SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE Blu-ray Review

SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE (Blu-ray + Digital HD)

Release Date: July 11, 2016

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Video: 1.85:1 1080p Widescreen

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Portuguese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1

THE RATINGS

The Movie Itself - ★ ★ ★ ★ ✰

Video Quality - ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Audio Quality - ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Special Features - ★ ★ ★ ½ ✰

Overall - ★ ★ ★ ★ ½

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THE FILM ITSELF Our Reviewer's Take
You won't feel blue after watching this fun little film.

Reviewed by Gavin King

This review may contain spoilers.

The Smurfs of today are not the Smurfs of yesteryear. Gone are the light, classic roots of the original Peyo cartoon that was beloved in the era of the 1980s. Those were entertaining, respectable, funny, and lovable little vignettes that pretty much held themselves firm as one of the best, and most iconic, cartoons of the golden age. They didn't have convoluted plots, they didn't suffer from complicated, overwrought storylines, and they didn't slam audiences on the head with oversaturated lowest-common-denominator kiddie fare. They were, instead, simple but nevertheless incredibly joyous little cartoons that brought out the inner child in all of us and remind us of a time when every story, plotline, and antic had a meaning to it. (Mind you, I wasn't alive at the time, but I can totally see where the point of view of this comes from when you look at all this through a nostalgia nut's head.) Now, thanks to the success of such live-action hybrids like 2008's Alvin and the Chipmunks and even the big-budgeted Transformers franchise, 2011's The Smurfs came into play, a completely harmless but generally unremarkable viewing experience that missed the spark that made the classic television toon so enjoyable. Of course, a sequel followed, 2013's The Smurfs 2, an even less fun follow-up (if you can believe it) that seemed more of like a cash grab than anything else. Well, folks, take everything I said above and throw it all aside, because Smurfs: The Lost Village is the saving grace to all of that conflict. Now this is more like it. Sony Pictures Animation's latest fully-animated take on the titular Belgian blue creatures looks to be a more faithful take on the original Peyo creation, and it really works. Sure, it may not be a perfect movie - it can be argued that the film falls into the trap of animated movie typicality in a few moments, and it admittedly does get a bit predictable at some points - but the unmissable respect to the 80's cartoon and even the original comic is absolutely appreciated, and Smurfaholics are guaranteed to be overjoyed.

"Maybe this invention can tell me what an '-ette' is!"

Out in the forest, there's a little town known as Smurf Village, where a three-apples-high race of blue little creatures known as the Smurfs inhabit and do their business. Each Smurf has a meaning, literally. There's Clumsy Smurf (voiced by Jack McBrayer), who seems to be an innocent fellow but almost always seems to get himself worked up into a tizzy thanks to his lack of balance. Then there's Brainy Smurf (voiced by Danny Pudi), who means well with his book full of facts but no Smurf seems to enjoy having a fun factoid thrown into their daily routines. There's Hefty Smurf (voiced by Joe Manganiello), too, who's a buff dude that's always trying to look the most muscular out of the many Smurfs in the village. There's tons others as well, whether Baker Smurf (voiced by Gordon Ramsay), Grouchy Smurf (voiced by Jake Johnson), Nosy Smurf (voiced by Kelly Asbury), and even Table-Eating Smurf... I'm assuming all he does is eat tables? Point is, all of the Smurfs are named after what they do best. But then take Smurfette (voiced by Demi Lovato). She's different than the Smurfs working hard around her in the village. For starters, she's a girl, and the only girl Smurf in all of Smurf Village. Second, her name doesn't have a meaning, like the rest of the Smurfs. Raising the question; What is an "-ette?" It's a tough question to answer in town, apparently. Even Brainy's new invention, the Smurfy Thing-Finder, can't decipher the definition. One day, Smurfette decides to take a quick stroll out into the forest. She finds a Smurf hat lying in the woods and tries to catch the attention of the Smurf who could have lost it. She's eventually caught by the evil wizard Gargamel (voiced by Rainn Wilson) who traps her in his lair and uses the hat Smurfette found to create a potion that reveals a map to a supposed "lost village". Her friends Brainy, Hefty, and Clumsy save her from the wizard just in time, but when they return back to Smurf Village, Papa Smurf grounds the four for sneaking out without permission. The next night, however, Smurfette sneaks back out to the forest with her pals to try and find what lies beyond the forest and to see if there is a different race of Smurfs evidenced by the pickup of the Smurf hat. Team Smurf gets into all sorts of adventures - crazy flowers, colorful but vicious fireflies, and a friendly Glowbunny Smurfette names Bucky - but no obstacle will stop them on their journey to find out if Smurfette really is the only girl Smurf out there. But they'd better be careful, as Gargamel, his cat Azrael (voiced by Frank Welker), and his new pet vulture Monty (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) are hot on their tail, ready to catch a Smurf by any costs.

