A Vibrant and Joyful Smurfs Adventure
This is a colorful and cheerful fairytale adventure that celebrates heroism and caring for those near and far.
In a quest to locate the Smurf settlement, the wicked wizard Gargamel stumbles upon the existence of a remote village of little people he’s never encountered before, a discovery he believes he can exploit for dark magic. When the Smurfs realize they have distant relatives, they decide to find and warn the “lost” Smurfs about the impending danger. Smurfette, Brainy, Hefty, and Clumsy embark on this crucial mission.
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Belgian artist Peyo dedicated 33 years to drawing Smurfs comics, starting in 1959.
Six years ago, Sony brought back the delightful blue-skinned characters from Belgian artist Peyo’s comics, which gained fame in the United States through the 1980s animated series. The 2011 “Smurfs” film combined animation and live-action. Following the example of Disney’s “Enchanted,” it transported the fairytale characters to a modern metropolis and pitted them against ordinary people unaware of magical forests and evil wizards.
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The film performed well at the box office, but its 2013 sequel was less successful, leading Sony producers to conclude that the “dual” concept had run its course. Why force the Smurfs into New York or Paris and struggle with complex special effects when audiences initially loved the Smurfs for their adventures in a fairytale world? Instead of the planned “Smurfs 3,” the studio chose to reboot the saga and release a computer-animated film about the Smurfs and Gargamel, without interdimensional jumps or live actors.
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“The Lost Village” can be seen as a sequel to the previous two films, but their events and earthly characters are not mentioned in the new film. “The Lost Village” introduces the heroes as if viewers are seeing the Smurfs for the first time and know nothing about their conflict with the villain. This is the beginning of a new cycle, not a continuation of the old one.
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Hefty Smurf is voiced by the famous boxer and politician Nikolai Valuev.
What to Expect
So, what does director Kelly Asbury, the director of “Shrek 2” and “Gnomeo and Juliet,” offer viewers? For the adult audience – almost nothing. Unless, of course, these are adults who have preserved or nurtured a childhood love for small and clumsy little people. “The Lost Village” is designed only for kids, as befits the “Smurfs,” which in America were once called “children’s cocaine” (in the 1980s, everything was compared to drugs).
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The film’s Western advertising campaign squeezed a lot of feminist sympathy from the fact that the lost village of Smurfs turns out to be a female settlement and that young fans of the cycle finally received several “role models” besides Smurfette. But the “Smurfettes” appear in the film closer to the end of the story, and the film barely manages to introduce them when it has to wrap up. It’s good that Sony Pictures Animation has expanded the range of characters and potential storylines, but this is a reserve for the future, not a significant advantage of “The Lost Village.”
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Despite the title, the film spends most of its screen time not in the village of Smurfettes, but on the way between the Smurf settlement and the lost village. The main characters, led by Smurfette, make their way through a dense forest, raft down a turbulent river, climb into mountain caves, encounter amazing plants and insects… In general, they have a fun and exciting time, while fighting off Gargamel and his cat and eagle, who are hot on their heels. The latter turn out to be both dangerous and ridiculous opponents, so the adventure as a whole appears, if not hilariously funny, then definitely dynamic, entertaining and fun. It provides the characters with many opportunities to fool around, show heroism and demonstrate to the audience how important it is to stand “for one’s friends” and risk one’s life for a just cause.
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Themes and Conclusion
In addition to heroism and self-sacrifice, the second key theme of the film is the search for one’s place in the world. While each Smurf has a profession (even if it’s endless grumbling), Smurfette doesn’t know what the meaning of her life is. She seeks the answer to this question and finds it in the course of the narrative, when her unique abilities and characteristics become the key to victory over the wizard.
The narrative of “The Lost Village” does not shine with psychological and plot depth, but it is a competent and charming adventure story that is painted in bright colors and skillfully animated. Children may like it. Especially those who associate themselves with Smurfette, and not with Brainy, Hefty or Clumsy, whom the main character pushes into the background.