Smurfs (Christian Movie Review)
Smurfs plays out as a collection of ideas pieced together from other films, offering spurts of amusement along with some unnecessarily rough edges that detract from the otherwise wholesome tale.
About the Film
In Smurf Village, everyone has their “thing.” There’s “Grumpy Smurf,” “Worry Smurf,” and “Brainy Smurf.” There are even oddballs like “Way Back There Smurf” and “Out of Focus Smurf.” Each Smurf has a defining characteristic—except for one. “No Name” is a Smurf without a clear identity. Unfortunately, his struggle is a fitting metaphor for Smurfs as a movie. In an animated entertainment landscape that includes the musical energy of Trolls, the frenetic slapstick of Minions, the dazzling visuals of Spiderverse, and the emotional depth of Inside Out, the Smurfs franchise struggles to stand out from the crowd. Smurfs plays out as a collection of ideas pieced together from other films, offering spurts of amusement along with some unnecessarily rough edges that detract from the otherwise wholesome tale.
After some abysmal trailers and marketing material, perhaps the best thing to say about Smurfs is that it’s not nearly as bad as it could have been. At times, it is a downright delightful adventure filled with everything audiences expect from an animated film—bright colors, peppy songs, and quirky characters. But the key words here are “at times.” The film takes a Frankenstein’s monster approach to the story, which cycles through a chaotic hodgepodge of ideas, none of which linger long enough to make a lasting impression. As a result, although it isn’t loud or obnoxious like a Minions movie, it is no less exhausting.
Many elements are seemingly jammed into the crowded story for the sake of a single scene or moment. The Smurfs cross paths with a family of fluffy “Snooter Poots.” Afterwards, these new companions do nothing other than stand silently in the background of later scenes. A major early plot objective is for the heroes to locate Papa Smurf’s long-lost brother Ken, who joins them as a wizened leader…who is quickly captured and offers nothing else to the tale. In some cases, the individual ideas conflict with each other. The film wavers between an individualistic message of “finding yourself” and another about the importance of “finding one’s identity within the context of a community” (see themes section below).
One advantage of the film’s piecemeal storytelling is that even though the overall movie is lackluster, some isolated moments do work. A sequence in which the Smurfs travel through different dimensions of a multiverse is amusing, as it uses a variety of animation styles, including Claymation, a retro 8-bit video game, and anime. It’s visually fun, even if the gimmick has already been used in other recent movies. The whimsical storybook aesthetic of the film is charming and makes all the “real world” scenes feel like a needless detraction from the more enjoyable animated world.
Another of the film’s weaknesses is its unwillingness to commit to a target audience. There is some legitimately funny wholesome humor. At times, the film delivers moral lessons with enough sincerity to make Dora the Explorer blush. At other times, the film aims for a sharper edge by including innuendos and mature jokes. No actual curse words are spoken, but the filmmakers seem to think that the pinnacle of humor is smuggling in as much implied profanity as possible (see content section below). As a parent of younger kids, it’s a headscratcher that the filmmakers decided that an otherwise sentimental and wholesome film needed not one…not two…but three profanity-based gags.
Ultimately, No Name Smurf may finally discover his “thing,” but Smurfs leaves the directionless franchise still searching for a winning identity. Its best moments feel like retreads of ideas other recent animated films have already explored, and its rough edges make the film more problematic than a whimsical animated movie about little blue people has any right to be. The Smurfs seem happy to hide away from the evil wizard Gargamel, and audiences might do well to let them stay hidden this summer.
For Consideration
On the Surface—(Profanity, Sexual content, violence, etc.).
Language: There are no direct profanities, but there are multiple instances of implied swearing. A turtle says “what the shell” multiple times, the word “smurf” is frequently used as a substitute for various profane words, and there is a gag in which profanities are bleeped out by Sound Effects Smurf (with “Kick A— Smurf” becoming “Kick bleep Smurf”). There are also several other rude words, including “stupid,” “hate,” and “heck.”
Violence: The villains speak about their desire to squash and kill Smurfs (although no Smurfs are ever actually killed or squashed). In a multiverse dimension in which everything is made of clay, a character has his clay arms pulled off and thrown back at him.
Sexuality: A human character is punched and sent soaring, losing all his clothing in the process (he is too distant for his naked body to be clearly visible). The Smurfs also have somewhat ambiguous genders. Only Smurfette is clearly designated as a female and the only one (other than one Smurf who wears armor) who is fully clothed. Yet many of the allegedly male characters are voiced by women, and some come across as noticeably feminine (such as Vanity Smurf, who wields a tube of lipstick in one scene). A Smurf with long, flowing hair rescues a caterpillar and says, “I love you brother…or sister,” since he is unaware of its sex (apparently caterpillars don’t show any outward sex-identifying features). The moment may be harmless on its own, but within the film’s context, it may also have a deeper meaning regarding sexual identity.
Other: There is a fair amount of spiritual and religious elements. When No Name first discovers his magical powers, Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” plays triumphantly. Later, he prays to the “magic powers up high” to help him use the power. The film’s closing song is a rendition of Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a Place on Earth.” At the same time, much of the film’s spirituality is of the pagan variety. A sentient book is named Jaunty Grimoire (“grimoire” meaning a book of spells or magic). The Evil Wizards are shown using incantations and dark magic, and No Name ultimately gains the ability to use magic as well, an ability that seems to originate from within him. The film’s opening words are “in the beginning…” echoing Genesis before establishing a quasi-creation account involving four magical, living books.
Engage The Film
Kindness, Individualism, and Community
On the surface, Smurfs offers a straightforward message that one of my 10-year-old sons summed up as “kindness overcomes evil” (or as one character says, “Kindness always wins”).
On a deeper level, the film also explores questions of identity. Developing an individual personality and finding an identity as a member of a wider community are not mutually exclusive concepts. The Bible speaks about both individual gifting and about playing a role as a member of a larger community—one body with many members (1 Corinthians 12). Smurfs attempts to explore a similar duality, but it does so with much less clarity.
In the beginning, No Name’s failure to find his identity plays out in typical Disney-esque “follow your heart” fashion. Yet, the film occasionally provides a refreshing challenge to this message of individualism. Papa Smurf encourages No Name that he already belongs and is loved, despite his uncertain personal identity. He later declares, “We are stronger together.” There’s a countercultural (and biblical) sense that the most important pursuit is not obsessing about personal identity or attaching labels to yourself but actually looking beyond yourself.
Unfortunately, despite these promising thematic seeds, Smurfs mostly reverts to its individualistic message. A pivotal song includes lyrical refrains like, “Decide who you want to be.” At the end of the film, Smurfette announces, “Who I am is up to me. I decide!” No Name ultimately does adopt a singular defining trait. Despite Papa Smurf’s admirable conviction about community, it is only No Name’s individual identity and newfound abilities that can stop the evil wizard, as all other characters are reduced to passive and helpless bystanders.
