Smurfs: The Lost Village
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 "They were never alone"
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Smurfs: The Lost Village (originally titled Get Smurfy) is a 2017 American 3D computer-animated fantasy-comedy film based on The Smurfs comic book series by Peyo, produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation and The Kerner Entertainment Company, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, and was directed by Kelly Asbury. It stars the cast of Demi Lovato, Rainn Wilson, Joe Manganiello, Jack McBrayer, Danny Pudi, Michelle Rodriguez, Ellie Kemper, Ariel Winter, Meghan Trainor, Mandy Patinkin, and Julia Roberts. The film was released on April 7, 2017, by Columbia Pictures.
A reboot series named after the comic and 1981 television series of the same name, was recently released in the fall of 2021, using the same animation from this movie.
Plot
Smurfette (Demi Lovato) wants to became the new leader of the Smurfs, so she and her best friends Brainy (Danny Pudi), Clumsy (Jack McBrayer) and Hefty (Joe Manganiello) use a special map that guides them through the Forbidden Forest, an enchanted wonderland that's filled with magical creatures. Their adventure leads them on a course to discover the biggest secret in Smurf history as they race against time and the evil wizard Gargamel (Rainn Wilson) to find a mysterious village.
Good Qualities
- Unlike the infamous theatrical live-action/CGI films, it does a very good job at staying true to its source material.
- The CGI-animation looks like it's in a Pixar film and has aged extremely well with very cartoony, zany movements.
- Several funny moments, such as Azrael being a boxer.
- During the screen test, the compete between the 2011 Vanity and the real Vanity is totally funny.
- Smurfette's origin story was decent, and her death was very emotional.
- Gargamel's pet vulture, Monty, made his animation debut.
- The designs closely follow the artwork by the Smurfs' creator, Peyo.
- Great soundtrack by Christopher Lennertz.
- The opening with Smurfette doing the Columbia Pictures logo is rather cute and charming.
- Good voice acting, with major highlights being Demi Lovato, Danny Pudi and Jack McBrayer.
- Smurfette's theme songs, are The Truest Smurf of All and I'm a Lady, are head-bobbing.
- The ending was pure heartwarming, where Smurfette's powerful roar at the same time of T.rex's sounds.
- It doesn't feature the series' obnoxious theme song aside from one small instance at the very beginning.
- Smurf Willow, Papa Smurf's former arch-rival and currently his future wife, and several female Smurfs are the series' new characters, that are introduced in this film.
- Gargamel still steals the show.
- It's more Smurfy than both live-action/animated hybrid films in the franchise.
- Smurfette is the most likable character in the entire film, and possibly from The Smurfs 2. On top of that, she eventually became the true main protagonist of the entire franchise.
- Similar to Shrek 2, Kelly Asbury did a good job for directing this movie and it provided that it is going to be wonder.
- The dialogue is very good; for example; "Sometimes I just feel blue."
- The concept of other girl smurfs is very interesting idea, though barely explained.
Bad Qualities
- Gargamel's voice, Rainn Wilson, while he does a decent job, didn't bother using Paul Winchell's interpretation of the character.
- Even Hank Azaria gave a waaaaaaay better performance than Rainn Wilson.
- Somewhat poor grasp of the source material, despite being more faithful, like during her origin story, Smurfette was transformed into a real Smurf by Papa Smurf, by just using... his all powerful magic hands.
- The story is rather generic and a bit predictable as it builds up to the overdone 'overprotective father' cliché and barely explains where the Smurfettes came from, although it was a good idea on paper to come up with other girl smurfs.
- The story's pacing also tends to unnecessarily move faster, which can sometimes make it hard to follow.
- Even though the humor is decent, some jokes can be childish or unfunny, including some gross-out humor.
- Modern teen slang used in the film, such as Hefty referring to some of his fellow Smurfs as "bro".
- Smurfblossom can be very annoying.
- Papa Smurf, while rather likable at best, can be way too overprotective to be likable.
- The infamous song "Blue" (by Eiffel 65) is played during the montage scene with the four Smurfs interacting with the Smurfettes, which is a little too on the nose.
- Just like The Smurfs 2, and most other Sony Pictures Animation movies, it relies on use of pop-culture songs.
- Somewhat misleading title: Despite The Lost Village being subtitled, it doesn't get the main focus in the movie.
Reception
Smurfs: The Lost Village received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 40% based on 97 reviews with an average rating of 4.80/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Smurfs: The Lost Village may satisfy very young viewers and hardcore Smurfaholics, but its predictable story and bland animation continue the franchise's recent mediocre streak.". On Metacritic, the film has a score 40 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
On the other hand, the reception from fans and audiences has become favourable in the recent years.
It ends up being the last Smurfs film from Sony Pictures, as the film rights were gave it to Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies (who originally going to made it, before Sony Pictures acquired), with the first project is animated musical film, which is scheduled to be released on December 20, 2024.
Awards and nominations
Despite mixed reviews, Smurfs: The Lost Village was nominated at the Kids' Choice Award 2018 for Favorite Animated Movie, but lost to Coco.
Reviews
Trivia
- Baker Smurf was voiced by the celebrity chef: Gordon Ramsay.
- This is the first Sony Pictures Animation Movie to have a reboot.
- Demi Lovato, voice actress of Smurfette was previously Sonny Munroe in the Disney Channel original series Sonny With A Chance.