The sequel, aptly titled The Smurfs 2, plays things relatively safe. After all, if it worked the first time, why change it. In this film Gargamel, played again by Hank Azaria, has been stranded in New York City. After getting mistaken for a street magician, he uses his magic wand to launch a career as a stage magician, using what little of the Smurf essence he has left from the first movie to perform magic for an audience. His show becomes so popular he is sent on tour to Paris, performing nightly for the local Parisians. He also creates two new creatures, the same way he did when he created Smurfette (Katie Perry) back in the original cartoon. These new creatures, called The Naughties, need Smurf essence to survive, as does Gargamel’s wand. His plan, then, is to kidnap Smurfette and convince her to reveal how Papa Smurf (Jonathan Winters) changed her into a real Smurf in the first place. With that knowledge he can create all the Smurfs he needs so he can extract an unlimited amount of their essence and rule the world. Papa Smurf and a few other Smurfs travel magically to New York City to enlist the help of Patrick (Neal Patrick Harris), returning from the first film, and his family in getting to Paris to rescue Smurfette and foil Gargamel’s plan.
The filmmakers, when drafting this script, knew they wanted to make a film that was more than just some goofy slapstick and heavy handed homages to 1980’s cartoons. They peppered in a syrupy backstory to returning character Patrick, giving him daddy issues with his over bearing step-father, issues that miraculously get resolved over a simple conversation late in the film. They at least made an attempt here by trying to add some depth to this character. That said, it’s not a terrible addition to this storyline. The step-father, Victor (Brendan Gleeson) brings in some energy to the film that Neal Patrick Harris lacks. Gleeson is adept at playing roughens and deeply flawed characters, but he can also play light hearted silly characters and he shows both sides of his range here. Without Victor, the live action segments would be a complete slog. Unfortunately, for an extended period of time, Victor is transformed by Gargamel into a duck, leaving us with just his voice work, something that doesn’t work nearly as well without Brendan’s physicality attached.
On the animated side of things, The Naughties are an excellent addition to the formula, too. The film begins with Smurfette feeling like she doesn’t belong amongst the Smurfs. It’s her birthday and, typical to these types of films, thinks everyone forgot when in reality they’re preparing a surprise party. When she get’s kidnapped by The Naughties, Vexy (Christina Ricci) and Hackus (J.B. Smoove), she soon finds herself bonding with them, even becoming a little naughty herself. Her little existential crisis is further deepened when Papa Smurf and a small group of other Smurfs, from her vantage point, fail to show up to rescue her. She comes to believe that they don’t really care enough to come after her, leading her to emphasize with The Naughties and give Gargamel what he wants in order to save them.
There is plenty to be enjoyed by both age spectrums when watching The Smurfs 2. For one, there are references to everything from Quentin Tarantino to Breakfast at Tiffany’s. There is plenty of juvenile humor including butt jokes and farting in the bathtub to appease the immature ones watching. The problem is that these two spectrums don’t gel well leaving the film feeling disjointed at times. Films like 2002’s Scooby-Doo hit a specific tone and rode that tone throughout. The Smurfs 2 tries to do too much and fails because of that. It goes for some heartfelt moments, then juxtaposes them with outlandishly cartoonish effects. Papa Smurf has a very serious talk with Patrick about fathers and children followed immediately by Smurfs making bubbles of their own in a make-shift bathtub. The writers didn’t trust the audience to be able to handle the serious aspects of this story and undercut the emotional stakes.
As has become the norm lately, the voice cast samples heavily from known names. Katie Perry returns as Smurfette as does the late Jonathan Winters as Papa Smurf. Christina Ricci is almost unrecognizable as the voice of Vexy, imbuing what could have been a one-note character with heart and some real emotions. We also get Fred Armisen, George Lopez, Anton Yelchin, Alan Cumming and Jeff Foxworthy in various Smurf roles. The best that can be said here is that these name-actors mostly don’t call attention to themselves as known voices. Occasionally it slips through but it’s not as egregious as many of the more recent voice-casts.
The Smurfs 2 is easily digestible fare, nothing too tough to sink your teeth into. It’s watchable, just not too deep. It tries to better flesh out the human characters than the first film did but, aside from Patrick and Victor, no one else amongst the live cast gets much to work with. Even with the added back-story, Patrick is still a weak character and does nothing for the overall tone; Victor steals the show from him in every scene. The true heart of the story is Smurfette and Vexy, a true delight hampered by the antics of Hackus, a character whose sole purpose is to illicit laughter from of the youngest kids in the audience. The film had some lofty ambitions but, in trying to cater to two vastly different audiences, it struggles too much to land this beast. A few years later the powers that be chose to revamp the whole property and make an entirely animated film, ditching all the live action elements. That new film, while not perfect, balances things much better than this live-action/CGI hybrid. The Smurfs 2 is not a bad film, but it could have been so much more.
Release Date: July 31, 2013
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Rated PG
Starring: Neal Patrick Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Hank Azaria, Katy Perry, Christina Ricci and J.B. Smoove
Directed By: Raja Gosnell
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