22 May 2012

EXCELLENT 3D

This review is from: The Smurfs (Two-Disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy) (Blu-ray) THIS MOVIE IS GEARED MORE TOWARDS THE YOUNGER CROWD. THE 3D IS EXCELLENT THOUGH. IF YOU CAN GET THIS FOR $20 OR LESS, BUY IT, OTHERWISE I WOULD WAIT. IF YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CRAZY ABOUT THE SMURFS, BUY IT.

Magne Kolstad

22 May 2012

Entertaining and action packed!

I took my 6yo daughter to watch this movie, and for what it is, it'svery entertaining. Kids are very immediate in their response to whatthey like and what they don't, and my daughter loved this film!Personally, I find it quite fun as well. Maybe it's the child in me,but I found this highly entertaining and action packed. It's requiredthat you accept that this is not rocket science, and just positiveescapism.But if you do have a playful heart, I bet this won't disappoint you atall. In fact, I have to look very long and hard to find a moreentertaining time!

Matt Wall

21 May 2012

Better than Expected, and Better than Snide Reviews Might Have You Believe

So, with the disclaimer that this is yes, a formulaic kids' movie, andyes, it's aimed at the nine-and-under set, this is a perfectly fine,even slightly above average film. I have to count myself as a SmurfHatah from the 80s, and while I'm a bit indifferent to the originalcomics (they were weird but not weird enough) they were clearly better.What we have here is a moderately smart tongue-in-cheek post-modernappreciation of the fact that the 80s cartoon Smurfs were incrediblyannoying - embracing the original characters even as there's a wink --the Smurfs admitting their singing is incredibly annoying, and thenstill doing it, rather sweetly and within limits; the Neil PatrickHarris character pointing out the ludicrousness of the weird premise of98 male smurfs and 1 female smurf and the whole "Smurf the Smurf,Smurf" vocabulary so we all can get past it and to the slightly "blue"humor (e.g. "Get the Smurf Out of here") and all sorts of reflexivejokes, such as Smurfette, voiced by Katy Perry, saying "I kissed aSmurf...and I liked it!" The plot is your standard 1960s live actionDisney film, in the same vein as The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes orHerbie, that ilk, with the benefit of 21st century CGI mixed in withthe live action and the aforementioned post-modern self-reference. Theyeven work in a nice homage to Peyo by having the Smurfs read up on him(and get a solution to one of their problems) in a book about LesSchtroumpfs. And as boring and trite as that may seem to adultreviewers here, it's at the level of monomyth for the seven year oldsin the audience.The PG is largely for the double entendres that will fly over kids'heads, a little very mild bathroom humor, and extremely cartoonish(appropriately) violence mostly having to do with Gargamel and Azraelgetting bonked and zapped as they try to smurf the smurfing Smurfs.Harris and Hank Azaria do star turns, Harris as the FredMcMurray-everyman-Dad type, and Azaria as Gargamel. There's no nuanceor subtlety because THAT'S NOT WHAT KIDS WANT TO SEE IN A MOVIE. Cheersto them for doing them.If you insist on being a hipster, content yourself with trying to spotthe many visual inside film cinematic quotes. I spotted clever visualquotes from Reservoir Dogs, Braveheart, the Rock, and the Planet of theApes, among others.And, we get a modestly hip soundtrack running from Vampire Weekend tothe Smurfs doing a sort of duet with Run DMC and Neil Patrick viaGuitar Hero.So stop complaining. What did you expect from a Smurfs live actionmovie? I expected far less than what I got, which was moreentertainment sitting with the kids in the movie theater than I hadfrom the likes of Gnomeo and Juliet.

20 May 2012

Not so Smurfy!!

The first 20 minutes of the movie was actually great but when the smurfs arrived in New York it started to all go down hill from there! I didn't know whether the movie was about the Smurfs or Doogie Howser!!! How convenient was it that Gargamel happened to find an abandon warehouse with everything in it that he needed to conjure up some evil spell against the Smurfs!? This movie was full of recycled material already seen in Alvin & The Chipmunks!! Not impressed with this television remark! I would rather watch paint dry!

Juan Jo Freire

20 May 2012

Smurf Suit Up!

