The Smurfs 2 (2013)
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The Smurfs 2 Movie Review
The Smurfs 2 is a 2013 live-action/animated family film directed by Raja Gosnell and starring Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria and Brendan Gleeson. It’s another mediocrity.
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“Every time a smurf toots,
someone smiles“
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It’s no secret that the first ‘Smurfs’ movie was a giant mediocrity and this one continues on that dark path of low quality for this brand, but I have to say that it’s in no way inferior and maybe it’s even a bit better when all is said and done so it somewhat exceeded my admittedly terrible expectations.
Smurfette is kidnapped and the blue guys have to save her from Gargamel who wants to extract a formula from her. That big storyline was too simplistic and cartoony, and ultimately it needed more substance to it.
As for the second subplot involving Patrick Winslow, it’s admittedly okay, though it really started on an annoyingly bad note. Just as it was the case in the first movie, Patrick is the heart of this film which is a problem as the Smurfs should be the stars, but it’s also good for the fact that it at least provided us with some somewhat interesting adult drama.
Neil Patrick Harris is once again stupendous and it’s odd how he tried so hard and delivered a strong performance in both of these mediocrities. I really liked his relationship with his father so well played by Brendan Gleeson who’s very likable here, but admittedly some of their scenes, especially the duck ones, were very annoying.
The Smurfs 2 again makes the Smurfs really mediocre and they constantly talk about “smurfing” and that ridiculous “humor” abounds once again. The same goes for its horrible toilet humor which really got on my nerves quickly. Gargamel, though, was pretty good and Vexy was interesting. There was a potential for some very interesting familial drama to be had here, but it was all wasted on dull, cartoony slapstick and bad humor unfortunately.
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I liked how the film looked, but again I am in favor of more animation and less live-action stuff and the animation here is brought the minimum which was unfortunate. The dialogue is also terrible and the action is so bad. It’s another mediocre, but not terrible Sony family movie.
The Smurfs 2 is pretty much on par and maybe even a bit better than its predecessor because it does have a couple of emotional and/or interesting plot points, but most of its solid potential was once again directed instead toward horrible, repetitive, toilet humor and forgettable action whereas its titular characters were again underdeveloped.
