Going into The Smurfs two years ago, I had some level of nostalgia for the cartoon from my youth. Going into the second one, I had nothing but a hope that Neil Patrick Harris and Hank Azaria could possibly be entertaining enough to keep my interest. I think the only thing that could have saved the movie would be if $100 bills shot out of the screen and into my pockets. The plot has the Smurfs and their human friends going to Paris to try and rescue Smurfette from Gargamel, (Azaria) who has become a famous magician. Sigh.
After a short time in the Smurf village, it’s clear that the Smurfs are now basically a large population of blue versions of the seven dwarfs. We have Grumpy, Grouchy, Jokey and countless others. But so many are thrown at the audience in succession, there’s no point even mentioning them. Tell me why it was necessary to pay Shaq to play Smooth Smurf and Shawn White to play Clueless Smurf? Just hire some random guy off the street to say the one line the character has. It will save you some money. As for the human cast, Brandon Gleeson, who plays Harris’ character’s step-dad, provides a bit of fresh humor to the story. But other than him, the human cast provides very little. Having a funny guy like Harris playing the straight-laced stick in the mud is odd and I can’t help but think the writers really missed an opportunity with Harris for both films.
The plot is incredibly basic. In a summer where there is no shortage of animated fare, it seems The Smurfs 2 is either intended for younger children or just has less faith in their ability to digest a layered story. There actually was one moment where I laughed out loud. When it happened, I realized that the theater was noticeably void of laughter for most of the film. If kids aren’t laughing, then obviously something is lacking. My suggestion, next time make a better movie.
Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.
No comments:
Post a Comment