Rated
PG (Some Rude Humor and Action)
Running
Time: 1 Hour & 45 Minutes
Cast-
Neil
Patrick Harris-Patrick Winslow
Jayma
Mays-Grace Winslow
Brendan
Gleeson-Victor Doyle
Hank
Azaria-Gargamel
Jonathan
Winters (voice)-Papa Smurf
Katy
Perry (voice)-Smurfette
Anton
Yelchin (voice)-Clumsy Smurf
George
Lopez (voice)-Grouchy Smurf
John
Oliver (voice)-Vanity Smurf
Christina
Ricci (voice)-Vexy
J.B.
Smoove (voice)-Hackus
Fred
Armisen (voice)-Brainy Smurf
Alan
Cumming (voice)-Gutsy Smurf
Jeff
Foxworthy (voice)-Handy Smurf
Kenan
Thompson (voice)-Greedy Smurf
Paul
Reubens (voice)-Jokey Smurf
Shaquille
O'Neal (voice)-Smooth Smurf
B.J.
Novak (voice)-Baker Smurf
Jimmy
Kimmel (voice)-Passive-Aggressive Smurf
Shaun
White (voice)-Clueless Smurf
Mario
Lopez (voice)-Social Smurf
Frank Welker (voice)-Azrael
Directed
by Raja Gosnell
 |
| Smurfette is transported back to the real world where she meets the Naughties in "The Smurfs 2." |
Note: Screened on Sunday, July 28, 2013 at AMC Magic Johnson Harlem 9.
Summer
2013 has already had its fair share of critical duds (the thought of
"Grown Ups 2" still makes me shudder) but that list is about to get
three apples bigger with "The Smurfs 2." Created by Belgian illustrator
Peyo (real name Pierre Culliford) and first appearing in Spirou magazine in 1958, the Smurfs quickly proved to be a huge success
but the little blue humanoids didn't emerge as the pop culture icons they are
today until 1981 when animation studio Hanna-Barbera began producing a Saturday-morning
cartoon based on the comic strip for NBC. The Emmy-award winning series (it won
for Outstanding Children's Entertainment Series in 1982 and 1983) lasted for eight
seasons with a whopping 256 episodes.
The stories may have been paper-thin (even by 1980's standards) but for people
who grew up during that era, it was like 'kiddie cocaine' as described by IGN.
Given Hollywood's current obsession with everything 1980's, a feature film based
on the Smurfs was inevitable. Released two years ago in 2011, Raja Gosnell's
"The Smurfs" was only a moderate success in the U.S. but once the
film's international grosses were factored in, the total box office take stood at
$563.7 million despite its overwhelmingly negative reviews (22% on Rotten Tomatoes).
I recently sat down to watch "The Smurfs" in preparation for the sequel
and while it's not as bad as I thought it would be, the film is still rather mediocre
(not to mention terribly dull) with its cringe-inducing 'jokes' and distracting
product placement. To be released on July 31, "The Smurfs 2" is slightly
more tolerable compared to its predecessor and children will undoubtedly love
it but the whole affair remains a clumsy (no pun intended), half-hearted mess
that's packed to the brim with annoyingly derivative cartoon violence.
Finding
herself plagued by nightmares that she'll betray her fellow Smurfs, Smurfette (Katy
Perry) shares her concerns with Papa Smurf (Jonathan Winters), who reassures
his adopted daughter that Smurf Village is where she truly belongs. Meanwhile,
the other Smurfs are busy planning a birthday party for Smurfette and are
intent on keeping it a surprise but this leads to Smurfette thinking that
everyone had forgotten. The evil wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria), still trapped
in the real world, has reinvented himself as a beloved stage magician with his Smurf
essence-powered illusions and has even managed to create a pair of Smurf-like clones
called the 'Naughties.' However, he lacks Papa Smurf's secret formula to turn
them into real Smurfs. Using the Eiffel Tower as a conduit, Gargamel opens a portal
to Smurf Village and sends one of his Naughties, Vexy (Christina Ricci), to kidnap
Smurfette so that he can force her to divulge the secret formula. Quickly putting
together a rescue team consisting of Clumsy (Anton Yelchin), Grouchy (George Lopez),
and Vanity Smurf (John Oliver), Papa Smurf travels to New York City using his magic
crystals in order to ask for Patrick Winslow's (Neil Patrick Harris) help in
locating Smurfette. Traveling to Paris with his wife Grace (Jayma Mays) and stepfather
Victor (Brendan Gleeson), Patrick and the Smurfs set out to rescue Smurfette before
Gargamel learns of the secret formula.
