Yep, I saw Smurfs 2. And it was pretty much what you'd expect. There were unnecessary subplots, crude jokes, adult jokes, and slaps in the face to fans of the show. It had a smurfshit ending that involved... something. I don't know, it got kind of confusing. They save Smurfette, get captured by Gargamel, Gargamel gets his comeuppance, he comes back before the Smurfs can escape, they somehow wind up outside, Gargamel apparently dies in a fireworks accident, Smurfette and one of the Naughties sing a Britney Spears and Katy Perry song that they must've made up on the spot, GLADoS is Luke's father, Darth Vader was Edward Norton's imagination, Tyler Durden was in purgatory, the Island won the power of veto, and "Rosebud" was referring to Bruce Willis.
But you know what the smurfed up thing is? It's still better than the original. Why, you may be asking? I can't hear you through the computer, you idiot. But here's why: they were trying. There was a pretty flowing narrative throughout and some of the jokes were actually a little bit funny. It almost feels like fan service, like they just took every complaint that people had about the original and tried to fulfill them. Some things worked well, like the flowing narrative and the fact that the characters pretty well resembled the ones in the original series. Others however, did not. For example, the cat got a more prominent role, and is still annoying as smurf and sounds nothing like a cat.
Like I said in the first paragraph, there were a couple subplots. For example, Neil Patrick Harris' stepfather is trying to bond with him, and Grouchy is trying to look on the bright side of things. But the difference between these and the first movie's subplots is that these feel more necessary, because the main focus of the movie could fit into one episode. At least this one had a main focus; the first one was just five Smurfs smurfing around in New York.
The movie also wisely chose to leave Alan Cumming's character, the Scottish smurf Gutsy, out of this one, instead replacing him with... a British one played by John Oliver. Hey, I didn't say they got everything right. They also once again reduced the brilliant casting choice of Paul Reubens as Jokey Smurf to two lines.
So, was the sequel necessary? No. Did it further the story? No. Did I enjoy it? No. Was it better than the first one? Smurf yes, it was! Overall, I give it a C. Definitely not the worst movie I've seen this year, but still not good. I'll be putting out a review of The Wack Album tomorrow, and I'll try to see RED 2 or RIPD next week.
Story is end!
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