Smurfs: The Lost Village

Oh, smurf me. It's time once again, to take a look at the little blue creatures that somehow kids like. And yes, I am an adult who likes movies, and I taking this seriously. So, after two failed live action interpretations of the comic-inspired Smurfs, we get an animated movie featuring the little blue guys, plus one girl. Titled “Smurfs: The Lost Village”, this animated adaptation is... good. For the most part. Yes, there are some major problems, mostly with the story, but the average consensus is that the film is okay. While “Smurfs: The Lost Village” may be an improvement over the last couple of films, this is still perfect eye candy for kids to hopefully enjoy.

The story is set in a fantasy world where small blue creatures called Smurfs inhabit a section of land. There are over 100 Smurfs, most of them are male, and only one female: Smurfette (Demi Lovato). She was created by the wizard Gargamel (Rainn Wilson) in order to capture the Smurfs. But Papa Smurf (Mandy Patinkin) uses a spell to make her become good. Now, Smurfette wonders what her purpose in society is, and she is unsure. This all changes when she and a group of her friends find the wall leading to the Forbidden Forest. And now, Smurfette is going to discover something major in her life because of this.

Let's start off with the bad before we get into the good. Some of the characters are only there just to get some name recognition, and, more promptly, to be included with merchandising. Next off, the music by Christopher Lennertz is all right; nothing really stands out, and the songs that are there just feel like they are meant to be there. But the biggest issue is with the story. The lesson, while good, is easy to predict, and one could easily see where the movie is heading. There's no major plot twist, nor is there any suspenseful moments. It's just bland. On top of this, there's not a lot of jokes , which could have easily improved the quality of the movie, as I only encountered a few chuckles along the way. To top all of this off, all of this could have gotten better direction from Kelly Asbury; which isn't bad, but just could have gotten a better sense of where everything was going.

For the stuff that's good, I will say this, the story does have a flowing narrative, which I'll give it some credit. This, in turn, gives the movie a nice pace to it. The editing is all right, and it does provide the viewer with enough action to keep them focused, especially if that viewer is a little child. The characters do stick to their defined personalities, which keeps the tone of the Smurfs in check. But what really steals the show is the animation.

The creative team behind this movie really did a wonderful job at creating a fantastic world that is loosely based on the cartoon interpretation of the Smurfs from the 1980s. Plus, there are some visual treats that would even work well in 3D. Bottom line: the animators did a nice job at transforming the world of the Smurfs in a 3D environment.

So, how does “Smurfs: The Lost Village” hold up? It's not bad, but it's not good either. The film is somewhere in the middle. And maybe, it's for the smurfing best.