is this the state of the entertainment industry these days
I cannot express my rage / utter bewilderment at this
Yes. My 8-year-old son, unfortunately.
So does my 7-year old niece.
I thought The Smurfs wasn’t too bad for a kid’s film.
My 8-yo.
I have failed as a parent 
I bet Neil Patrick Harris thought it was a fantastic idea.
Movie executives, actors, millions of children around the world, and pretty much anyone else involved in making the movie.
In other news, some guy who isn’t at all part of the movie’s target demographic thinks it’s lame. News at 11.
According to Box Office Mojo, the first movie made over 563 million dollars (combined foreign and domestic) gross on a 110 million dollar budget. So, yes, I’d say a few people in Hollywood thought it was a pretty good idea.
And probably the people who made a pretty penny when the first Smurfs movie, regardless of how good or bad it may have been, made $560 million worldwide in 2011 making it the 9th highest box office for the year.
They’re probably thinking “hey, this making hundreds of millions of dollars feels mighty fine in my tingly bits, it would be fun to try and do that again.”
I didn’t think the Smurfs 1 was a good idea.
And this is why sequels get made. This one, in particular, will make money. Therefore, it’s a good idea.
I think we adults have been spoiled by Pixar. For a couple of decades we have come to expect kids movies to also be enjoyable to adults.
The Smurfs wasn’t like that - it was a good kids’ movie that didn’t really work for adults. I’m sure lots of kids will be looking forward to a sequel, and I expect I’ll end up gritting my teeth and accompanying my daughters to see it. They’ll have fun, and I’ll be happy to be in their presence while they have fun.
The other day I heard some self righteous jack ass on the radio complaining about the sexualization of children’s movies.
He cited as an example, The Smurfs 2. (He had a problem with the Naughties in particular) Um, yeah, I’m not really getting “the sexy” vibe from the Smurfs movie, dude. I think you have issues.
Anyway, I have no desire to see this movie but I will say the previews look like an improvement over the first one.
I blame the Alvin and the Chipmunks movies. And the Garfield movies. And the Air Buddies movies. And all the other formulaic crap peddled for kids that are so unimaginative they would turn anyone over 3’s brain to porridge.
Having said that, I would watch a Smurfs movie if it was a fantasy adventure in an enchanted forest starring Peewit and Johan, instead of being a stupid exercise in predictable anachronistic humour set in modern day New York.
I watched the first one, voluntarily, on my own (on cable). It wasn’t great, but it certainly was not the worst movie I’ve ever seen.
Someday next summer when The Smurfs 2 hits HBO and I have nothing else to do, I’ll probably watch it as well.
Look, it’s not as if my son doesn’t like good movies. He does. It’s just that he happens to like bad movies, too. When he gets older, hopefully he’ll learn to tell them apart.
This is what I thought. The same people who watch this type of movies.
The people who made money and/or were gainfully employed on the first film?
In fact, I believe I read that after the success of the first one, not one but two sequels were greenlit. So there will also be a Smurfs 3 to stoke PSXer’s rage.
I always wondered when they make these live action movies of classic cartoons (Flinstones, Alvin&Chipmunks, YogiBear, ScoobyDoo, Smurfs, Casper, etc. etc. etc.) why they do it in the first place or who they’re marketing it to?
Any kid you ask will prefer to see the actual cartoon and not a live action version of it. So why make them? Is it to appeal to adults?
Mom & Dad will drop $20 to take the kids to see a live action version of the Jetsons but they wouldn’t drop the same $20 to take them to see a feature length cartoon of the Jetsons even though the kids would probably prefer it?
Personally, I literally think its a horrible idea. Figuratively, though, I think it’s bloody brilliant.