Smurfs (2025) is directed by Chris Miller and written by Pam Brady. It stars Rihanna, James Corden, Nick Offerman, JP Karliak, John Goodman, Dan Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Jimmy Kimmel, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Winter, Maya Erskine, Billie Lourd, Xolo Mariduena, and Kurt Russell. The film follows Smurfette (Rihanna) as she leads her fellow Smurfs on a mission to rescue Papa Smurf (Goodman) from the clutches of the evil wizard, Gargamel (Karliak). When they eventually find themselves in grave danger, No Name Smurf (Corden) is forced to quickly hone his emerging magical powers in a desperate bid to save his Smurf brethren. 

The performances aren’t particularly awful, but the characters either feel miscast or are given so little to do that the quality of their portrayal is almost impossible to reconcile. Look, I get it. These are Smurfs; They can have any voices the creators choose. That being said, you’d think beings all originating from and living in the same place for generations would have similar accents. James Corden is downright annoying as No Name, primarily due to his chosen Oliver Twist-like, ‘woe is me, I’m just a poor young chimney sweep’ accent. Although less grating than Corden, Rihanna essentially just plays herself, failing to provide Smurfette with any distinct character traits. She’s essentially just the most plain, lazy version of the ‘capable female hero’ trope—skilled for seemingly no reason, with not a single detectable flaw. The only character I somewhat enjoy is Grouchy Smurf, whose negativity resonates with my feelings about the film. 

Although occasionally amusing in a ‘wtf is going on?’ sort of way, the film is never actually funny, just weird in a Skibbity Toilet sort of way.  The Smurfs are inherently silly characters, so this tone feels somewhat fitting despite being best described as “random and stupid.” At one point, an ally explains to No Name how a particular car is fueled by the rider’s fear, to which he inquires, “Why?” In a state of unhinged wackiness, his ally responds, “No Idea!” This is more or less the script’s explanation for everything, which is infinitely more frustrating considering that this seems to be the writer’s intention. 

The film implements a handful of cliche family animation story beats, including multiverses, a generic ‘chosen one’ subplot, and iconic villains who are never actually allowed to be villainous. There are a few fun nods to classic Smurfs lore for diehard fans of the IP, but they’re few and far between. Ultimately, the one thing that sticks in my mind about the film is the hilariously jarring transitions to Rihanna’s original songs. The songs are great on their own, but feel entirely out of synch with the film’s overarching tone. Almost everything about the movie is unserious except for its auto-tuned, overly emotional ballads that come out of nowhere. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such awful transitions, which is a shame because the songs on their own seem to be the closest thing to ‘quality’ the film can muster up. 

Overall, this is yet another childish, hare-brained attempt to reboot the Smurfs IP. It consistently fails to be clever, original, or visually compelling, and also features the most one-dimensional versions of The Smurfs that a person could imagine. Even its use of live-action is pointless. All they do in the real world is dodge a few cars and bikes, then quickly return to animation land. There isn’t even a fun live-action character to momentarily blend the two worlds. The only people I can recommend this to are children younger than 8; it’s too dimwitted for almost anyone else. That being said, it slightly embraces its stupidity in a way that’s occasionally charming, which just barely keeps me from describing it as a ‘worst of the worst’ entertainment. D