The bad reviews this movie is getting are just wrong seriously peoplewhat where you expecting!!! Just because the smurfs are blue doesn'tmean that it is going to be a Oscar wining movie like Avatar, It's afun movie to watch and it has a magnificent use of CGI animation andseriously read the cast Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria and SofiaVergara bunch of great comedians. It also stays loyal to the originalcartoon, and also the voices are very good and well done. And yes thismovie way, way, WAY better than Alvin and The Chipmunks I'm 14 yearsold and I really enjoyed it had a great time.P.S: If you have the guts see it in 3D it has some awesome 3D shots notthrough the hole movie but in main parts and when it does it standsout.

Anthony Martino

19 May 2012

Family Entertainment.

It's no Citizen Kane, but it's good fun for kids and it's a good familyfilm. It's basically the film Enchanted, where fairy tale creatures arebrought into a modern setting. Only it's with Smurfs.It was fun seeing Neil Patrick Harris interact with the Smurfs and HankAzaria is great as Gargamel. And the Smurfs themselves are enjoyable,although most of their humor consists of using the word "Smurf" foreverything. However, I don't appreciate vulgar humor in children's filmand this movie has a little bit of that. Vulgar humor in kid's moviesalways seem forced and it's no exception in "Smurfs"That's basically all I have to say. See it in 3D. It's good family fun.And as a silly family movie I give it a 10. As a film all together, a3.

Roxanne Lane

19 May 2012

THE SMURFS film is pure smurf-magic!

Director Raja Gosnell brings to life Pierre Culliford "Peyo" delightfulcharacters in this charming animated/live-action film. The film is thebest mixture of animation and reality that I've seen. Gosnellmasterfully captures the world of cartoons and breathes "real" lifeinto it with witty dialog, great situational comedy, dazzling color andmost of all funny, endearing and brave characters.Hank Azaria performance as Gargamel, the evil wizard, is pure genius!He is the perfect embodiment of a cartoon character; such that hisperformance seamless blends … weather in the make-believe land of SmurfVillage or in the real life New York City. Arazia's energy explodesonto the screen and like all "villian" cartoon characters, perfectlybalances his evilness with comedy. And just like in the cartoons, henever gets hurt, even when a huge bus runs him over! The film makesgreat use of cartoon physics and has a natural sense of comedic timing,resulting in a funny story.The Smurfs are brought to life by the voices of the great JonathanWinters, as Papa Smurf; Katy Perry as Smurfette; George Lopez asGrouchy Smurf; Gary Basaraba as Hefty Smurf; John Oliver as VanitySmurf; and Alan Cumming as Gutsy Smurf.It is a story that will touch you heart, through a simple tale of love,loyalty and a family who realizes what matters most in life.

19 May 2012

A Dis service to a great franchise

I thought this movie was just AWWFUL. It takes away from what the smurfs are and mean to a bunch of 80s saturday morning cartoon watchers. It's just another franchise that hollywood destroyed. The 1 star is for the special features. I actually rate this movie a 0, but the special features were worth the rental off netflix. It started pretty good but when they went into the city, it was terrible. in short I would not rent or buy this. Maybe rent off Netflix, that way it's free and no money is spent on a garbage movie. All smurf fans should rent this to see how it is, but DON'T SPEND ANY MONEY ON IT! The Chipmunks movies were alot better. SPECIAL FEATURES2 CommentariesA documentary Smurfs from Comics to screen.A Smurfs Christmas Carol {Which isn't on this Blu-Ray}and more.They did a OK, job on the features but that's all I can say that's positive other than the beginning of the film.

bluerabbitgg

17 May 2012

simply put "Sucked, Worst Film"

Yes, easy the most hyped And worst movie of the year. Who ever hiredthe actors needs to be fired. the voices were so bad i wanted to shootmy self every time "George Lopez" talked. The plot line was somethingout of a bad pro communist propaganda film. Not to be an prick butfilms like this is why kids in America are so damn stupid, Hell watchthis movie a couple times and it will give you Autism like the damnplague.1 out of 10 easy.if i could do 10 lines for this crap film, I would be running forcongress. sorry some damn Pop up is blocking my post. saying i have tosay more about a movie that is so simple that the pop corn on the floorof a theater would want to take its own life after seeing this HorribleFilm.

