I’ve already written something up on “The Smurfs” before, when the film as at a whopping 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, but here’s the official rundown on the movie now that it’s had a few days to play to the audiences.
“The Smurfs,” a live-action adaptation of the Dutch cartoon with characters created by the Belgian cartoonist Peyo, currently has a 20% rating while audiences have been much kinder, giving it a 65% rating. The critics were merciless with this movie, and I guess as far as some “Smurfs” fans and cartoon fans in general feel, the movie didn’t warrant any mercy to be given.
“Gosnell directs as if every scene must be either a nauseating roller-coaster ride or a syrupy melodrama.”–Nick Schager, The Village Voice
“…[I]t’s hard to imagine any way a clear-thinking person would give a bunch of charmless color-challenged Ziggy clones their own 3-D movie.”–Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
“It’s raw and mean-spirited, with too many of the Smurf word substitutions more naughty than nice (“Who Smurfed?” or “Where the Smurf are we?”). That’s Smurfed up.”–Nell Minow, Chicago Sun-Times
The reviews keep going along this path. Basically, the movie is not one that critics were going to like in the beginning, so the consensus is that if you want to kill some time with your kids (and if you actually like the Smurfs), this film could be an option. What do you think, though? Leave your opinions in the comments section below.
