for action, language and some rude humor
When Papa Smurf is taken by evil wizards Razamel and Gargamel, Smurfette leads the Smurfs on a mission to the real world to save him. (from IMDb)
The Smurfs feel like they've been around forever at this point, and many of us have grown up with the little blue fellas being part of our childhood in some capacity. When I was a kid, it was the cartoon show, and then in recent years, Sony released their live action, CG animated hybrid films. But at some point (around 2022 apparently), Paramount Pictures got their fingers on the franchise and we've received a brand new animated, - with an odd mix of occasional live action - music-heavy feature film, simply titled Smurfs.
With the production leading with Rihanna as the big draw voicing Smurfette, it doesn't sound too promising. It's not that Rihanna doesn't have star power, but I'm pretty sure most Smurfs fans aren't going to hear about a Smurfs movie boasting Rihanna as the sole name attached to it and immediately feel the need to check it out. There's so many things that are strange and don't make a lot of sense about this production. The film feels like a broad collection of ideas that are all put together just for the heck of it. And, sadly, they don't work collectively. Some movies are zany and full of some really neat ideas, and it works. This movie is the perfect example of when it doesn't.
For example, in this film, the Smurfs meet these new creatures called Snooterpoots. They kind of look like what you'd get if you took just the hair from those little Trolls dolls and gave it snaggle-toothed faces. They're not very unique in appearance, and they feel really random for this world. The film also, once again, drags the Smurfs into the live action real world. It's only part of the story, but it feels so overdone and tired at this point. I loved the idea of getting a Smurf village / Smurf world kind of story, but it doesn't stay there for very long. And when we get a glimpse of the village later in the movie, there's an exhale of relief to see it again. Sadly, it doesn't last. Furthermore, there's a gag about the multi-verse, which they use to take the characters through several different visual art styles. It's a little neat, but it feels like it's been done many times before - and done better. There is also an inexplicable mix of cartoon humans and then real world humans. At one point, in the real world, the Smurfs go to visit humans and those end up being animated. It's a head-scratching moment that just makes the movie feel even more disjointed and frenetic - in a bad way - than it already is.
Then there's the music. Rihanna's songs are fine, but if they're not your cup of tea stylistically, you'll not be too interested in it. The movie forces song interludes that feel like mini music videos, and it all just feels like it's trying too hard to make the Smurfs cool and relevant for a new generation. Again, other productions seem to be able to do this well, but Smurfs does not. And when the movie closes with a musical dance number that mixes Hindi into the lyrics, it's just... weird. Where on earth did that come from?
But "inclusion" feels like the unofficial goal of the film. The main character is No Name Smurf. It's a cute idea - since all Smurfs have a "thing," be it Handy, Vanity, Brainy, etc - but it's kind of a joke that wears thin pretty quickly. It's about figuring out who you are and what your place is in life. Again, it's a tired theme, which can often be done well regardless, but it feels "blah" here. Also, Smurfette is supposed to be the only female Smurf, but some actresses voice some of the male Smurfs to support their individual themes. So having Maya Erskine voice Vanity Smurf feels particularly iffy and suggestive of what that might mean. Sandra Oh voices Moxie Smurf and Billie Lourd voices Worry Smurf. Maybe if it's made more clear that these are also female Smurfs, it'd be fine, but it makes you wonder a bit. However, it makes you wonder a little bit less when you realize Razamel and Gargamel are both voiced by JP Karliak, and their assistant Joel, who's very effeminate, is voiced by Dan Levy. It starts to feel like this version of Smurfs has an agenda.
So is there anything good about Smurfs at all? I guess I've seen worse. I do love the animation style here, for the most part. It goes for a 2D, hand-drawn feel, but it's clearly computer animation. It strikes a nice balance between the classic Smurfs look with a slightly modern update. And I also really enjoyed seeing the Smurf village and a couple of the gags with the different kinds of Smurfs (Sound Effects Smurf may be my new favorite). It gets kind of weird when we meet a brother for Papa Smurf and then the 'greatest Smurf of all-time,' Ron, who's voiced by Kurt Russell, but it's fun to hear some of these characters voiced by legends like Russell, John Goodman (Papa) and Nick Offerman (Ken).
The content for Smurfs is mild, but I see why they gave it a PG rating. A turtle character says "What the shell?" not once, but twice. And at one point, the name "Bad *ss Smurf" is suggested and the "*ss" is bleeped out. Another bleep is used seconds later, causing No Name to defensively say "Hey! I said 'Smurf!'" instead of the much worse word the bleep suggested. There are a few uses of "Smurf" as a cuss substitute, but that's pretty on-par for The Smurfs. Finally, there's some action violence, but it's relatively mild, leaving just the magical elements of the plot as something that might concern some parents. I knew some kids growing up who weren't allowed to watch The Smurfs cartoon show because of the magic spells and such, so if that's a problem for anyone, this movie definitely treads similar ground. The plot involves four magical books that Razamel has been spending decades trying to track down and unite, and there is plenty of spell-casting throughout the film. One of the Smurfs also finds that they have the ability to use magic, too.