Owing
its existence to the original's sizable box office haul, "The Smurfs 2"
is an unwarranted follow-up that is content with recycling the same story, the
same jokes, and the same themes to mind-numbing effect. With five people working
on the script, you'd think they come up with something a little more inspired. At
least the egregious product placement is somewhat lessened, although we still
get scenes where Gargamel spends ten whole minutes waving a Sony tablet in
front of our faces. This time around, Smurfette is put front-and-center as her
fear of reverting to her 'naughty' self returns on her birthday due to Gargamel
being her 'real' father. When Vexy suddenly whisks Smurfette away to the real
world, a small group of Smurfs led by Papa follow behind to rescue her as the action
switches from New York City to more tax-friendly Paris. That's as 'innovative' as
this sequel gets, with the rest of the film resorting to the usual noisy hijinks
that are tailor-made to the ADD crowd. The slapstick comedy is uninspired, specifically
Clumsy's antics. He's constantly tripping over himself, which is not only exasperating
to watch but leads me to wonder why the other Smurfs don't just put him down
considering the guy is such a hazard to himself and others. When you're watching
a film this boring, your mind tends to wander. Although there are a few amusing
bits to be found, such as Vanity Smurf's tendency to over-admire himself in the
mirror or when Patrick's stepdad is turned into a duck (I'm not even kidding
here), "The Smurfs 2" will most likely leave those over the age of
seven stone-faced.
The
script also comes off as half-baked, which shouldn't come as a surprise. Gargamel
flat out admits to Vexy and the moronic Hackus (J.B. Smoove) that he's basically
going to kill them for their essence once he turns them into real Smurfs and
yet they happily help him with his plan anyway. What are they, Suicidal Smurfs?
One of the more bearable aspects of the previous film was Patrick's struggle
with his impending responsibilities as a father. This theme of fatherhood is revisited
once again (albeit with some minor variations) as Patrick has to learn to accept
his stepdad while Smurfette deals with her own daddy issues. Both of them come
to realize that a parent doesn't necessarily have to be biological to love and
care for you. I admit this is a nice sentiment but it's hard to imagine how
this could be of any interest to kids. Still, it's one of the few elements in
the film that doesn't want to make you claw your own eyes out, even if it is painfully
clichéd.
As
far as the animation goes, it's slick-looking (with the exception of the poorly-rendered
Azrael) and the Smurfs themselves are pretty detailed whenever the camera zooms
in close on them. One particular visual highlight is when Smurfette, Vexy, and Hackus
fly around Paris on storks. However, the integration between live-action and CG
never feels entirely seamless because the Smurfs are missing a sort of tangibility
compared to something like Ted, from the 2012 film of the same name. The 3D fares
the worse. Save for a few moments where particle effects are involved, it's completely
non-existent. Scenes were literally
in 2D when I took off my glasses to see how much 3D was being utilized. Hell,
the 'Sony Digital Cinema 4K' logo looked more three-dimensional compared to the
entire film itself! If you must go see "The Smurfs 2," avoid the 3D
version because you're essentially getting ripped-off.
The
performances are a mixed bag, with the voice cast faring better as opposed to
the live-action one. As likable as Neil Patrick Harris is, he's shackled by the
film's overly-cartoonish tone and at times, he looks positively embarrassed to be
starring in it. The amazingly adorable Jayma Mays seems to be enjoying herself
while Brendan Gleeson throws himself into his role as stepdad Victor with wild abandon.
He treats the film as a lark and genuinely appears to be having fun, especially
when his character is transformed into a duck. I can't say the same for Hank Azaria
though. His go-for-broke performance as the inept wizard Gargamel was incredibly
grating on my nerves and is even worse than hearing fingernails on a chalkboard.
The voice cast, which includes Anton Yelchin, George Lopez, and John Oliver among
others, put in some good work but the standouts are definitely Jonathan Winters
and yes, Katy Perry. Winters, who sadly passed away in April, exhibits a wise, grandfatherly
warmth as Papa Smurf while Perry's Smurfette is endearingly sweet and dare I say,
cute.
Set
for release on July 31, 2013, reviews for "The Smurfs 2" are slowly
trickling out but I doubt it'll improve much compared to the original, if at all,
with the score on Rotten Tomatoes currently sitting at 40%. Ultimately though,
it doesn't really matter what critics say because parents will take their children
to see the film regardless of how negative the reviews are. Its box office success
is pretty much assured and a third installment has already been green-lit by Sony
Pictures Animation for 2015. Although certain aspects of this sequel weren't
wholly terrible, it doesn't change the fact "The Smurfs 2" is an uninspired,
formulaic, and cynically-made product designed to appeal to the lowest-common-denominator.
Hey, at least it's not as bad as "Grown Ups 2." That's the best damn praise
I can give.
Final
Rating: 2 out of 5
"As
someone wonderful once told me, it doesn't matter where you came from. What
matters is who you choose to be."
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