When I first started Just Plain Something (coming close to two years ago), one of the first things I wrote about was the confirmation that there would be a live-action Smurfs movie – although I noticed that it was originally supposed to come out last year. Last month, a trailer came out for the film, and I finally got around to seeing it.Take a look:
First things first, I think we can all be relieved the Scottish Smurf is wearing pants under his kilt. Of course, I don’t understand why there would be a Smurf that was a different nationality than the other Smurfs, but at least he’s wearing pants.
I rarely watched the cartoon growing up, so my investment in the characters is slim. From what I’ve seen, I just don’t think this movie has the charm of the show. Anytime you take classic cartoon characters from a non-modern setting and put them smack dab in the middle of America in our time, it comes off as a cheap and even a little desperate. This trailer wreaks of desperation. Instead of writing new, interesting characters for kids to grow up with, these writers turn to nostalgic characters, but throw them into the lives of trendy yuppies because it’s “wacky.” It’s why Rocky and Bullwinkle was so bad.
You’re not going to improve on these characters by making them “hip.” They’re going to look desperate. I swear, if I find out any of the Smurfs rap or dress up like KISS, I will die a little inside.
The one bright light in the trailer is Neil Patrick Harris. He’s just so adorable, so maybe he’ll bring the movie up a little. And there’s always a chance that this is the one cartoon adaptation that actually works. I actually really enjoyed Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Then again, it’s the Looney Tunes. Hell, even Space Jam
had one or two good moments.
I read that the release date was moved up again from August to July 21st. I guess the release of another movie has Fox anticipating a better turn out sooner. I hope my kids find this iconic adventure as enjoyable as I did when I was a kid. I honestly don’t know what I liked about the cartoon so much, but the values it taught were quite good and lacking in many cartoons today. In honor of the new movie coming out though I decided to set my DISH Network employee DVR to record the Smurfs on Boomerang and so I watched the first one on my iPhone because I have a Sling adapter. I watch nearly all of my TV on my iPhone or Galaxy Tab before I get home every day.