Smurfs movie review: Rihanna leads a gentle giggle through action and song

A reviewer’s work day is sometimes like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates — you never know what you are going to get. Going into the Smurf movie with zero expectations turned out to be a fun experience. The screaming and laughing children in the audience might have contributed to all-round glee.

Based on Belgian artist Peyo’s comic books, Smurfs kicks off with a sweet SpongeBob SquarePants short, “Order up”, where SpongeBob rings the order bell at a diner so often as to drive Squidward round the bend. Then we are in the Smurf village where all the Smurfs are happy in their identities from Hefty (Alex Winter) and Vanity (Maya Erskine) to Brainy (Xolo Maridueña) and Clumsy (Hugo Miller). Only No Name (James Corden) has not found his “thing” and so does not have a name.

It does not matter how much Smurfette (Rihanna), the only female Smurf, and Papa Smurf (John Goodman), the village leader, try to reassure him that his time will come, No Name is sad to be the only Smurf in the village without a thing or a name.

In another dimension, wicked intergalactic wizards, Asmodius (Octavia Spencer), Chernobog (Nick Kroll) and Jezebeth (Hannah Waddingham) are planning to leach all the goodness from the world and fill it with darkness.

They have captured the three magic books and if they get the fourth, Jaunty (Amy Sedaris), then their evil plans will be complete. Wizard brothers, Gargamel and Razamel (JP Karliak) hope to get a seat at the high table by capturing Jaunty. They kidnap Papa Smurf to find out where the book is. As Papa is being teleported, he tells Smurfette and the others to find his brother Ken (Nick Offerman).

Smurfette and gang land in Paris and head to the Australian outback to find and free Papa. All comes right in the end in psychedelic colours and bright bursts of song, including Punjabi music in ‘Higher Love’ by Desi Trill featuring DJ Khaled, Subhi, Cardi B, and Natania, and ‘Balle Balouza’ by Natania, Subhi & The Indian Connect.

Smurfs has a psychedelic vibe, especially in the nine dimensions, giving a very multiverse feeling and that Parisian club the Smurfs go to is zingy fun. There are gentle laughs to be had with Razamel’s video call with the other wizards, when he does not realise he is on mute and his long suffering “hench-minion” Joel (Dan Levy) asking for a good review on LinkedIn as this is his first job.

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Gargamel’s cat, Azrael’s expressions are a hoot. Poker Face’s Natasha Lyonne has fun as the leader of the cake-mad strange beings called Snooterpoots while Sandra Oh is all dangerous posh as Moxie, the leader of the French underground.

At 92 minutes, Smurfs whizzes by on a sea of dazzling colours, action and little jokes—enough to keep its very young target audience giggling and the accompanying grown-ups passively entertained.

Smurfs is currently running in theatres