Movie The Smurfs

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.

* Starring: Hank Azaria, Neil Patrick Harris
* Directed by: Raja Gosnell
* Runtime: 1 hour 43 minutes
* Release year: 2011
* Studio: Columbia Pictures

This movie resembles two recent 3D videos: it uses the same combination of real-life footage with cartoons as "Yogi bear" and its cartoon heroes resemble gnomes from "Gnomeo and Juliet". Like with "Yogi Bear", there is an entertaining plot which keeps you occupied, and there is good humor which makes you laugh. Smurfs is a little better than Yogi Bear, though, because plot is more sophisticated and acting is more complex and involved. There is nothing in this movie to scare little kids but they may get bored as one probably has to be 10+ years old to understand all the humor and adult's problems with balancing professional life with family and Smurfs, but adults will certainly have fun. I honestly think it is one of the better movies that came out in 3D to-date.

Talking about 3D - 3D effects are OK but not outstanding. There are several scenes made with extensive use of computer graphics done with 3D in mind which stand out, but the rest of the footage is regular 3D footage of live action with fine, but not stunning depth.

I noticed that this movie got several bad reviews on Amazon, with one and two stars ratings. As I looked through those reviews, I noticed that they were all written by people who remember Smurfs from TV shows from decades ago and who are frustrated that Smurfs in this movie are so different from what they remember. I can't blame them - this is human nature and the way how we attach to memories from the past. I never saw the original story, and if I saw it today, I probably would find it boring and outdated as the majority of old films and shows. Without the set of mind pre-determined by expectations about smurfs, I enjoyed the movie and found that it was fun to watch!