Smurf this out. It's The Smurfs, the creation of Belgian artist Peyo, as a smurf-screen feature film. It's in 3D, as are a smurf of other films these smurfing days. Did that make smurfing sense to you? No, but it smurfing does to a Smurf.
Anyway, the Smurfs are still blue, small and live in 'shrooms. One day, their secret Smurf village is discovered by the evil Gargamel (Hank Azaria). Papa Smurf (Jonathan Winters) and five of his fellow Smurfs are chased into a portal in a waterfall. On the other side is a strange place called Central Park. They find themselves house guests of ad-man Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris) and his wife Grace (Jayma Mays).
The Smurfs need the magic of a blue moon (an actual blue moon) to open the portal again. Gargamel wants The Smurfs for their magical essence. Sounds like a conflict.
It's directed by Raja Gosnell, previously of the Scooby-Doo films. So expect a few jokes that Hanna-Barbera wouldn't have approved of. Does this mean an embarrassing day at the movies for adult audience members? Hopefully, not at all.
As Gargamel, Azaria was truly the scene-stealer of the cast. His chemistry with Azrael, and his over-the-top villainy, was truly funny. There were a few dirty jokes involving him, but they don't detract from the performance that much.
What about the 3D effects? I didn't see it in 3D, so I can't comment. I can comment on the smurf effects, and I can say they're quite good. Even if you don't see it in 3D, a few scenes feel 3D anyway. A nice opening shot of The Smurfs traveling by bird is a highlight.
For kids, this'll be a memorable film on an afternoon matinee. For me, at least, this was only a decent afternoon film. But it's still a smurf of a time. And that's smurf enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment