The Smurfs: The Lost Village 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 Smurfs movies have always had stellar technical specifications and this one is no different. Framed at 1.85:1, The Lost Village is pure digital eye candy, straight from the proverbial tap. The 2K master shines on Blu-ray, with eye popping colors and a palette that really shines with every color of the rainbow. The blues of the Smurfs are soft and extremely well saturated, while the greens of the forest, or the bright reds of Papa Smurf’s outfit almost leap off the screen. Fine detail is absolutely magnificent, showing every digital line and curve of the magical creatures, and the forest background itself is almost lifelike with the number of nuances that are shown. Black levels are strong and deep, without any signs of digital artifacting (I saw one instance of color banding, but it was so brief that you almost couldn’t tell it was there). As a digital film, this is pure demo material, and one of the best animated Blu-rays I’ve ever seen. I was sad that Sony decided to nix the 3D release, as it was a film that supposedly had a stellar theatrical 3D experience.




Audio:

Once again Sony decides to leave the Atmos track off the regular Blu-ray, but the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is nothing short of stellar. For some reason, the Smurfs films have all had reference level tracks, which was something I never would have guessed, and they all sound amazing. This one is no different, creating a very immersive 90 minute film that really gets your toes tapping with the pop music and singing by Demi, and the LFE is actually quite aggressive when necessary. The end confrontation with Gargamel has some very active use of the surrounds, and even the background noises of the forest flow evenly from one end of the sound system to the other. It’s a great track, and in all honesty, near reference. The only reason it’s a 4.5/5 instead of 5/5 is because the Atmos track outclasses the 5.1 mix with some obvious enhancements.

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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 and video are demo material all the way, and 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 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, Portuguese DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1
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