The Smurfs 2 3D Blu-ray Review
Kristy Sturdivant
December 12th, 2013
After sitting through the first version of THE SMURFS, and feeling dumber for it, I was a little saddened (though not surprised) to find out that a sequel was on its way. Thankfully, THE SMURFS 2 only made $71 million (I know, can you believe it?) at the box office, which is a far cry from the $105 million budget, so hopefully there won’t be a third movie with the ridiculous name like THE SMURFS 3: YOU’VE BEEN SMURFED on its way. I feel bad for parents who will have to watch this film multiple times because their kids have become obsessed with the movie. I only hope that I’m strong enough to only stick Pixar movies into the Blu-ray player when my kids hit that age where only one movie will satisfy.
In THE SMURFS 2 the audience finds themselves in the City of Lights (aka Paris, France) where we find that the ridiculous villain Gargamel (played by Hank Azaria) has become a world famous magician and is still trying to get his hands on the Smurf’s essence with a little help from his new “children” who are called Naughties. Meanwhile, back in Smurf Village, Smurfette is getting ready to celebrate her Smurfday (sigh) but is feeling conflicted because she’s not sure she belongs with the Smurfs, as she too was created by Gargamel. Eventually, Smurfette gets Smurfnapped (I’m assuming that’s a word in this world) and of course Papa Smurf and his gang have to save her with the help of their human friends, the Winslow’s (Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays).
It’s almost harsh and pointless to be super critical with a kids movie like THE SMURFS 2, because you pretty much expect it to be average or below average. It’s not like the Smurfs were ever cherished source material. After all, most of us only know the Smurfs from the little immovable figurines we had when we were kids. But it’s still frustrating to sit through such a dumbed down film, clearly willing to sacrifice quality for some toilet humor.
The one saving grace in THE SMURFS 2 is Neil Patrick Harris who always steals the movie whenever he’s on screen. It can only be assumed that he received a massive amount of money to do these films, or he’s doing them so his two kids can watch their dad on screen and be happy. The voice work isn’t bad either, but having to hear the word “Smurf” morphed into a verb all the time gets old, and for heaven’s sake can we please get rid of that ridiculous CGI cat? He’s just weird and creepy.
To sum up, THE SMURFS 2 isn’t a work or art, but it isn’t too terrible to watch once. Maybe the best thing about it is that for the most part, it’s safe enough for the little ones. There’s also a decent message in there about being comfortable with who you are and having self confidence, which are good lessons for every child.
THE SMURFS 2 3D BLU-RAY REVIEW
I’ve been disappointed lately with the quality of some of the live-action 3D movies, but THE SMURFS 2 manages to be very impressive. This is really one of the better 3D movies out there when it comes to utilization of the 3D visuals.
THE SMURFS 2 BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: The regular 2D transfer is also impressive. Even if the film isn’t spectacular, the video transfer deserves respect.
Audio: THE SMURFS 2 features an equally great audio track.
The Smurfs: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow (22:13): A short The Smurfs film.
Deleted Scenes (4:18): Five scenes in total, none of which make any impact on the film.
Daddy’s Little Girl: The Journey of Smurfette (6:20): The filmmakers talk about the film, with extra emphasis on Smurfette.
The Naughties! The Tale of Hackus and Vexy (5:41): Same thing as above, but with the focus now on The Naughties.
The Puurrfect Companion: Azrael’s Tail (4:41): Again, this time with a focus on Gargamel’s cat.
Animating Azrael (3:23): This looks at the process of combining a real cat with a CGI cat.
Evolution of the Naughties (3:40): We get a guided tour of how they created the new characters.
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