"a fun and vibrant family film, that kids will enjoy"

The fourth modern adaptation of the beloved Peyo characters, Smurfs has been released and whilst there are some fun things for the family, it isn’t the best adaptation of the blue creatures we have seen on screen, that’s still Smurfs: The Lost Village in my opinion.

So we pick up in Smurf Village where the Smurfs are their usual selves, frolicking at a dance party and doing a role call of the Smurfs, but when it gets to the last Smurf in the call, we discover that he has No Name because he hasn’t found his thing.

He makes a wish and apparently becomes the first Smurf to have magic, opening a portal where Papa Smurf (John Goodman) is captured by Razamel (JP Karliak) and the Smurfs led by Smurfette (Rihanna) and No Name (James Corden), venture out to find Ken (Papa Smurf’s brother and voiced by Nick Offerman) to embark on a rescue mission to save Papa Smurf. Along the way, they meet Mama Poot (Natasha Lyonne) and at one point venture into the real world, which felt unnecessary to me, but the exploring of different art styles I thought was clever and very creative.

The voice cast is what you come into this film for, they are all brilliant and I was surprised that Corden can sing as well as he does, and Rihanna is just pitch perfect as Smurfette. John Goodman is a great Papa Smurf and the addition of Nick Offerman as Ken and Kurt Russell as Ron is delightful as well as Billie Lourd as Worry Smurf and Xolo Maridueña as Brainy Smurf.

So the voice cast is stacked, and even includes Octavia Spencer as Asmodius, Hannah Waddingham as Jezebeth, Amy Sedaris as Jaunty and the always delightful Natasha Lyonne as Mama Poot. Some have more to do than others, but on paper, the cast list is great.

The music from Henry Jackman is on point, as is the new music from Rihanna.

All in all, Smurfs is a fun and vibrant family film, that kids will enjoy. It doesn’t  expect you to have any pre conceptions of the Smurfs, but at this point with countless adventures spanning decades, who doesn’t know what a Smurf is?