Let's face it, all of our favorite Saturday morning cartoons will be converted to live-action CGI dreck before we're dead and gone. Within the last few years we've been disgusted by the awfulness of Alvin and Chipmunks
(twice!!!) and last year's Yogi Bear
. The easy analysis is that these are so popular(and the box office proves they are) because they appeal to little kids. This is completely untrue. No child gives a hoot who Yogi Bear is or is concerned whether the Chipmunks are really lip syncing. These work because they play upon the childhood memory of adults who grew up in the 70s and 80s. Adults keep these movies afloat, and so that's why we keep getting more of them. Such is the case with The Smurfs
, a cartoon with a great lineage all it's own. Created by the Belgian artist Peyo back in 1958, the little blue creatures(three apples tall!) would make their way to the United States with their own Saturday cartoon series in 1981. It's arguably the most popular morning cartoon in television history, running for nine years and long after that in reruns.But it's the film that matters now, placed in the hands of Beverly Hills Chihuahua
director Raja Gosnell, and you'll be surprised to know it's not all that bad. Shot in 3D, The Smurfs takes us through a whirlwind tour of Smurf village. We're quickly introduced to the magical creatures, each limited personality wise by whatever their name concludes them to be: Brainy Smurf is a bifocal wearing nerd; Clumsy Smurf is...clumsy; Vanity Smurf stares at his mirror all day. I know some women like him. And then there are the two oddballs like Papa Smurf(voiced by Jonathan Winters) and Smurfette(Katy Perry). Smurfette is the only female in town, which should make nights out at the drive-in a little awkward. Papa Smurf is the centuries old patriarch, who keeps his family safe via magic spells conjured up in his mushroom home. The only thing keeping them from a perfect existence is the presence of a human named Gargamel(Hank Azaria), an oafish wizard who wants to use Smurf body acids to power his magic. Seriously smurfed up. While fleeing from the burlap sack wearing mage, a handful of Smurfs escape through a wormhole brought on by the arrival of a blue moon, landing in the heart of New York City. From there it goes into seriously familiar territory as the Smurfs stowaway in the home of Patrick(Neil Patrick Harris) and his pregnant wife Grace(Glee
's Jayma Mays), making his life miserable while cheering her up immensely. Gargamel and his feline sidekick Azrazel pursue our little blue heroes while of course running into all sorts of modern day headaches.As is almost always the case with these CGI/live-action hybrids, the human characters are the weakest link. Harris, who has blossomed into such a gifted comedic talent, looks dumbfounded as he's schooled on the art of fatherhood by a bearded Smurf with red tights and elven hat.The look on Harris's face is pure gold, trying his best to look sincere when in reality he's likely staring at the end of a broom handle or something. Most of the jokes land with a thud, and any person old enough to notice will get most of their laughs from the egregious product placement throughout. If it's blue, it's in this movie somewhere. I kept waiting for the inevitable blue balls joke. I guess that would've been too much. Overuse of the Rock Band video game? Perfectly acceptable, I guess. Blatant nods to the greatness of Google? Sure. Kids won't pay attention to any of that stuff, though, and will be charmed by the chaotic nature of the Smurfs' adventure in the big city. They'll giggle as Clumsy ruins everything repeatedly, and holler at Grouchy's gruff attitude. Azaria continues to make the best out of bad material, playing Gargamel as the laughably crazed figure he was meant to be. The only one capable of upstaging him was Azrael, the mocking cat scoring most of the biggest laughs. The Smurfs should make for a welcome outing for parents looking for a family night out.
Adults may even find something of their own to enjoy, especially if they were fans of the cartoon. I was surprised by how deep into Smurfs lore the story actually goes. Little remembered facts like that there were originally only 100 Smurfs, and Smurfette's sinister origin will be welcome memories. The script by a handful of writers picks up on how the Smurfs old fashioned values and odd way of life meshes awkwardly in today's society. In particular the writers have a ball with the use of the word "smurf" as replacement for everything. Especially obscenities. These little buggers curse like the bluest of sailors, and it's actually funny and a tiny bit endearing.
I like these Smurfs, and wouldn't mind seeing more of them without all the human entanglements and lame life lessons. Fortunately, this is planned as the first leg of a trilogy, so don't be surprised when you see The Smurfs 2: Gargamel Smurfs Back.
