The Smurfs: The Lost Village - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Smurfs: The Lost Village

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Everyone knows and loves the Smurfs. If you grew up in the 60s, or the 80s, or even today, you probably have had experience with the blue little guys and asked yourself the really deep questions. You know, like what color does a Smurf turn when you choke him? Well, I for one grew up with them on TV reruns, as well as copious amounts of lunch boxes, coloring books and the like during my early 80s childhood. I was a little curious about Sony’s foray back into nostalgia when The Smurfs movie was announced, but quickly lost faith when I saw that it was a live action/animation hybrid. A move which RARELY works (outside of the greats, like Roger Rabbit). Sadly, I was fully vindicated upon watching the movie, as The Smurfs is a HORRIBLE film, and it even spawned an even worse sequel. Smurfs: The Lost Village brings us back to the loveable blue little fellas, and continues their adventures, but Sony has taken a steep detour and pretty much distances itself from the previous two abominations. Most of the voice actors have been recast, and instead of going with the live action/animation hybrid like the first two, they decide to go fully animated and pretty much ignore the happenings of the first two films. As a result, the film actually WORKS pretty well (something I didn’t see coming). I loathed The Smurfs and The Smurfs 2 so much that I was actually terrified of what The Lost Village would actually end up being. While it isn’t going rival Disney or Pixar films for in depth plot and wide general appeal, it’s a rather cute movie that feels much more like the original show than it has any right to be.

This is not a film about your average Smurfs. Instead this is a film about the one Smurf we all love and adore (as do all the other Smurf’s in the village), Smurfette (Demi Lovato). She’s a bit “different” than all of the other Smurfs, and her name doesn’t actually coincide with an attribute that she does well like all the rest of the Smurfs. It doesn’t help that she was actually a creation of the incompetent wizard Gargamel (Rainn Wilson) as a weapon to destroy the Smurfs, but was ultimately saved by Papa Smurf (Mandy Patinkon). Feeling a bit blue about not really having a niche, Smurfette decides to wander outside of the village and ultimately is nabbed by her original creator. Her capture allows Gargamel to locate the mythical “lost village”, which is supposed populated by long lost Smurfs. Smurfs that Gargamel can use to harness more magical power and become powerful enough to over throw Smurf Village once and for all.

After she naturally escapes, Smurfette, Clumsy (Jack McBrayer), Brainy (Danny Pudi), and Hefty (Joe Manganiello) head out on their own (against the wishes of Papa Smurf, who is MORE than a little bit over protective) in order to get to the fabled Lost Village and warn whoever is living there of the impending doom at the hands of Gargamel. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess who is living there, and the two villages worth of Smurfs have to find a way to band together and repel Gargamel’s advances like they have in the past.

While The Lost Village isn’t a DIRECT sequel to the first 2 Sony films, it does in essence keep in the same universe. The first few minutes of the film recount how Gargamel made her and set her loose on the little blue men (and being that there were no females BEFORE Smurfette, one has to wonder HOW there were so many of them. Basic biology must work differently for the magical beings I guess), and the character animations pretty much make it know that we’re talking about the same creatures. It’s just that Sony very wisely ditched the live action aspect of the first two films and continued on in the animated world as if the first two films had never happened. This actually works out to the benefit of the film, as the live action crossovers (besides having Hank Azaria as Gargamel) was pure torture. This way the film actually feels much more similar in tone to the original animated show (although still not NEARLY as dark as the original comics).

The voice recasting is a little awkward, but the continuity with voices is not a bit thing, especially since this one pretty much ignores the previous two films. Mandy Patinkin is surprisingly good as Papa Smurf and Demi Lovato is so similar sounding to Katy Perry that her change as Smurfette is almost seamless. Rainn Wilson as Gargamel is spot on to his classic iteration, and while the plot is nothing new or fresh, it feels similar to the classic feel to the point that it comes across as affable and entertaining enough. The kids will naturally get more out of the film than adults, but gone is the completely offensive nature of the live action/animated hybrids that came before it, and instead we just have a simple animated kids flick.




