DCfnaf Movie Reviews: Smurfs: The Lost Village

DCfnaf WARNING: Some viewers may disagree with this review. If you do, PLEASE respect my opinion and let me know NICELY why you have yours. Thank you.

My mother used to collect Smurf figurines as a kid. She always looked forward to the cartoon that would air every weekend. Nowadays, her interest (unsurprisingly) faded away. She grew up and all, but I figured that I'd let her come to see Smurfs: The Lost Village with me because of her former interest. She accepted the offer and we both saw the movie over the Spring Break.

Smurfs: The Lost Village, is the latest Smurf movie to be released for the general public. Instead of taking the live-action route, they chose to (thankfully) return to the series' roots of being a cute little animation. While the movie itself is nothing original or groundbreaking, the choice of returning to animation helps the series look slightly less nightmarish for young children.

Plot Synopsis/Characters

This Smurfs movie focuses on Smurfette, the artificial smurf who everyone believes has no identity, and a few of her friends who venture through the Forbidden Forest to warn what could be a secret civilization of smurfs about the evil wizard, Gargamel, who intends to kidnap them all and use their power to become the most powerful being in the universe.

I find it ironic that the one character who has a "lack of identity" is the most (and only) well-developed character in the movie. Seriously, name ten character traits about Gargamel. Can't answer that? Okay, then name ten character traits about Papa Smurf. You can't do that either? How about all of the other one-dimensional, generic, and stereotypical characters in the movie? Why not? It's not like I implied they're all bland as all hell!

I understand that each smurf has his own personality that is figured out through his name (Hefty, Brainy, Clumsy, etc.) but that's absolutely no excuse for them to be as bland as they are. What did they all learn during this journey? Who Smurfette really is? That doesn't make them any less one-dimensional to be honest. It just makes them learn that not every smurf can be a one-dimensional stereotype.

Animation

I'm truly grateful that they chose to revert back to animation. The previous two Smurfs films with CGI characters were freaking horrendous and didn't look very kid-friendly at all. Plus, mixing the Smurfs with the boring real world was a dumbfounded idea. Making these movies with animation, bland or not, gets children more invested in what's happening and they actually care for a change. It's like if someone is watching Nickelodeon and an aggravating sitcom comes on. No kid would really want to watch that as opposed to an animated cartoon. Despite that this film is animated, the animation itself is not anything particularly worth noting and looks way too simplistic. This is simply something I've come to expect from Sony because they've been shoving garbage at our faces for quite a while now.

Filler

A huge issue I had with Alice: Through the Looking Glass that returns here is that the animators seem to be reeling a slideshow of "beautiful" animations just to try and impress us. First of all, you guys are not great at animating since this is some of the blandest animation of 2017. Second of all, if there's no story or characters playing their essential parts during these scenes, your movie will not improve. Instead, it will come across as a way for you to say, "Hey! Look at what I can do! *Throws glow in the dark bunnies, brightly-colored insects, etc. to "impress" the one or two people in their theater*. We also get another annoying type of filler that is commonly practiced in movies: the 10-15 minutes between the rising action and the climax. These scenes are meant to pad up those minutes of the film they just "forgot" to use up. Once the main characters accomplish their task of warning the lost village about Gargamel, we get at least 10 minutes of filler scenes. We watch the characters get massages, spas, learn how to play archery, and do other recreational activities. We also get a forced relationship between *sigh* Papa and Mama Smurf. These scenes do not provide anything for the plot because none of the skills that the characters learn in these scenes are never mentioned or seen again. (We never see Smurfette use a bow and arrow, etc).

Meghan Trainor's "I'm A Lady"

I figured I'd sneak a mini music review into this movie review considering Meghan Trainor of all singers made a song for the movie. Personally, I think Meghan is the most over-hated pop singer ever. Sure, she can make bad songs (Dear Future Husband), but I think she is the queen of catchy songs. This song was no exception. While "No" and "Me Too" got backlash from many due to having poorly executed messages and awful beats, this was way better than both combined. It's Meghan's catchiest song yet and it worked perfectly for the movie. Since the movie focuses on Smurfette, Meghan's song gave me a basic insight on what the movie would be about. When she sings, "I don't look like them (I ain't worried bout it), I don't talk like them (I ain't worried bout it)" she is referring to the fact that Smurfette is not a real smurf and that she doesn't care if she's different at the end of the movie.

Final Thoughts/Recommendation (MSS' favorite part)

Should you go see "Smurfs: The Lost Village"? Well...sure? You're not going to be offended by it and it's definitely fine for children to watch. There's nothing scary here like Beauty and the Beast and even the live-action smurf movies. Gargamel and his pets are not scary, but more goofy due to their personalities and quirks, so your kid shouldn't get riled up from the movie's visuals. To me, on the other hand, this is just one of those "nothing" movies that Sony clearly just crapped out to sell atrocious, cheap-looking figurines of the characters. My accusation is further backed up by the fact that I saw a McDonalds commercial with Smurf characters from the movie. Definitely a great way for them to lure children into eating sugar and fat, don't ya think? Stay away from fast food restaurants kids!

Anyways, this movie is worth seeing if you are:

1. A Smurfaholic
2. A parent or sibling of a young child who likes cute movies
3. An emotional woman/girl

If you aren't one of those things, I'm not going to push you out to the theater. It's just a bland film that is entertained by shoving politically correct messages down our throats.

