Y’see, in this movie, Papa Smurf (Jonathan Winters) and several of his little blue children find themselves lost in Manhattan after being sucked through a vortex while being chase by their nemesis, the evil wizard, Gargamel (Hank Azaria), and his conniving kitty, Azrael. Desperate to get back to their Smurfalicious world, they seek the assistance of a cosmetics industry marketing executive (Neil Patrick Harris) and his pregnant wife (Jayma Mays, who’s apparently on Glee). His effort to please his ruthless boss (Sofia Vergara) by creating a brilliant ad campaign becomes central to the plot. And I’m not really sure why. Weird, but whatever.
Other than that odd choice, filmmakers definitely adhered to the original formula. The little blue creatures, each named after their defining traits (Brainy, Grouchy… Happy, Sneezy, Doc?), have good intentions, but of course, wind up wreaking havoc. And, yes, they sing that hideous song. I’ll be honest -- the whole Smurf thing didn’t really work for me the first time around in the 80s, so I pretty much assumed that this would not exactly be my cup of tea. And I was right.
But, let’s talk about what worked: Hank Azaria’s portrayal of Gargamel, for one. I mean, is there any wacky character or voice this guy can’t handle? (I’m psyched to see his new comedy series, Free Agents, on NBC this fall, by the way.) The script didn’t give him as many funny lines as I’d like, but “Son of a Smurf!” was a pretty good one. As was “Smurf me!” uttered by a frustrated Neil Patrick Harris, who was pretty adorable (and obviously a good sport) in this role. And might I compliment Katy Perry on her portrayal of Smurfette? The girl was born to do cartoon voiceovers.
All in all, it’s pretty faithful to the original TV series, so if it floated your boat back then – or if you’re under the age of 7 – you’ll probably have a Smurftastic time. Otherwise, this is one of those “take one for the team” experiences for mom and dad.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment