Trailer Tuesday: The Smurfs

No, it's not Avatar 2...

Yeah, The Smurfs have got a movie! The little blue creatures are hitting the big screen this summer, in their 3D theatrical debut. Prepare to see a lot of blue. Here's the synopsis:

 "When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the tiny blue Smurfs out of their village, they tumble from their magical world and into ours -- in fact, smack dab in the middle of Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down."

  - Columbia Pictures




And here's the trailer:

A bit of a "back-to-basics" breakdown:

• 0:17 - OMG Smurf Village! Mushrooms an' all!  
• 020 - Smurf riding stork - their preferred method of transport.
• 0:24 - Slightly Incredibly creepy Gargamel breaks into Smurf land. I'll be honest, this shot/acting looks incredibly cheap...
• 0:31 - And then the douchebag lets his cat, Azrael, free on the poor Smurfs.
• 0:40 - Of course! All water-hyperspace travel leads to NYC!
• 0:42 - A good shot of the main Smurfs - From left to right - Brainy Smurf, Gutsy Smurf, Jokey Smurf, Papa Smurf, Grumpy Smurf and Smurfette.
• 0:53 - Neil Patrick Harris (NPH) discovers his new found Smurf buddies. On a side note, inside the box is a Belgian/French magazine - a possible reference to the Smurfs original creation?
• 0:57 - Jayma Mays also stars alongside NPH, as his wife.
• 1:12 - Modern Family's Sofia Vergara also joins the cast as Patrick(NPH)'s boss.
• 1:15 - Clumsy/Jokey (I'm not sure which) gets busy in the bathroom.
• 1:39 - This Blue Man gag always stifles a chuckle out of me...
• 1:43 - Papa Smurf goes Rambo.
• 1:58 - Hat-chutes FTW!
• 2:04 - Smurfette is actually voiced by, would you believe it, Katy Perry!
• 2:07 - And there's some more stork riding for you.
• 2:16 - And, in true Smurf fashion, the little guys recite the classic theme tune.
• 2:27 - You can get your Smurf on, August 11th in 3 Dimensions.

So that's The Smurfs. Very Smurfing Smurf but not a lot of Smurf Smurfing going on however. But the Smurf of the CGI is very Smurf. I will admit I'm not a big fan of the whole "Gargamel gets smacked by lots of different things" stuff, which makes me fear that we're heading down the Yogi Bear angle of classic cartoon ruining Hollywood-ism trying to make it funny for kids. Sigh... When will they learn that kids aren't always into that kind of thing. I mean look at the Pixar movies; great kid-friendly films with tons of charm and little to no pain distribution. Fingers crossed for not too much of this slapstick then...  

  

   However, the rest looks pretty awesome especially NPH's time with The Smurfs, (which looks to contain far more chemistry than Jason Lee with Alvin and The Chipmunks *shudder*) and plus the fact it's set in New York, where I have been, and I love that "I've been there" feeling I get. And I'm hoping for some proper time with the Smurfs Village, because it did look pretty sharp from that small section in the trailer.   

Anyway, that's all for today's Smurfarific trailer, but before I Smurf out, I'd like to give a big shout out to my Uncle Sean: A life-long Smurf fan who will most likely never speak to me again for this. Ha ha, here's to you Sean! Over an out.