Smurfs (U)
Cast: Hannah Waddingham, JP Karliak, Octavia Spencer, James Corden, Natasha Lyonne, Dan Levy, Nick Kroll, Sandra Oh, Rihanna, Jimmy Kimmel, Nick Offerman, Amy Sedaris, John GoodmanGenre: Romance
Author(s): Pam Brady
Director: Chris Miller
Release Date: 18/07/2025
Running Time: 92mins
Country: US/Bel.Ita
Year: 2025
Evil wizard Razamel kidnaps Papa Smurf with the help of his long-suffering assistant Joel to retrieve a magical book, which holds the key to siphoning goodness out of the universe. Brave Smurfette leads a troupe of courageous Smurfs including No Name, Vanity and Grouchy on a daredevil rescue mission to save the plucky patriarch. Razamel's embittered brother Gargamel and cat Azrael forge a fragile alliance with the Smurfs to defeat the nefarious scheme.
LondonNet Film Review
Smurfs (U) Film Review from LondonNet
I feel blue, and not in a satisfying and Smurfalicious way. Director Chris Miller’s colour-saturated reboot of the fun-loving film franchise based on lovable characters created by Belgian artist Peyo in 1958 is a lacklustre clone of Trolls replete with hip-swivelling song and dance numbers and a caterwaul from the heart, Always On The Outside sung by James Corden, which opens with the soul-searching lyric, “Who am I? Where do I belong?”. Smurfs doesn’t appear to know what it is or where it belongs in the glittering pantheon of computer-animated adventures…
Screenwriter Pam Brady struggles to strike a consistent tone that embraces a wholesome, community-oriented comic book legacy dating back nearly 70 years and the demands of modern cinema audiences who expect something that appeals to every member of the family. Rihanna’s casting as Smurfette doesn’t manifest the boss girl energy the film desperately needs. She provides original songs Anyone and Friend Of Mine and her 2007 hit Please Don’t Stop The Music blasts across a Parisian nightclub dance floor when the eponymous adventurers gatecrash our reality a la Sonic The Hedgehog. However, there’s little to distinguish her from Katy Perry, who previously commandeered the role. Other vocal cast members are similarly muted. True heroism might come out of the blue in Miller’s picture but in so many respects, these Smurfs are rendered in shades of grey.
Papa Smurf (voiced by John Goodman) secretly hides a magical book with the power to suck the goodness out of the universe in Smurf Village. His heroism thwarts the nefarious plans of The Alliance Of Evil Wizards comprising Asmodius (Octavia Spencer), Chernobog (Nick Kroll), Jezebeth (Hannah Waddingham) and Razamel (JP Karliak). By luck rather than diabolical design, Razamel kidnaps Papa Smurf and holds the bearded wonder hostage until he discloses the book’s location.
Smurfette (Rihanna) leads courageous kin including No Name (Corden), Vanity (Rylan Clark), Grouchy (Jon Richardson), Hefty (Alex Winter), Brainy (Xolo Mariduena) and Sound Effects (Spencer X) on a daredevil rescue mission into the real world. To protect their colourful universe, the diminutive heroes rely on Razamel’s embittered brother Gargamel (Karliak again) and Papa Smurf’s brother Ken (Nick Offerman).
Smurfs fails to shine bright like a diamond, refracting aspects of the aforementioned Trolls, Despicable Me and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, with an underlying message about embracing who you are. Digitally rendered visuals are solid and one diversion to the globe-trotting mission briefly introduces claymation, hand-drawn art, anime and 8-bit computer games to the mix. Miller’s film touches down with its heart in the right place but it is one small stumble rather than a giant leap for Smurfkind.
– Jo Planter
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