6 -- Alright (Smurfs: The Lost Village is slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the series should enjoy it a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled.)

🍅Rotten Tomatoes Score: 38% (4.7/10), 68% of Audiences Liked It (3.8/5)🍅

💁🏻‍♂️How I review movies/games: https://www.thetoptens.com/best-movies/48379.asp

🎥Next Movie Review🎥: The Boss Baby (Most likely and for realsies)

What's Happening Guys, this is DCfnaf! I really hope you found this review useful. If you liked this, be sure to stick around for more HQ reviews, responses, and rants. See you next time!

Comments

The boss baby trailers ruin it and I saw it it was not good but like a typical kids movie like Trolls - visitor (4/24/2017)

Exactly why I said not to bother if you're not interested. - DCfnaf (4/24/2017)

Review Fast and Furious 8 - visitor (5/8/2017)

I used to like the original Smurfs movies for some reason, but not anymore. Also, great review. I give this movie a 3/5. - visitor (4/24/2017)

Bad kids movie with potty and love humor cliches done right? - TristGamer (4/24/2017)

Jokes are kinda boring. I think there is a "rock the cage" joke and there is a kick to the groin, but honestly I don't think there was a whole heck of a lot of potty jokes. But yeah, I wouldn't call it...BAD per say, I'd call it boring.

The best part was the Meghan Trainor single. 😆 - DCfnaf (4/25/2017)

I probably won't see it in theaters. If I do want to see it, I'll just buy it on DVD. - Wereweegee (4/25/2017)

same - visitor (5/8/2017)

Great review as you always do. Although I do not find any interest in the first two live-action/animated films, this one is an improvement over those two since it sticks to just animation. - visitor (4/26/2017)

As usual, thanks, and I agree with the comment. The animation, while bland, is a plus for this movie due to it being directed towards young children. - DCfnaf (4/26/2017)

Guardians of the galaxy vol 2 is amazing! - visitor (5/1/2017)

It's my next review. - DCfnaf (5/8/2017)

Maybe do a one off an actually review Philadelphia or Batman: Mask of the Phantasm both are fantastico movies and you haven't reviewed Lion or Room yet. - visitor (5/1/2017)

Or review Seven Samurai - visitor (5/6/2017)

Yes, review Seven Samurai - visitor (5/6/2017)

And stop obbesing over Mario already - visitor (5/6/2017)

What the heck is wrong with Mario? - DCfnaf (5/6/2017)

everything - visitor (5/7/2017)

Don't obsess over everything that you like on your profile page and we've got a deal. (Yeah, telling people not to like something they like isn't going to do anything.) - DCfnaf (5/7/2017)

Our onipions are quite the clearly clashing we should just end the argument now I am only asking you to review something like City Lights or Gone with the Wind ok - visitor (5/7/2017)

Maybe you should do one older review like City Lights because, I would rather that than the Boss Baby. - visitor (5/7/2017)

That was all I ever wanted - visitor (5/7/2017)

Yeah but I am betting that you have not seen Seven Samurai or City lights. - visitor (5/6/2017)

He most likely hasn't since Seven Samurai is a Japanese movie. And no, it's not an anime movie. It was made in 1954. - visitor (5/6/2017)

Aahh y is surf the sceriest moivey ever - AlphaQ (5/7/2017)

Maybe just review one older movie for a change like The Great Dictator or Gone with the Wind - visitor (5/7/2017)

Generally I review movies that are currently in the theaters that I've recently saw. Going out of my way to find a movie that isn't in theaters that no one is really going to see at this point in time (unless they feel like doing it just for fun) just feels like a waste of time, especially since I have Guardians vol. 2 to review, a response to the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid trailer, possibly a rant, a remix, and a few lists to deal with. - DCfnaf (5/8/2017)

What is wrong with watching one older film that might own and watching and telling everyone what you think about it but still do trailers rant/reviews. - visitor (5/8/2017)

There's nothing wrong with it, it's just that they're not in theaters currently and I'm not going to put in favor of all of this other crap I have to worry about. Plus, school and testing. Sorry, I'll try to review an older movie, but only if I feel like I have the time to. 😕 - DCfnaf (5/8/2017)

Oh yeah you are 15 so you are close to seeing school end. - visitor (5/9/2017)

Review Alien Covenant instead of Diary of a Wimpy Kid the long hual - visitor (5/10/2017)

Ugh..that new Rowley (*shivers*)

UGH...THAT NEW RODRICK - TristGamer (5/9/2017)

I Did Not Like That Movie - JPK (6/17/2017)

My aunt watched the cartoons as a kid - TwilightKitsune (6/28/2017)

I really never understood the hype for the "Smurfs". I can't even remember them as classics. - Phillip873 (10/23/2017)

Great review. I’m a fan of the Smurfs comics. - Sunwhisker (1/5/2018)

It's really hard for me to trust any new film that's based on an old cartoon. Don't get me started on that Woody Woodpecker movie that's coming out str8 2 DVD. The Peanuts Movie got it right, though. - visitor (1/20/2018)

I'm a Smurfaholic, so my family tradition of the cimema is when a new smurf film is out, we had to go to see it
Well good movie through... - BorisRule (1/28/2018)

The Smurfs are a massive guilty pleasure for me. I was fine with this movie, but I hated that at the end they didn't kill Smurfette, it would have been unique and unexpected, yet they threw that moment away. - iliekpiez (10/22/2018)