My Movie Review on Smurfs: The Lost Village · 2:27pm Jan 18th, 2019
What’s up, Kemosabes? AMU in the house once again.
Today, I’ll be reviewing “Smurfs: The Lost Village”.
In this film, Smurfette (played by Demi Lovato) is once again having trouble figuring out who she is and what her place in the world could be. But then, she and her friends Brainy (played by Danny Pudi), Clumsy (played by Jack McBrayer), and Hefty (played by Joe Monganiello) discover a map to another Smurf village, leading into a place called The Forbidden Forest! Now, they must find the lost smurf village before their archenemy Gargamel (played by Rainn Wilson) finds it first in order to drain them of the magic inside of them!
I’d like to start off by saying that while the film isn’t the best out of all animated films, it isn’t without entertainment here and there. In short, everything was mostly a fifty/fifty for me.
I thought that the animators did a great job at helping the characters and settings retain the 1980s cartoon and comic look, but, I felt that the computer animation they used for the film didn’t fit and that it should’ve just been hand-drawn animated. Everything about the animation and what it was used on had mostly felt like wallpaper that just wouldn’t stay put no matter how much glue you use. Much of the time, it gave me a headache.
But there are its standouts, really. The moments where shadows were cast onto light were parts that got me really intrigued. I thought the animation used with liquid, dirt, and pictures in the film were really well done in addition.
With the voice acting and cast, in some ways I felt that it was a definite improvement over the old cartoon, because they didn’t sound too high-pitched. But, like the old cartoon, I also felt that many members of the cast were struggling on how to make themselves sound natural.
The performance of Rainn Wilson as Gargamel was great, but, I felt like I had problems with it. Nothing against Wilson, he’s a terrific actor & comedian that I highly regard for his work in Monsters vs Aliens, but much of his voice acting and lines seemed to be particularly unnatural and long in so many parts of the film, and he seemed to struggle with how to make his character funny most of the time.
Examples being these:
“Stop ruining things! Ruining things is my thing!”
“Oh, I’m okay. A little tired. Kind of water-logged. Thanks for asking, but, I’m still evil, so...”
“Enjoy drowning! Hope you are better swimmers than you are judges of character.”
“Well, I was thinking of getting a little place out here. Just a quiet place in the forest. It’s a little breezy up on the hill-WHAT DO YOU THINK I’M DOING HERE?!”
Overall, I felt that it wasn’t the best.
But the voicing does have its standouts really.
The performances of Demi Lovato as Smurfette, Jack McBrayer as Clumsy, and Michelle Rodriguez as Stormy (a new character) were the ones I really thought stood out when it comes to outstanding and funny performances. They had really awesome lines; made even the most unnatural of ones seem natural; and did such a great job at making their characters lovable too.
With the story that the writers of the film made, I thought that the concept of another village, hidden away from outsiders in an enchanted place, was really original for a Smurfs story. Its focus on Smurfette in particular, as well as her character development and quest to find out who she is were parts of the film that particularly got me engaged. Everything about it was really relatable.
In the end, Smurfs: The Lost Village will entrance kids and fans of the Smurfs, but it likely won’t be something for adults, newcomers, and animation enthusiasts. It likely also won’t pass as the best comedy ever despite some solid gags here and there.
So, I rate Smurfs: The Lost Village three out of five stars. The rating being because it has a balance of pros and cons. Many people will hate it and many people will like it.
well i cant say anything bad about you reviewing a kids movie cause we are on a website dedicated to My Little Pony so...
The might be interesting. I probably won’t get to it for a very long time, but it does seem like something to at least consider watching.
I used to like the Smurfs when I was little, but now it just seems like a really bad franchise of computer-animated blue globs with little personality or development.
I liked the movie. Even teared up a little when I thought Smurfette died.
I haven’t seen this movie.
Yeah...I can see the differences of animation styles between this and the original to be rather jarring.
But that aside, you took the time to make some notes, so it had to be at least mildly engaging.
This Gargamel sounds to have a different goal than the original. Stealing Magic just to have power is very, very different than turning the Smurfs into gold because...well...'Old' Gargamel is literally a mash up of all the worst jew and pagan stereotypes