I’m not entirely certain what to say about The Smurfs 2. As ridiculous as the original was, and as ridiculous as the latest trailer makes this one look, the fact is that this film just is not geared towards me. It’s geared towards small children and their parents – and maybe, just maybe, towards people who like to get high and go to the movies.
Everyone’s favorite little homogeneous blue dudes are back in another adventure for The Smurfs 2. The trailer gives us the basic plot and a few requisite butt jokes to get the kids giggling. The evil wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria) has created some fake Smurfs that he’s named the Naughties. The plan is to kidnap Smurfette in order to get some formula that will turn the Naughties – named Vexi and Hackus – into ‘real’ Smurfs by turning their skin blue. But Smurfette appears to be getting into the swing of things when she hangs out with the two Naughties in Paris, leading us to the age old conundrum: who wants to be good, when being bad is so much fun?
Of course there are butt jokes, Smurf jokes and Neil Patrick Harris. There’s also a CGI cat that won’t stop laughing and there is the question about how a society survives with only one female.
While The Smurfs 2 looks inane to anyone over the age of seven, there’s a high likelihood that it will entertain the younger crowd. Then again, I’ve always thought that pandering to kids with easy humor is kind of insulting. Pixar and Disney have proven time and again that a kid’s film does not have to be simplistic to be entertaining – that it can be beautiful, complex, deep. Films like The Smurfs and The Smurfs 2 tend to go for the lowest common denominator.
You can check out the trailer for The Smurfs 2 below. I recommend being seven years old, though.
The Smurfs 2 opens July 31.
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