Review: Smurfs

Posted by: Matthew Ardill  •  July 17, 2025 @ 11:35am

Filed under: Reviews

Created in 1958 by Belgian artist Peyo, the Smurfs first appeared in le journal de Spirou, an anthology magazine which was the home of many respected artists over the years. They first landed in animation in 1961, but I came by the Smurfs in the 1981 wave of Smurfy fandom. The tiny toys were lining the pockets of many-a-kid whose parents were trying to find a way to distract from the fact they didn't win the fistfight over Cabbage Patch Kid dolls.

The 2025 incarnation abandons the cast of 2011's The Smurfs, replacing the previous cast full of talented actors with a new one that mirrors many of the moves made by the 2011 trilogy. Katy Perry was replaced as Smurfette with Rhianna, and the voice cast also includes John Goodman, Nick Offerman, Alex Winter, Natasha Lyonne, and many other talented actors who do their best with the script they were handed.

There are two ways I can look at this: from the perspective of a lover of film or from the perspective of someone who's looking for something that a kid would enjoy.

From a lover of film and animation, this was bad. In the opening sequence we are treated to the obligatory music number that shows repeated use of assets that make the animation look flat and boring. The style itself is an example of the worst of contemporary computer animation and just, frankly, a bore. The story adds an unnecessarily dark backstory – they were transformed from a simple play on the idea of a gnome into the guardians of magic protecting the world from evil wizards. On top of these kind of boring story beats, the acting is simply there, the only real life breathed into any scenes being lines delivered by Offerman and Lyonne, who are just basically channeling themselves (to the point where the weird, grumbling, little animalistic noises from Lyonne's Mama Poot I kind of imagine are the type of thing Lyonne would do herself wandering the streets of New York in a foul mood). The film exists; it's not offensive but it gives nothing.

Now, from the point of Smurf fandom, the Smurfs themselves have gone through a variety of forms and in a modern lens have a lot of problematic elements. Gargamel channels a lot of antisemitic tropes, as does his brother added in this film. The entire concept of Smurfette with her transformation from grey skin and black hair to blonde and blue has an entire subtext that doesn't work via a modern lens, and none of this is touched. It's all still there and all still a problem. That said, it's nothing new, and let's be honest, is on a level that most kids won't understand. Not excusing this, but this conversation is one that will impact older consumers more than any kids.

At the end of the day, what matters is how it lands with the kids, and the kids – at least in the audience I was in – loved it. The jokes were silly and kid friendly, there was nothing overtly offensive, and its problematic roots are buried under the veneer of modern capitalist kids entertainment. The songs are fine, the story is fine, and the animation is adequate for the needs of the film. It's not going to win any Oscar noms for animation, but will it make a 7 year old sit in their seat and laugh at the jokes? Yes. And really, sometimes that's all you want.

I'm only able to bring myself to giving it a 3 star review as it is no fun to watch, but if I was a kid I'd give it a solid 4 stars, so do with that what you will.

Tags: Smurfs, Rhianna, John Goodman, Nick Offerman, Alex Winter, Natasha Lyonne, Dan Levy, Sandra Oh, Octavia Spencer, Hannah Waddingham

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