The Smurfs

Cast: Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria, Jayma Mays, Sofia Vargera, Alan Cumming, Katy Perry, George Lopez and Paul Reubens.

Director: Raja Gosnell

Release Date: 2011

Running Time: 1hr 39 minutes

Genre: Family

Rating: U

Format: Netflix UK

Synopsis:

The evil wizard Gargamel is at it again, this time chasing them out of their little village, forcing them to tumble into the magical world of New York City.

Based on the ever so popular cartoon series of the same name. Director Raja Gosnell finally brings the cartoon to life in this fantastic family film. The smurfs are preparing for the blue moon festival, when Clumsy accidentally lets evil wizard Gargamel into their village, forcing them through a portal that takes them to New York City. Their only way home is to wait for another blue moon. The mischief and mayhem that soon tumbles around them is hilariously funny. The smurfs do what most people would do if they went to New York, they go sightseeing. On their travels they meet Patrick Winslow who works for a big make up company Anjelou.

Winslow is performed excellently by Neil Patrick Harris. Patrick and his wife Grace (Mays) are expecting a little bundle of joy themselves. Winslow must meet deadlines on a new design for Anjelou before it's too late. Of course "The Smurfs" wouldn't be complete without the evil wizard Gargamel played beautifully by Hank Azaria. Azaria really captures the characteristics of the cartoon character. Evil, fantastically hilarious and absolutely ridiculous. The smurfs are fabulous. Performed perfectly by Katy Perry, Paul Reubens, George Lopez, Fred Armisen and Anton Yelchin. Katy Perry came as quite a surprise as Smurfette. Perry's proved that she is just as capable at performing excellent voice work as much as she is at singing. Smurfette is wonderfully entertaining. Clumsy is a firm favourite though.

Sofia Vargara is highly entertaining as Patrick's boss Odile Anjelou. Posh and snotty, she's every employee's worst nightmare. Although her character is excellent, it does pull the story away from it's original magical storyline a little bit. Anjelou and Gargamel end up becoming acquaintances. It's ever so slightly irritating. It was quite shocking to know that it took four writers to come up with the storyline. It is however a nice modern take on the original cartoon series created by Payo. The smurfs look magnificent. The animation is stunning. Although modern, beautifully designed to look like their original characters. The storyline is magnificently entertaining and fun.

The cinematography is superb alongside the stunning animation. Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays worked fantastically considering they were only given dots to represent where the Smurfs would appear on screen. Their reactions are really genuine and convincing. The dialogue between each Smurf is very funny, especially when they put smurf in front of everything they see. Smurftastic. I kissed a Smurf and I liked it. Oh smurf. The humour is terrific. The score is really good, it works very nicely with the storyline and the characters. It's heartwarming and fun. It really speaks volumes as a family film.

Brilliantly entertaining, perfect for all ages.

4/5 stars