2025's Smurfs is a mess. Diehard fans of the little blue characters may be more forgiving, but for the most part, this latest feature film feels like a collection of mediocre - or bad - ideas that do not coalesce well as a movie. Fans of Rihanna and her music might want to check it out, but everyone else should just let this one pass them by.
- John DiBiase (reviewed: 10/25/25)
Smurfs is available on Blu-Ray and DVD, but it does not appear to be available in 4K. However, the digital copy - which lets you choose between Apple or Fandango - appears to be in 4K UHD.
Featurettes - Play All (22:16)
Music Videos - Play All (6:30)
Lyric Videos - Play All
Sex/Nudity: Ken say "we'll always have Paris" to Mama Poot and the others go "Ooooo!" and make kissing sounds; In a flashback, Ken punches Razamel so hard her goes flying through the air and all of his clothes fly off in the distance. You can barely make out his bare butt during this.
Vulgarity/Language: 7 "Smurf" as a cuss substitute; 2 bleeped "Kick *ss Smurf"; 2 "What the shell?" (from a turtle); No Name says something and it's bleeped out where it sounds like it could be a coarse profanity. He then defensively says, "Hey! I said 'Smurf!'"
Alcohol/Drugs: In a real world, live action dance club, we see a bar top lined with drinks. We then see a tray of drinks and The Smurfs end up on it; They then enter a hidden world inside the club's disco ball and it's basically a mini lounge inside; Joel pours Clamato into a martini glass.
Blood/Gore: The characters chase each other through a kind of multiverse. In a clay world, they rip off Razamel's hands and throw them into his face (and they just stick there, because it's clay). A Smurf literally jumps into and thru him, sticking out of his back. Razamel rips off his own clay leg and hits a Smurf in the face with it. Then all of them roll into a blob of clay.
Violence: Hefty punches a tree and two squirrels fall out of it to the ground; Clumsy trips over a bunch of stuff; No Name hits a piano with a burst of magic and it breaks; No Name high-fives Smurfette and she goes flying off screen; A gramophone sucks up the Smurfs and a turtle; The Smurfs run away from traffic, and dogs, in terror. Then they narrowly miss getting clobbered by a street sweeper; We see live action people dancing in a club with the Smurfs and turtle avoiding shoes and getting hurt in the process; They fall through a portal and crash into the ground in a desert; No Name is pulled into the desert sand. The others try to help him and are pulled in after him. It turns out to be the gateway to a hidden world; A flash of lightning magic fries a rock that is home to a village; The Smurfs gang crash land after Mama recklessly drives a car. It falls to pieces when it wrecks; Joel tries to hit the cat with a staff but he accidentally destroys an urn and inhales the ashes. Then he struggles with the cat in the background; Joel puts his hand on a slab and it's crushed under a big fist, testing it before they use it on the Smurfs; The fist crushes Joel's hand again after Razamel threatens all of the Smurfs with it; Gargamel, his cat and the Smurfs crash land after flying through the air on the cat. They crash through various objects as they fall and then crash land in a grass field; We see a flashback with an Avengers-level fight where Ron uses a shield and gauntlet and fights against Razamel who is blasting magic at them and using magic to bring to life two big stone statues; Ken punches Razamel so hard her goes flying through the air and all of his clothes fly off in the distance; A portal pulls a character into it, presumably killing them; Razamel beams three bad guys into a water cooler jug. A car crashes into the room and the four walls of it just float away. Razamel beams a bunch of the Smurfs into a book. He then beams Gargamel into the jug. Then Razamel hits more Smurfs with a book and sucks one of them into the book (dramatically); Smurfette hits Razamel in the nose and No Name bites him in the hand; The characters chase each other through a kind of multiverse. In a clay world, they rip off Razamel's hands and throw them into his face (and they just stick there, because it's clay). A Smurf literally jumps into and thru him, sticking out of his back. Razamel rips off his own clay leg and hits a Smurf in the face with it. Then all of them roll into a blob of clay;
We see an anime world that looks like a video game fighting match. Two characters, surrounded by lava, run at each other to fight; Razamel shoots No Name with magic. No Name punches Razamel who spits out playing cards. They then have a magic fight.
Disclaimer: All reviews are based solely on the opinions of the reviewer. Most reviews are rated on how the reviewer enjoyed the film overall, not exclusively on content. However, if the content really affects the reviewer's opinion and experience of the film, it will definitely affect the reviewer's overall rating.
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