If you’ve seen the marketing for the latest Smurfs film – which is serving as a soft reboot of the series, disregarding the live-action features from 2011 and 2013, and the animated retooled “sequel” from 2017 – you would notice that they’ve been very much banking on the voice casting of Rihanna as Smurfette. There’s nothing wrong with centering your marketing around such a high-profile star, and no doubt there’ll be those curious to see just how much new music this animated outing can squeeze out of her, but the Rihanna fans clamoring for such music from the popstar and the intended audience for such a nonsensical adventure as Smurfs are two very different demographics. And as much as her voice work is fine, her musical outputs here don’t prove remotely inspirational, nor does the movie surrounding interludes that feels like it’s only a musical when it suits the two characters voiced by talent that can actually sing.
That other talent is James Corden, who is less beloved, but can admittedly hold a tune, and alongside Rihanna’s Smurfette he’s the other lead focus of Chris Miller‘s family(?) flick, where his No Name Smurf is having an identity crisis. Everyone else has a devoted name – Brainy Smurf (Xolo Maridueña), Vanity Smurf (Maya Erskine), Worry Smurf (Billie Lourd), Hefty Smurf (Alex Winter), etc – except he, and though Smurfette and Papa Smurf (John Goodman) prop him up with the expected confidence and assure him that his own identifier will come, he’s less convinced; cue “woe is me” like ballad.
Because this is a 90 minute kids film, Pam Brady‘s script – the writer very much toning down her adult-skewed humour, having co-written South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Team America: World Police and solely penned Hot Rod – doesn’t waste too much time in finding No Name Smurf’s personality hook. It’s magic, and as excited as he is with his new found ability, it comes with something of a price, as this magic reveals the Smurfs’ village, allowing the dastardly wizard Gargamel and his brother Razamel (both voiced by JP Karliak) to kidnap poor Papa Smurf.
This sets up the adventure portion of the story, with Smurfette stepping up as the leader (mainly because she’s, again, voiced by Rihanna) and taking a variety of the Smurfs on a mission that sends them into the real world on their way to find Papa Smurf’s brother, Ken (Nick Offerman), and restore peace to their village. It’s a pretty standard narrative, solely designed to give an astronomically talented cast just enough wordplay to justify their fees; Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Dan Levy, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll and Hannah Waddingham just some of the names that pop up in this mess of a movie that can’t decide what personality it wants to settle on.
Opening with a cast dance number, with solo tunes from Rihanna and Corden following not long after, Smurfs initially appears as if it’ll follow in the footsteps of the Trolls films, which managed to blend rather witty comedy, musical moments and a forward-projecting narrative with something of ease. It isn’t remotely original, but at least it’s taking on a formula that has won thrice before. Unfortunately, Smurfs seems to forget it suggested a musical mentality, and it becomes an adventure-type outing that fails to deliver any excitable thrills or visuals to keep its intended audience locked in. And then there’s the humour that failed to land with the crowded cinema of children that were in attendance at this review screening, with the only joke that earned a reaction being more aimed at adults; Sound Effects Smurf (Spencer X) providing this sole laugh as he bleeps out a presumed swear. I admittedly chuckled, but when this comes in the last 5 minutes of the movie, something so simple and so late in the game hardly inspires confidence.
Honestly, Smurfs is a bizarre excuse of a film. The rendering of the Smurfs themselves is quite visually pleasing, and the voice cast all deliver acceptable turns, it’s just they aren’t working with material of worth. The hype surrounding Rihanna and her musical contributions won’t translate – those curious will simply stream her tunes – and the fact that it couldn’t elicit laughter from such a young crowd speaks volumes as to how unfunny it is across the board. Genuinely unsure who this is made for, as this kids film enthusiast, the actual kids in the cinema, and the parents attending in tow all sat in mostly silent confusion trying to figure out such.
ONE STAR (OUT OF FIVE)
Smurfs is now screening in Australian theatres. It will release in the United States on July 18th, 2025.
