DVD Reviews

The Smurfs (Three-Disc Combo Blu-ray/DVD ) – Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Dec 2, 2011, 14:54 GMT

When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the tiny blue Smurfs out of their village, they tumble from their magical world and into ours -- in fact, smack dab in the middle of Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down. ...more

La la la la la la, la la la la la. Those little blue critters that turned out to be a surprise phenomenon in the 1980s make their way to the big screen and now to, ironically, Blu-ray. It’s a fun time, especially for the kids, but some parts left me grouchy.

The Smurfs are little blue creatures (three apples tall) that live in a magical forest and are pursued by the wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria) and his cat Azrael (voiced by Frank Welker). The bumbling Gargamel wants to drain the Smurfs’ essence and make his magic more powerful. However, there is some power on the rise as Smurfs are preparing for the magical Blue Moon festival.

Their leader Papa Smurf (voiced by Jonathan Winters) has had a disconcerting vision that Gargamel will be triumphant but keeps it from the others. Gargamel does succeed in finding their village thanks to Clumsy (Anton Yelchin) disobeying Papa and chaos ensues.

Papa, Clumsy, Smurfette (Katy Perry), Grouchy (George Lopez), Brainy (Fred Armisen), and Gutsy (Alan Cummings) are sucked through a magical tunnel opened by the rising Blue Moon and are followed by Gargamel and Azrael.

The group ends up in New York City and into the lives of Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris) and Grace Winslow (Jayma Mays). Patrick is trying to come up with an ad campaign for cosmetic manufacturer Odile (Sofia Vergara) or face getting sacked. However, the little blue creatures need to get back home and just might teach expectant father Patrick about what is important in life.

The Smurfs were created by artist Peyo in 1958, but it wasn’t until the 1980’s American animated television show that it became a smurfing phenomenon. A film adaptation shouldn’t surprise as Hollywood has been mining memory lane lately, but the concept has been long simmering. It has finally come to fruition with the Smurfs appearing as CGI creations.

The storyline feels a bit pat (the Smurfs showing up in our world) and maybe somewhat serious (the impending fatherhood of Patrick), but I thought it was a nice touch that they acknowledged Peyo. The situations may seem like something we’ve seen before but everyone appears to have a grand time doing it.

Azaria is certainly fun as Gargamel and Harris and Mays make a cute couple. Winters sheds his wacky persona to give gravitas and wisdom to Papa (it also helps that he did the voice of Grandpa Smurf on the 80s show), Perry does quite well as Smurfette, and Yelchin also as Clumsy. The only voice actor that seemed out of place to me was Lopez as Grouchy.

Another problem may be that many of the more familiar Smurfs are relegated to being left behind as we journey to New York (Gargamel isn’t the smartest wizard as he follows those six instead of staying behind and getting the leaderless 93 Smurfs left behind – I guess Papa is the prize one).

It’s still a fun romp and sure to please the kids. Those fans of the show may not like some of the choices (Lopez, leaving popular Smurfs behind) but it’s nice to see them on the big screen.

The Smurfs is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (1.85:1).
Special features include two commentaries (one from director Raja Gosnell and the second from producer Jordan Kerner, effects supervisor Richard Hoover, and writers J. David Stern, David N. Weiss, Jay Scherick, and David Ronn), 8 minutes of deleted and extended scenes, an 8 minute look at the journey from the comic to the big screen, 9 minutes of interviews with the voice cast, the 10 minute “Going Gargamel” about Azaria’s transformation, a 25 second “Blue-pers” gag reel, a 2 minute “Happy Music Montage,” and 9 minutes of effects “Progression Reels.”

There are also games, and the Smurf-o-vision second screen option that connects with your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch, and the disc is BD-Live enhanced.

Disc two is a DVD copy of the film and disc three is a DVD of the holiday themed Smurf’s Christmas Carol (22 minutes) in which Grouchy (Lopez) is not in the spirit of the season (only Perry and Winters don’t return vocally).

What’s neat about the episode is the Scrooge inspired Ghosts of Past, Present, and Future are done in the animated style of the TV show and not CGI. Nice touch.

The Smurfs has some plot familiarity and maybe makes some wrong choices, but in the end it’s a fun time for the whole family. A great looking transfer and nice special features makes this a smurfing great Blu-ray.