"forget the films of the past, this is a film that in my opinion honours the memory of Peyo"
Adapting the beloved little blue creatures the Smurfs to the big screen has been lacklustre to say the least, Sony Pictures have had two previous attempts at it with the Neil Patrick Harris starring live-action/ CGI hybrids in 2011 and 2013, both films I will say weren’t all that bad, they weren’t great, but weren’t bad and Neil Patrick Harris wasn’t the problem, he's a delight, an absolute treasure.
Fast forward to 2017, and we have a fresh new take on the Smurfs with Smurfs: The Lost Village from Shrek 2 and Gnomeo & Juliet filmmaker Kelly Asbury, and I have to say bravo, this is a film that in my opinion honours the memory of Peyo.
Unlike its predecessors, Smurfs: The Lost Village is completely CGI, blending the look of the Smurfs from the original source material and updating them to the 21st Century, much in the way that Blue Sky brought Charlie Brown to the big screen.
The plot follows a small team of Smurfs; Smurfette (Demi Lovato), Brainy (Danny Pudi), Clumsy (Jack McBrayer) and Hefty (Joe Manganiello) as they embark on a journey to find a lost village which has become the target of Gargamel’s (Rainn Wilson) latest scheme, fairly paint by numbers plot wise but executed well, I’m not going to say anymore about the plot as I don’t want to spoil it.
The voice cast of Lovato, Pudi, McBrayer, Manganiello, Wilson with Mandy Patinkin as Papa Smurf and Jake Johnson as Grouchy are just magnificent, completely on point, they fit the roles well, there are a few surprises that I won’t spoil here, as to do so would give the game away.
Keeping the film in the fantastical world of the Smurfs, was a genius move; in doing so they can have fun with the environment and play by their own rules. In closing, Smurfs: The Lost Village is a vibrant and fun update to a beloved classic, and with the quality of this film, it bodes well for the franchise.
No Comment