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.
The Smurfs are back, blue as ever, and somehow even less interesting than before. The 2025 installment in this never-ending franchise feels like an overlong Saturday morning cartoon, stretched thin to fill a feature-length runtime. If you were hoping for a story that does more than string together slapstick and candy-colored set pieces, brace yourself for disappointment.
The plot, such as it is, feels hastily assembled—a generic quest that gives the characters something to do, but never once makes you care about why they’re doing it. The stakes are low, the villains are bland, and the resolution is telegraphed about fifteen minutes into the film. Even kids might check their watches.
Humor, always a tricky thing in these “for the whole family” affairs, mostly falls flat. There’s a steady stream of puns, pratfalls, and winks at the adults in the audience, but the jokes rarely land. The writing leans on tired gags and recycled banter, and there’s little of the cleverness or charm that made the original comics so beloved.
Then there’s the music, which is as forgettable as a half-heard jingle. A couple of songs show up, desperate for that “Frozen”-style viral moment, but none stick. You’ll walk out humming nothing.
Perhaps the strangest misstep is the film’s muddled tone. The script can’t decide if it wants to be a straightforward kids’ adventure, a meta-comedy, or a half-baked parable about environmentalism. The result is a movie that feels disjointed, never committing to any of its ideas long enough to make a lasting impact.
All that said, credit where it’s due: the animation is slick and occasionally beautiful. The world of the Smurfs pops with color and detail, and there are a handful of genuinely sweet moments between the characters—reminders that, with a better script, these little blue folks could still have some magic left in them.
But as it stands, this iteration is a shrug in blue. It’s watchable, sure, but it’s hard not to wish it aimed higher than the lowest branch in the forest.
Now available on Digital, and on Blu-ray™ and DVD October 28th
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