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True blue family fun
By Tom Dartnell |
August 14, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IT'S reboot time again and the latest bunch of bankable favorites from the recent past to get a 21st-century Hollywood makeover - replete with the now obligatory three-dimensional coating - are the Smurfs.
Created by Belgian comic-book artist Peyo in the late 1950s, Papa Smurf, Smurfette and the rest of the lovable blue creatures standing only three-apples tall enjoyed global popularity during the 1980s with an animated TV series by Hanna-Barbera and a range of collectible plastic figurines. Now they're back for a 2011 audience in what is rumored to be the first in a trilogy of live-action/computer-generated movies.
The film begins in the Smurfs' village hidden deep in the forest of a magical kingdom resembling a beautiful mountainous area of Europe, but certainly not Peyo's low-lying Belgium. Living a peaceful life in their mushroom homes we get introduced to the various Smurf characters one by one as Clumsy Smurf (voiced by Anton Yelchin) begins the first of many calamitous set pieces and is sent hurtling through the village. On the way we get to meet Narrator Smurf, Handy Smurf, Jokey Smurf, Chef Smurf, you get the idea. We also get introduced to a song, one which the audience get to become very acquainted with - perhaps too much so - as the movie progresses. But more about that later.
The Smurf's peaceful existence is threatened when evil wizard Gargamel (played by Hank Azaria, voice of various characters from "The Simpsons") and his feline sidekick Azrael (part CGI, part real cat) discover the Smurfs' village thanks to Clumsy's clumsiness.
Worlds apart
When trapped between a mysterious vortex and Gargamel, Papa Smurf (voiced by Jonathan Winters), Clumsy, Gutsy (Alan Cumming), Grouchy (George Lopez), Brainy (Fred Armisen) and the only girl in the village, Smurfette (Katy Perry), opt for the former and find themselves transported to modern-day New York, Central Park to be exact. Once again, Clumsy's eponymous trait comes to the fore and after the ensuing mayhem the six of them find themselves in the home of Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris of "Doogie Howser, MD" fame) and his expectant wife Grace ("Glee" girl Jayma Mays).
Once the couple has gotten over - perhaps too hastily - the existence of the Smurfs, they're helping Papa Smurf and co to find a way back to their own world. With Gargamel and Azrael in hot pursuit the CGI-human interaction gets put through its paces in a variety of environments including Patrick's workplace, a toy shop and antique bookstore until the final standoff back in Central Park.
With "Home Alone 3," "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" and the live-action rehash of another Hanna-Barbera favorite, "Scooby Doo," already under his belt, director Raja Gosnell is well qualified to add "The Smurfs" to his family-friendly credentials - and take on the challenge of blending CGI trickery with real actors. To his credit, it's only in the farewell scene that the interaction between Harris and Mays and their CGO co-stars appears out of sync.
The computer-generated effects work their best magic during Clumsy's mishaps, while Azaria's bumbling real-life Gargamel provides the best laughs with a blend of slapstick, pantomime and toilet humor. As a result, Gargamel is more dastardly dummy than evil genius although he is responsible for an unwanted amount of cat cruelty, which we hope is at the cost of a CGI moggy and not the real thing.
Harris and Mays' couple aren't too sickly sweet although the fact they are awaiting the arrival of their first child provides the perfect chance for Patrick and Papa Smurf to trade some saccharine fatherly advice near the end of the film.
A similarly sentimental sub-plot involving difficulties between marketing employee Harris and his hard-shelled boss Odile (Sofia Vergara) has a predictable outcome and is, like the use of 3D here, barely required.
As with most of today's kid-centered movie fare, there is an adult-only element at play if you count a cameo by Joan Rivers, a cleverly placed taxi ad for similarly hued theater act/grown-up Smurfs the Blue Man Group and several references to how annoying the Smurf song can get after the umpteenth rendition.
The latter is something movie-goers will realize for themselves when the song is still "la-la-la-ing" it's way around their head at least 24 hours after leaving the cinema.
