The new Smurfs movie is proof that sometimes a film can delight kids while driving adults to check their watches. My daughter had a blast… bright colors, bouncy music, and Smurfs tumbling across multiverses was enough to keep her grinning. On that level, mission accomplished.
For anyone over ten, though, the cracks show fast. The animation is ambitious, darting between claymation, sketchbook doodles, and anime, but it feels more like a stylistic grab bag than a coherent vision.
Critics weren’t exaggerating when they called it “lazy,” “tone-deaf,” and even “one of the worst films of the year.” The plot is wafer-thin, jokes land with the weight of a smurfberry, and the starry voice cast (yes, Rihanna, James Corden, John Goodman) mostly phones it in.
That said, buried under the chaos are occasional bursts of charm and nostalgia – moments where it remembers what made the Smurfs endearing in the first place. If you’re a parent, you’ll probably groan while your kids giggle, which isn’t the worst trade-off on family movie night. Just don’t expect magic.
Verdict: Kids: 7/10. Adults: 3/10. Averaged out, a smurf-sized 5/10.
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