16 May 2012

The Smurfs

I have not actually seen this movie yet but the previews are hilarious.I'm wanting to order this for my son as a Christmas gift but, i noticed under language and subtitles, its states "french". Neither I nor my son speak french. Could this be a mistake/typo or does it mean that it's a second language choice in the language menu?The Smurfs

Enchorde

16 May 2012

Average family movie that actually keeps true to the Smurfs

Having read a few of the comic books about the Smurfs when I grew upwatching the new movie was a given. I had also figured out that theSmurfs would be a family movie with all that it entitles. And I wasright. It is harmless fun, rather goofy in fact. Some characters are alittle too stereotypical and simple, ironically I found that Gargamel(the one not named for his trait) to be the one most afflicted, justthere for comic effect. But since knowing it is a family movie, that'sOK. Even though I personally would have preferred a little more edge inthe jokes, a little darker story. Now it is very simple and straightforward.What really bothers me though, is that it is an adventure in 3D. It isfar too obvious (even though I watched in "2D") that the movie makershas put most of the focus on the "in 3D" part instead of adventure. Itis evident in the first scene and confirmed throughout the entire move.The predominant thought must have been "What can happen that leads tocool 3D-effects" instead of "How can the effects augment ouradventure". In my opinion, story and adventure should come first, notthe effects. In this movie I'm sure it was the other way around. Thestory is decent though, even if simple, full of clichés andpredictable. But OK.The casting directors have found good voices for the Smurfs, and Ireally like Jayma Mays and Neill Patrick Harris in their roles. HankAzaria is really good as well in his character, but I have a littleproblem with the character. Not Azaria's fault.In all it was a decent movie. Many entertaining scenes but also a fewalmost awkward embarrassing moments (especially around Clumsy Smurf whosometimes is just too much). It did a rather good job to live up to mymemories of the Smurf though, and that what's it is about most, for usadults anyway.6/10

Vergilya

16 May 2012

Still entertaining

Because of the bad reviews I avoided watching this movie for a verylong time until today when I just felt like 'smurfing' around.It was better than I expected and quite entertaining too. If you havewatched the TV series before this movie has a little more substancethan the usual run around between Gargamel and the smurfs.There are a few very familiar faces here especially with the success ofsome TV series. And it's a pleasure to see them playing roles otherthan what we know them to be.Watch it without too much expectations and you may actually enjoy thebanter, spoofs and self deprecation and have a smurfy time.

brosello

14 May 2012

Pretty Good Movie

Come on folks this is a kids movie. Why is everyone over analyzingthis? I thought it was very entertaining and fun. I do agree thoughthat the voices could have been better though. Kids will love themovie, I know mine did. I recall many people criticizing Shrek too. Ifyou are young at heart go see this. If you tend to nit pick movies thenthis movie is not for you. Gargamel did an excellent job in this movie.I really loved the actor's interpretation. I thought some of the jokeswere good though some of them were a bit cheesy. Had it not been forthe voices I would have given this movie a bit more. Appearing in NewYork seemed predictable as most movies end up or take place in NewYork.

14 May 2012

La la la-la-laughs but menacingly boring and unoriginal

Toy Story had a magical feeling that just can't be matched anymore and we meet the next underwhelming exhibit, 4,845,621,593. I was expecting a good-hardy warm Gargamel chase frenzy from the cartoon, but instead, we were delivered a sappy, drooling flick reminiscent of what is comparable to a Scary-movie-Garfiled hybrid subtracting the icing from the cake. Let's play with matches and coins-boredom tears may be invoked into the cries of children all about the land and your admissionary fee will be irredeemable. Take you pick, stick to the cartoon for barrels of fun, or watch this hastily written cinematic-log. NOT AN ENJOYABLE FILM.

14 May 2012

Good, but didn't quite capture the cartoon's magic

As a child of the 80s, I was a big fan of the Smurfs and was excited when I heard they were making a movie. And as the movie stands on its own, it's an okay kids movie. The cast is great and the animated smurfs are cute. But it didn't reinvigorate the same magic that the cartoon held. A few things bugged me, like the fact that they planted the smurfs into current-day NYC, the voices of the smurfs were not as easy to distinguish as in the cartoon, and while I love the cast, I didn't feel as though Neil Patrick Harris really connected with his little blue co-stars, although he did a fine job. Azrael the cat too is played by a real cat, with a few animations added and just ended up looking silly. I would have rather seen a movie completely in 3D animation and no life actors, and set in the smurf village and forest. All in all, an okay movie but not for the smurfy at heart.

