‘Smurfs: The Lost Village’ review: Colorful diversion

By the way Kelly Asbury’s Smurfs: The Lost Village breezes through its story with stunts and corny jokes, it is unquestionable that the cartoon will manage to keep kids quiet with awe and fascination all throughout its running time.

Antics and colors

The only question now is whether the film, which finally frees those blue-colored elf-like creatures from sharing the screen with various celebrities, has anything more for more discerning adults forced to accompany their kids. The answer is thankfully yes, only if that adult can tolerate such an abundance of childish antics and colors.

The Lost Village opens with Papa Smurf (Mandy Patinkin) narrating how a smurf’s personality is defined by his name. Hefty (Joe Manganiello) is the strong one. Clumsy (Jack McBrayer) is the klutz. Brainy (Danny Pudi) is the know-it-all.

Smurfette (Demi Lovato) however is quite unique. A piece of lump who was transformed by villainous Gargamel (Rainn Wilson) to lure all the smurfs but was magically made good by Papa Smurf’s magic, she isn’t really defined by her name. During one of her and her friends’ reckless adventures, they uncover a clue to the existence of another tribe of smurfs. They then speed their way to discover the village to warn the smurfs living there of Gargamel’s desire to catch them and steal their magic.

Simple story

The story’s simple enough.

Laced with chases and silly antics, there really isn’t much to complain about, at least from the perspective of anyone who just wants a diversion from reality. The Lost Village looks like a bowl of Fruit Loops, with colors so pronounced, it is almost impossible not to want to give it a taste.

It is also as saccharine. The conflicts are cute. The villains are inept and often funnier than the heroes. It’s harmless entertainment, safe for everyone to watch except maybe die-hard pessimists who’d find all the sweetness a bit too overbearing and suspicious. 

Good-natured film

It’s a good-natured film with a message about self-identity, represented by Smurfette – who is perhaps the only character with the potential to amount to something more substantial. In an age where infusing revived properties with progressive ideals has become a fad, The Lost Village is mostly fluff with some level of relevance underneath all the hues and hubris. – Rappler.com

Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas’ ‘Tirad Pass.’ Since then, he’s been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema.