(Download The Smurfs 2) I am a single, childless male in his 30s. I know that The Smurfs 2 is not a film made with me in mind.(The Smurfs 2 Download) These films become harder to critique. If a film seems to be working for the kids in the audience, you don’t want to just say outright that the movie stinks or else you’ll come off like a jerk. So in a movie as terrible as this sequel to the inexplicably popular original, you almost have to “go to the tape” as it were once your mind checks out after the billionth unfunny pun or pratfall to see if the core demographic seems to care. It’s necessary to take the edge off or you will just sound like a bloated gasbag.

 

 

 

 

(Download The Smurfs 2) What I saw were numerous kids pulling out their portable gaming devices to play things that looked far more interesting, others carrying on entire conversations with their siblings and parents, a kid trying to figure out the dynamics of a reclining chair, and two that just flat out fell asleep.(Download The Smurfs 2 Movie) I think it’s safe to say that while a few of the less discerning kids in the audience probably enjoyed elements of it, nothing held the interest of those who simply decided to do other things in the presence of the film. And it’s not like the parents would stop them for their lack of attention. The morning screening was free and as long as the kids were just doing something and not bugging them, the parents seemed happy.

 

(Download The Smurfs 2) That’s it. Things like story, jokes, performances, or things like that which other animated movies attempt don’t apply to The Smurfs juggernaut. It’s a brand with a specific, light and fluffy image and as long as it’s bright and flashy it doesn’t matter than nothing makes a lick of sense on even a fantastical level. It’s not a film the whole family can enjoy.(Watch The Smurfs 2 Online) It’s a film only the really young SHOULD enjoy, but not very many at the morning screening seemed all that excited to be there regardless of age. That’s the problem.

(Download The Smurfs 2) The evil Gargamel (Hank Azaria) has resurfaced in Paris as a superstar magician using the magical Smurf essence he pilfered in the first movie to sustain his career. He wants to kidnap his former creation Smurfette (voiced by Katy Perry) and turn her evil once again in hopes of turning his two most recent creations – grey looking Smurf-like creatures called Naughties, voiced by Christina Ricci and JB Smoove – into blue Smurfs to rob them of their magical lifeblood and eventually harness enough to take over the world. Smurfette gets kidnapped by the little evil ones on her birthday and eventually starts to give in because she thinks everyone forgot about her.

(Download The Smurfs 2) Papa (the last role for the late, great Jonathan Winters), Clumsy (Anton Yelchin), Vanity (John Oliver), and Grouchy Smurf (George Lopez) all head back to the human world to ask their old friend Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris) for help. Patrick agrees while having to juggle his own new family and the resurfacing of his boorish, bumbling stepfather (Brendan Gleeson) who he wishes would go away more than he did the Smurfs in the first film.

(Download The Smurfs 2) The plot, courtesy of an unconscionably large team of five credited writers, is needlessly convoluted and nonsensical because it’s not made by people thinking the audience will remotely care what happens. There are brief flashes of life when the film talks about what it’s like to have a step-parent in your life (the relationship between Harris and Gleeson and Papa and Smurfette are basically the same), but that’s really the only interesting thing going on aside from the pretty decent visual effects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Download The Smurfs 2) Not a single joke is funny if you’re over the age of seven and the performances are across the board passable at best. The only real direction seemingly given to the actors from two-time helmer Raja Gosnell (who now makes me wish he would make another Scooby-Doo movie instead of this) is for them to just be as personable as possible. No need to go the extra mile. All of the wonder will happen in post-production, anyway. Harris still charms, Azaria still brings some energy, Gleeson seems like a good enough sport, the voice cast is interchangeable, and Jayma Mays once again has nothing of substance to do as Patrick’s wife. The cute kid playing Patrick’s kid (Jacob Tremblay) has even less to do. None of it matters while there are toys to sell.

(Download The Smurfs 2) There’s nothing to be said about the movie itself from my perspective. It’s too bland to even be something that I could be angered or annoyed by, which in a backhanded way might be even worse because then I would at least feel something towards it. But the reaction of the kids in the screening told me all that I needed to see. It kept the kids behaved, but it couldn’t keep their attention. Let’s not talk about the rudeness of pulling out a brightly coloured gaming screen and a parent not doing anything about it, but let’s ask instead why the person who pulled it out did it in the first place. There’s a level of attentiveness and concentration that those games were giving to these kids that the film wasn’t providing. Kids who would prefer to talk about anything else other than what they’re watching just aren’t stimulated enough by what’s happening in front of them.

(Download The Smurfs 2) Then again, the young aren’t picky. There was one young girl who during the film’s fireworks filled grand finale was standing up and acting like a conductor, moving her arms in tune with the soundtrack and pyrotechnics. That girl was adorable and proof that if even for a moment someone in that auditorium was willing to admit that they felt something magical. She sat two rows in front of me, and when her father asked her what she thought at the end of the film she just said “I dunno. It was kind of weird.” So I guess that’s the review you guys should probably run with if you take anything from this piece.

 

(Download The Smurfs 2) 2011's "The Smurfs" tends to get negatively lumped in with other similar live-action/animated feature adaptations like 2004's "Garfield" (and its 2006 sequel, "A Tale of Two Kitties") and 2007's "Alvin and the Chipmunks" (and its respective follow-ups, 2009's "The Squeakquel" and 2011's "Chipwrecked"), but whereas those were calculated, pre-packaged, scattershot efforts that alienated now-adult fans of the 1980s cartoons they were based on, the Raja Gosnell-directed tale of a land of little blue men (and one girl) actually did succeed at capturing the charm of—and creating the proper nostalgia for—its source material. Lightweight as it was, "The Smurfs" also offered some shrewd writing and a certain amount of sincerity to help balance the tone.

(Download The Smurfs 2) The film was jokey without making a mockery of itself, and sweet without becoming saccharine. "The Smurfs 2," directed again by Gosnell (2008's "Beverly Hills Chihuahua"), tries to repeat the same formula, but, as so often is the case with sequels, merely rehashing what was done before while altering the setting is not enough for lightning to strike twice. Amazingly, a quintet of screenwriters had a hand in this unoriginal movie's construction—J. David Stern, David N. Weiss, Jay Scherick, David Ronn, and new-to-series fifth writer Karey Kirkpatrick (2008's "The Spiderwick Chronicles")—leading one to wonder whether a single scripter would have helped the finished product or resulted in a blank screen.

(Download The Smurfs 2) Ever since Papa (voiced by the late Jonathan Winters, in his last role), Clumsy (Anton Yelchin), Smurfette (Katy Perry), and the rest of the gang safely made their way back home to Smurf Village following an interdimensional adventure to New York City, things have returned to normal for the land of tiny, four-fingered blue people. As Smurfette's birthday nears, she begins to suspect that everyone has forgotten her big day (in actuality, they are preparing a surprise party).

(Download The Smurfs 2) Insecure and vulnerable, she is lured once more through a magical portal by two of mischievous wizard Gargamel's (Hank Azaria) bad-influence creations, called Naughties, Vexy (Christina Ricci) and Hackus (J.B. Smoove). Created unlike her male counterparts in a lab, Smurfette is the only one who knows the secret formula for Smurf-essence. By dragging her over to the dark side, Gargamel hopes that the formula will finally be his key to ruling the world. Hot on their tails, Papa, Clumsy, Grouchy (George Lopez) and Vanity (John Oliver) rustle up their human friends,(Watch The Smurfs 2 Online) Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris) and Grace (Jayma Mays), and head for Paris to save Smurfette and put a stop to Gargamel's devious plans.