13 May 2012

smurfs movie

Once ina Blue Moon the tiny blue smurfs are being chased by the evil wizard Gargamel and my Favorite part was when he shocked papa with the dragon wand and did a evil evil Laugh that was my favorite part of the whole movie

dejan-puskas

13 May 2012

A well-recorded movie, all in all

I have to say I was amazed when I first heard there would be a movieabout this ever-so-popular cartoon.Some people may complain about how bad this title is, but I don't sharetheir opinions for one simple reason : time.Time passes, as it always had and always will and we have to adapt to afew things. Back in time when the original cartoons on Smurfs aired,not all kids stayed home and watched this ( very much unlike today,where kids do almost nothing but play games and watch movies, but I'mgoing off-topic here ). We have to face it: no movie based on a cartoonever worked as good as it's original did, because of the simple factabout its length: cartoons are basically 30min long, and movies are atleast hour and a half, during which time one can lose focus, interestor at worst, a few nerves. I will not rate it excellent because it hasits flaws, basically poor story-work, but I won't explain it further asI have no intention on spoiling out what happens. The plot itself couldhave been better, but I reckon it's not a total loss, considering thatthis is a movie based on a cartoon; the animations are great: one couldbarely see a difference between smurfs from actual humans. As for thecast and crew, I can't say anything bad about them, since they: 1. Arenot the main characters of the story (human does not equal smurf) 2.Played out the characters just fineIn one sentence, my review on the title would be: Unbrushed diamond.(it shines, but it can shine better)

Robert W.

12 May 2012

A fun homage to the Smurfs of yesteryear and brings them to the new generation

I've read several reviews from adults that basically chastised Smurfsfor being a children's movie which is of course absurd. The Smurfs aremeant for children. However, I grew up with The Smurfs so it onlybenefited the makers of the new CGI/Live Action film to pay homage tothat original generation too and the reason I really enjoyed The Smurfsis because I think they did exactly that. You won't find anything toogrown up in the film, or even the comedic undertones that someanimation puts in their films for the adults that might go over thehead of youngsters. The Smurfs is just a pure, fun, innocent adventureabout the little blue guys being thrust into our world.Neil Patrick Harris, and Jayma Mays are the human counterparts to thefilm and they both do a decent job. Sometimes I think films like thiscould do without human counterparts (The Muppets recent film is a goodexample) but Harris and Mays are good. Harris is of course a littlebetter because he is a talented comedian and actor. The legendaryJonathan Winters is absolutely perfect as Papa Smurf. Alan Cumming isterrific as gutsy (one of my favourites in the film), Fred Armisen doesa terrific brainy smurf who was also one of my favourites in theoriginal Smurfs cartoon and I thought he was a little underused in themovie, George Lopez was awesome as grouchy, Anton Yelchin nailed theperfect Clumsy. And finally Katy Perry did a good job as Smurfette andit was good to have her on cast as sort of a modern day bridge betweenthe told Smurfs and the new and of course her line (I kissed a Smurfand I liked it) was perfectly fun! The rest of the Smurfs were soperfectly cast and I hope everyone comes back for future instalments.If anyone could be born to play the clumsy and villainous Gargamel,Hank Azaria just absolutely nailed it!! The talented voice and comicactor brought the old school Gargamel to vivid life! He was excellent.Just to round it out, every scene with his cat Azrael was hilarious!This is not even new ground for director Raja Gosnell as he brought usScooby Doo to live action years ago and has done some terrific funfamily comedies. So he was perfect and he did a great job and mostimportantly he kept the film clean and fun for everyone. Kid's willlove this and adults like myself will have fond memories and welcomeback the Smurfs with open arms. I wish you had gotten to see more ofThe Smurfs old world but perhaps in future films that will be the case!8/10