Rating:

Rated PG for some mild action and rude humor




Video:

The Lost Village enjoys a nice upgrade over the Blu-ray, but not exactly one that will make your jaw drop in amazement. The 2K mastered film looks every bit as lovely and colorful as the 1080p Blu-ray, but only just as good. There’s some extra fine detail to be had in the Smurf’s hair and facial details, and the HDR makes those colors look amazing. However, there isn’t that big of an upgrade even though the image looks stunning. There’s some subtle tweaks to the black levels, and there is some more textures with clothing and forest backgrounds, but the differences are not as pronounced as I would have hoped. That’s not to say that the disc doesn’t look phenomenal. It really does, and there are some solid upgrades to the Blu-ray, it’s just that the two encodes are really more similar than they are different.




Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix on the Blu-ray was a stunner, and the Atmos track that is encased in the 4K disc is just that much better. I won’t say that the Atmos turns a mediocre track into some godlike track, but it takes an already amazing experience and just gives it a little boost. The same wildly immersive sensation transfers across the encoding, and the Atmos track just adds those nice little tweaks, such as overhead sounds of birds in the forest, or the shifting of sounds in the background that seem to come from different angles thanks to the object based style of the next gen audio. It’s an amazing track that uses some really nice directional cues that float from one end of the room to another (including vertical), which give the film an incredible sense of depth and immersiveness. Well done Sony.

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Extras:

• Filmmaker Commentary
• Meghan Trainor "I'm A Lady" Music Video
• The Emoji Movie Sneak Peek
• Featurettes:
- "Kids at Heart! The Making of Smurfs: The Lost Village"
- "Demi Lovato Meets Smurfette"
- "Lost Village Dance Along"
- "Smurfify Your Nails"
- "Baker Smurf's Mini Kitchen"
- Meghan Trainor "I'm A Lady" Music Video
- "How To Draw Smurfette"
- "How To Draw Brainy"
- "How To Draw Clumsy"
- "Making The Song 'You Will Always Find Me In Your Heart'"
- "The Sound Of The Smurfs"
• Deleted Scenes (Blu-ray exclusive)
• Featurette: "The Lost Auditions"

Final Score: ​

The Smurfs: The Lost Village isn’t a particularly inventive film, and it really sticks to your typical mid-grade story that most animated films follow. The cute little Smurfs run around trying to escape Gargamel, things get heated, and soon they have to come together and use their unique talents to get themselves out of the mess they’re in. Rinse, repeat and cue the music. However, it’s more than adequate to get the job done for the kids, and a is a perfectly serviceable film for adults and kids alike. I was WAAAAAAAAY more entertained with the third entry into the trilogy than I ever was with the first two films. Without the live action junk, it flows much better and feels more in tune with the original animated show. Something which I figured would be the opposite of what happened. Audio is demo to the max, and while the 4K isn't the BIGGEST leap in quality over the Blu-ray, it certainly is a gorgeous looking disc. Not to mention the disc actually has some pretty impressive special features on board. Worth a watch.




Technical Specifications:

Starring: Demi Lovato, Mandy Patinkin, Jack McBrayer
Directed by: Kelly Asbury
Written by: Stacey Harman, Pamela Ribon
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Catalan, Cantonese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Flemish, French, French (Canadian), German, Korean, Mandarin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Vietnamese
Studio: Sony
Rated: PG
Runtime: 90 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: July 11th, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Cute Watch

 

[Sonnie]

Oh man... this is going to be a great movie to watch... can't wait to get the 4K version. Awesome review Mike. Thanks!

 

[Michael Scott]

it's a surprisingly entertaining flick. especially since most movies get WORSE as the series progresses. I think it easily outclasses both of the two films that came before it

 

[Sonnie]

All that color has got to be a sight to see.

 

[Michael Scott]

yup, it's not a huge upgrade over the BD, but still a gorgeous looking flick

 

[Jon Liu]

ugh... I was not tempted with this title before... reading the review, especially about the movie, has me rethinking that...

Must resist. Fifth Element and Fast 8 are already on their way. Not to mention King Kong 4K this week and Kong: Skull Island next week...

 

[Sonnie]

lol... a good month for a few good movies. I couldn't resist it with all that color... and all the great things Mike says about the audio and video .... and the movie too. How could ANYONE resist this temptation? A good clean movie for family and all to see. I gotta have it. C'mon Jon!

 

[Jon Liu]

You're right, Sonnie! Good clean family movie that looks good... can't argue with that. I will probably pick it up later this week!