Smurfs: The Lost Village ditches all the modernizations and hipness that practically molded its live-action predecessors. What's graced here is a more faithful, nostalgic representation of the Smurfs and their environments, almost as the way Peyo would have envisioned it. The movie doesn't see live-action-looking Smurfs darting around New York City, screwing around in an FAO Schwartz toy store, causing mischief in an apartment, being inspirations for an ad involving a blue moon, or childishly gloating the words, "Ooh! Google!". The movie doesn't set its point of view on the Smurfs being in an environement outside theirs, at least speaking in the sense of our real world. The movie's character designs aren't almost disconcertingly human-like, with realistic eyes or human-reminiscent skin. Smurfs: The Lost Village rather takes the blue characters we all know and love and converts them and the locations around them into an end product that Peyo himself would be proud of. The Smurf characters themselves are more appreciably cartoonized, with the trademark big eyes and movements that would be considered as very animation-friendly. There's very few, if any, nostalgic stone unturned. The Smurf Village is designed in a way that the 80's cartoon would have personified it as. Animation smears, multiples (with the best example being when Monty the vulture gets caught on a conveyor belt), and stretching are apparent, a trademark with old-fashioned animation. The film gets its target audience right on the money, and it delivers, offering fans of the old toon with a wonderfully inventive amount of throwback and introducing newbies and younger viewers to a world that's many years past us and has, unfortunately, been replaced with unneeded live-action adaptaions.

Smurfberries roasting on an open fire...

The digital craftsmanship on the film is absolutely gorgeous. It sees a wonderful, impressive, and very seamless mix of the aformentioned reminiscence and a beautifully animated, eye-gougingly colorful utopia. For cartoon-based CGI animation, it doesn't get much better, visual-wise, than this. You have got to give credit to the folks over at Sony Pictures Animation for handcrafting a realm that balances these two factors with effortless and visaully-intoxicating ease. When the Smurfs enter the forest and explore all the surprising sights and entities, such as the Venus-Fly-Trap-like flowers and the rainbow of fireflies (emphasis on that fire), the digital artists introduce viewers to a world that's not only extremely colorful in every sense of the term but in addition to that a beautifully designed phenomenon that might even get the adults in the audience engaged knowing that there was plenty of hard work burned into the final cut. The characters are irresistibly cute and funny but also well-developed in their personality attributes. Brainy is a guy who wants to share to the world some thought-provoking did-you-knows but ends up getting scoffed at in the long run. Clumsy wants to try his hardest to fit in but his, well, clumsiness gets in the way of it. Hefty is a cool, calm, collected dude who's buff but realizes the meaning of teamwork and emphasis in the most daunting of moments. These Smurfs are human, metaphorically speaking, and they have real human emotions, too. They're not just guys that go around showcasing the meaning of their names by doing what they do. They're more than what their names tell them to be, and they're not afraid to show it in situations that require it.

But out of all the character developments in the film - from the relaxed leader of the village Team Smurf finally scopes out, Smurf Willow (voiced by Julia Roberts) or the spunky, energetic Smurf Blossom (voiced by Ellie Kemper) - it's expectedly Smurfette who shines the bright light here. She's the only female Smurf in a town of all male Smurfs. She's trying to figure out her purpose in the village, what she means to society, and if she really does mean anything at all. What director Kelly Asbury and writers Stacey Harman and Pamela Ribon (known for writing Moana) do to draw out the conflicts of the character is something really incredible. They perfectly showcase the struggles of what it's like to be the odd one out in a world of people who are the same. Feeling isloated, feeling out-of-place, feeling just flat-out different. It's relatable stuff, and that's something the filmmakers at Sony Animation nail at doing. They understand Smurfette's feeling, and it's what makes her such a three-dimensional character, one sure to go down in history with the greats. With all of those positives said, the movie is not perfect. There's a handful of moments where it seems like it wants to take the easy road out and slightly smidge it into a basic adventure film at times, and the ending goes into a predictable territory that doesn't bring much new to the table. When it all wraps up, though, it's not really that much of a concern. It's a lovable, fast-paced, zany, impressively-thought-out, and gorgeously-designed feature that may not get nominated for any Oscars or Golden Globes but stands its own extraordinarily well and makes for a great viewing on family movie night.


SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE Blu-ray - Video Quality

Unsurprisingly, Smurfs: The Lost Village looks astonishing on Blu-ray. Sony Pictures Animation's films have generally always been reference-quality bliss with the high-definition format, and this one is no different. It's breathtaking, outstanding, gobsmackingly gorgeous, perhaps not in line with the photorealistic beasts of Blu-ray like Finding Dory and such but the digital craftsmanship is unparalleled. Of course, the standout, color-wise, is the iconic blue Smurf skin. It's a deliciously colorful blue that obviously fluctuates in terms of whether the surrounding environment is light or dark but gives Smurf lovers and high-definition junkies a right-on-the-money representation of what those cute little creatures should look like. Once Team Smurf gets to the Smurfy Grove, the Smurfs there are a more dominant blue due to their outfits and costumes, and it totally fits the mood. But Smurf blue isn't all that dominates the palette. Mushroom house reds, firepit orange, leaf greens, and dozens others literally blast off the screen with truly stunning color dominance and exceptional prowess. Detailing is excellent, too, with fine intricacies on Smurf skin, a stony wall, Azrael's fur, and flowing water on a river impressing hugely. Everything has "1080p reference" written all over it. Black levels are nicely deep in some darker, less vibrant moments. I could not find a single artifact like banding or aliasing anywhere in the encode. It's total eye-candy all-around, a 1080p transfer that's on the list of the best animated movie video presentations out there.

SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE 4K Blu-ray - Audio Quality

Smurfs: The Lost Village features an aggresive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack that employs regular usage of the soundstage at its disposal. The opening Columbia logo sets a great example of what to expect from the track. The weight and power of the recognized theme comes across with big power and instrumental extension. The film continues that tradition with its score in a wonderful stage presence by placing different instruments across the channels. It practically feels like we're in the middle of the recording studio. Pop beats engage, too, with a healthy engagement throughout that never feels timid or overpowered. A number of certain effects are particularly forceful. These scenes include, but are not limited to; Gargamel's magic brew, the cave escape with the Glowbunnies, the attack on Smurfy Grove, and mounds more. Each scene comes wrapped with a better-than-expected subwoofer presence and consistent panning as characters move from left to right (this is especially playful in the cave sequence). A waterfall features some nice LFE usage, too, delivering with the bassiness as it would sound in real life. Ambience around the Smurf Village is wonderfully implemented. Chirping birds and rustling leaves on trees draw the listener into the locale. There's also good immersion in the Smurfy Grove, among a plethora of other locations, too. Above all the mayhem, dialogue is still well-prioritized and extra-clear and audible in the front. This is another strong, balanced, and consistently engaging track from Sony Pictures Animation.

SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE Blu-ray - Special Features

- Emoji Sneak Peek A look at the upcoming animated film about the popular Emoji.

- Filmmaker Commentary Kelly Asbury (Director), Alan Hawkins (Animation Supervisor), and Brandon Jeffords (Head of Story) deliver a wonderful commentary track. It's maturely but lightly spoken, exploring characters, animation, story origins, and so much more. "And there's Smurfette... everyone's little blue sweetheart."

- Deleted Scenes Each deleted scene features an introductory background of the deleted scene and its original place in the film. Deleted scenes include the following: Smurfberry Blast, Brainy's Experiment, Bridge Escape, and Gargamel's Lair.

- Kids at Heart! The Making of Smurfs: The Lost Village This featurette takes a walkthrough across the film's process, including animation, casting, the joys of making a film of this caliber, and more. At some points children stand in for the adults to simulate that the filmmaking experience was a entertainingly childlike one. This is a very fun, very light supplement, and, as I always say, fans will love it.

- The Lost Auditions The film's voice actors and actresses humorously audition for roles they didn't quite get the part of.

- Demi Lovato Meets Smurfette How did Demi Lovato get to be the part of Smurfette?

- Lost Village Dance Along Kids can get off the couch and on their feet with this dance-along.

- Smurfify Your Nails Learn how to design your nails Smurfs: The Lost Village style!

- Baker Smurf's Mini Kitchen A Gordon Ramsay-voiced Baker Smurf cooks up Smurf-size donuts.

- Meghan Trainor: "I'm a Lady" Music Video As seen in the credits.

- Making the Song "You Will Always Find Me In Your Heart" The filmmakers discuss how this song impacts the movie's final act's emotional impact.

- The Sound of the Smurfs Composer Christopher Lennertz and the filmmaking gang talk about the themes of the film's bouncy score.

- Draw Your Favorite Smurfs Learn how to draw Smurfette, Brainy, and Clumsy Smurf in no time.

- See More Smurfs! The Smurfs 1 & 2 trailers, The Legend of Smurfy Hollow trailer, Smurfs: A Christmas Carol trailer, and Smurfs: Bubble Party trailer.

SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE Blu-ray - Overall Recommendation

In the supplement Demi Lovato Meets Smurfette on this release, Smurfette and Demi Lovato mention something about "the sequel, Smurfs: The Found Village". And who knows! Smurfs: The Lost Village is, hands-down, the best recent Smurfs film yet, easily stepping away from the overly modern and too-hip stride that was 2011's The Smurfs and its 2013 sequel. It's a little predictable towards the final act, but the sheer visual craftsmanship on the film as well as its faithfulness to the original beloved Peyo creation is much appreciated. Kids are going to love it, and adults will breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the try-hard aspect of its predecessors from a few years back is gone here. Sony's Blu-ray is unsurprisingly stellar. It's got demo-worthy video, booming audio, and a nice mix of kid-oriented and adult-friendly bonus features give this package one you won't be disappointed picking up. Highly recommended!

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