12 May 2012

Smurftastic Movie

this is an awesome movie. the smurfs rule. this movie is really good. i thought that they did well on developing the characters. i espcialy liked the guy who played gargamel. i mean he was gargamel. if they do another smurfs movie they need to keep him. this movie is awesome. if you have not seen this movie then i recommend you do

chrismsawin

12 May 2012

Blue, annoying, and practically force fed

Sometimes despite your best efforts a movie you just know is going tobe an awful experience is somehow worse than you imagined even thoughyou tried to talk yourself into thinking it might not be so bad. "Oh,this actor and/or actress is in it. Hopefully I'll still be able toenjoy their role in this monstrosity," is what you say to yourself. Itturns out to be all for nothing and even though that person you admireis in it, you're just left wondering why they're a part of something sohorrendous to begin with. The Smurfs is such a movie and I can almostguarantee you that you haven't seen anything as bad as this all year.The smurfs live in Smurf Village in another universe where magicactually exists. These little blue creatures are about seven inchestall that can sing, dance, talk, live in mushrooms, and are massivelyannoying all day long. The evil wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria) isobsessed with capturing the smurfs in order to obtain their essence tobecome the most powerful wizard in the universe. During the festival ofthe blue moon, Clumsy (voiced by Anton Yelchin) accidentally leadsGargamel to Smurf Village. Amongst the confusion while they're fleeingGargamel's onslaught, they accidentally stumble onto a portal to ouruniverse as Gargamel follows in hot pursuit. Unfortunately for them,our moon never turns blue so they must rely on the assistance ofPatrick (Neil Patrick Harris) and Grace Winslow (Jayma Mays); a couplewho's expecting their first child and who are going through sometroubles of their own.If you weren't a fan of the original Smurfs cartoon, then you probablywon't have any reason to actually sit through this thing. Speaking assomeone who isn't a fan of anything Hanna-Barbera related, taking onefor the team or biting the bullet doesn't even begin to describe theunfortunate displeasure I experienced throughout this cinematicmiscarriage. The Smurfs does nothing but make a repetitive,never-ending effort to rub its audience nose in the fact that it'strying to be cute. It can't just show something cute and move on. It'sbasically shoving cuteness down your throat without asking in a ratherobnoxious and extremely forceful fashion.As if purely tolerating these tiny, blue kumquats wasn't enough, themovie makes it a point to rub salt in the wound before dousing it withlemon and plunging your exposed injury into a bucket of bleach. There'sa Rock Band scene where Neil Patrick Harris plays the game with TheSmurfs and they decide to add their own lyrics to Aerosmith's "WalkThis Way." Imagine the song with all the lyrics replaced with stuffabout sunshine, kilts, intelligence, being angry, blue skin, and"smurf" every three words or so. I recommend not getting nachos beforeseeing this. You'll want to pour the hot, scolding nacho cheese intoyour eye sockets just to make the torture on-screen be a little lesspainful.Looking at the movie from a critic's perspective doesn't even helpmatters. It shows you all the main plot points in a vision Papa Smurfhas at the beginning of the movie, so you basically know what's goingto happen long before you even get there. You probably already have asolid idea of what the movie is just by seeing the TV spots alone.There's also another scene where Gargamel is in prison in our universe.He has a conversation with a moth. He doesn't use magic as he doesn'teven have anything on him at the time other than an orange jumpsuit. Hetalks to this moth and convinces it to break him out of prison. How,you might ask? With about a million flies. Flies break Gargamel out ofprison. All family movies have to include some sort of bodily fluid inthem anymore. Crude humor is apparently the only way you can reach ayounger audience these days. So I hope you like cat vomit and a grownman digging through a vomitous pile for a few strands of hair.Is there anything actually decent about this movie? If you've read thisfar, you're probably thinking that. There is, actually. The 3D effectis actually utilized really well. Smurfs are constantly jumping in yourface and when they're not random objects are flying at you thanks toGargamel's magic. There's a scene at the very beginning of the moviewhere two smurfs are riding birds. That scene is pulled off incrediblywell as the birds twist and turn in the air. The perspective,positioning of the camera, and the way we seem to follow their everymove makes that thirty second sequence work really well. Neil PatrickHarris is probably the least offensive part of the movie, but thatisn't saying a whole lot. There's actually some really talented peopleburied in the cast. Unfortunately they're so smothered in smurfberriesthat you probably won't even notice them.The Smurfs is the first movie I've ever actually physically ran out ofas soon as it was over. It is downright offensive with how cute andcorny it is. With an overly predictable storyline, ridiculous plotpoints, and some of the lamest material to ever hit the big screen,anything remotely good in the film is immediately erased by theoverwhelming wave of force fed cutesy garbage. It's like having anentire jar of Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme crammed down your throat. Ifyou suddenly have the urge to see this movie, stay home and drink abottle of Drano instead. I promise you'll have a better time.