However, such annoyance will probably be lost on younger audiences and it's safe to say "The Smurfs" provides reliable family fun that won't leave little ones feeling blue.
Created by Belgian comic-book artist Peyo in the late 1950s, Papa Smurf, Smurfette and the rest of the lovable blue creatures standing only three-apples tall enjoyed global popularity during the 1980s with an animated TV series by Hanna-Barbera and a range of collectible plastic figurines. Now they're back for a 2011 audience in what is rumored to be the first in a trilogy of live-action/computer-generated movies.
The film begins in the Smurfs' village hidden deep in the forest of a magical kingdom resembling a beautiful mountainous area of Europe, but certainly not Peyo's low-lying Belgium. Living a peaceful life in their mushroom homes we get introduced to the various Smurf characters one by one as Clumsy Smurf (voiced by Anton Yelchin) begins the first of many calamitous set pieces and is sent hurtling through the village. On the way we get to meet Narrator Smurf, Handy Smurf, Jokey Smurf, Chef Smurf, you get the idea. We also get introduced to a song, one which the audience get to become very acquainted with - perhaps too much so - as the movie progresses. But more about that later.
The Smurf's peaceful existence is threatened when evil wizard Gargamel (played by Hank Azaria, voice of various characters from "The Simpsons") and his feline sidekick Azrael (part CGI, part real cat) discover the Smurfs' village thanks to Clumsy's clumsiness.
Worlds apart
When trapped between a mysterious vortex and Gargamel, Papa Smurf (voiced by Jonathan Winters), Clumsy, Gutsy (Alan Cumming), Grouchy (George Lopez), Brainy (Fred Armisen) and the only girl in the village, Smurfette (Katy Perry), opt for the former and find themselves transported to modern-day New York, Central Park to be exact. Once again, Clumsy's eponymous trait comes to the fore and after the ensuing mayhem the six of them find themselves in the home of Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris of "Doogie Howser, MD" fame) and his expectant wife Grace ("Glee" girl Jayma Mays).
Once the couple has gotten over - perhaps too hastily - the existence of the Smurfs, they're helping Papa Smurf and co to find a way back to their own world. With Gargamel and Azrael in hot pursuit the CGI-human interaction gets put through its paces in a variety of environments including Patrick's workplace, a toy shop and antique bookstore until the final standoff back in Central Park.
With "Home Alone 3," "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" and the live-action rehash of another Hanna-Barbera favorite, "Scooby Doo," already under his belt, director Raja Gosnell is well qualified to add "The Smurfs" to his family-friendly credentials - and take on the challenge of blending CGI trickery with real actors. To his credit, it's only in the farewell scene that the interaction between Harris and Mays and their CGO co-stars appears out of sync.
The computer-generated effects work their best magic during Clumsy's mishaps, while Azaria's bumbling real-life Gargamel provides the best laughs with a blend of slapstick, pantomime and toilet humor. As a result, Gargamel is more dastardly dummy than evil genius although he is responsible for an unwanted amount of cat cruelty, which we hope is at the cost of a CGI moggy and not the real thing.
Harris and Mays' couple aren't too sickly sweet although the fact they are awaiting the arrival of their first child provides the perfect chance for Patrick and Papa Smurf to trade some saccharine fatherly advice near the end of the film.
A similarly sentimental sub-plot involving difficulties between marketing employee Harris and his hard-shelled boss Odile (Sofia Vergara) has a predictable outcome and is, like the use of 3D here, barely required.
As with most of today's kid-centered movie fare, there is an adult-only element at play if you count a cameo by Joan Rivers, a cleverly placed taxi ad for similarly hued theater act/grown-up Smurfs the Blue Man Group and several references to how annoying the Smurf song can get after the umpteenth rendition.
The latter is something movie-goers will realize for themselves when the song is still "la-la-la-ing" it's way around their head at least 24 hours after leaving the cinema.
However, such annoyance will probably be lost on younger audiences and it's safe to say "The Smurfs" provides reliable family fun that won't leave little ones feeling blue.
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