasing through this film, and the fact that she plays Smurfette (“Rihanna is Smurfette” is splayed on almost every promotional poster) – rather than the story itself. Even then, the story doesn’t ever reach its full potential and lacks heart. The film could have very easily held onto the idea of the importance of finding yourself and understanding your place in the world; putting a focus on identity. Which is a great lesson that could be subtly taught to children. But instead, the film tries too hard to appease the adult audience by playing into more adult jokes and references, and in turn isolates the younger audience.
Smurfs also played around with different animation styles throughout the film. Initially setting the world of Smurfs in a comic book type backdrop, while simultaneously jumping into live action scenes in Paris, the Australian Outback, and Munich. There’s even a sequence that depicted the characters as anime versions of themselves, video game versions, and even claymation versions.
While it was entertaining to watch, these plot points rather feel like a show of who can create the most impressive visuals, rather than producing any sort of meaningful or compelling plotline.
There’s no doubt that children will love the movie purely based on the fun music, dances, and colourful backdrop. And while there are a good few laughs in the movie that are most definitely aimed at adults, the lack of any story or conclusion of a story makes the movie quite forgetful.
