The use of the word “literally” in the thread title is what seals it.
Not much hope of that. I wonder though … have the actual Smurf stories ever been animated, or other the Johan and Peewee stories for that matter?
Hank Azaria was on the Daily Show last night with John Oliver to promote his new movie Lovelace. Apparently both of them also have roles in Smurfs 2. They discussed this fact extremely sheepishly, acting as if it were something to be deeply ashamed of. I got the feeling that neither of them thought the movie was a good idea, although apparently they both took the money.
I am excited for this movie. I loved the first one and I’m happy that a third might be made.
Go home and sleep it off, then tell us what you think.
yeah - not exactly an un-biased opinion.
Sounds like someobdy recently discovered Rule 34 images and is confusing that with the real thing.
Hank Azaria has nothing to be ashamed of. His Gargamel was very Gargamelish. (Yes, I also have a kid that dragged me to that movie). Didn’t see John Oliver in it. On edit: ah, he did a voice.
Oliver voiced Vanity Smurf. Can’t help but think that they didn’t dare to go full femme for the voice, so they went for an English accent because, well, close enough.
Hazaria is spectacular. So, so good. The first one was terrible in almost everything except him. The hatred in his eyes when talking to a blue gnome or a CGI cat, the way he made funny and entertaining even the most criminally written piece of dialogue, and gave some slapstick performances that would make Buster Keaton weep.
It was- and everybody here will think I’m kidding, but I’m honest to god serious.- an Oscar-worthy performance. Those of you dragged this weekend to a crappy attempt at selling merchandising with very little regard for telling an actual story, take solace in that you are going to see a master Thespian at the top of his game.
You obviously are unfamiliar with Smurfette.
Yes, 8 year olds.
ETA the first one( and probably this one ) was like Citizen Kane compared to a lot of straight to DVD movies that are put out for kids. And 5-8 year olds love them too.
I’m trying to think what was the equivalent 20 years ago. A string of disney musical blockbusters. Kid movies starring kids exclusively like Home Alone, Richie Rich, Blank Check, Kid in King Arthur’s court, Sandlot, the Rookie, Heavyweights, etc. Animal movies like Air Bud, Homeward Bound. The Brave Little Toaster and the Land Before Time.
Hah, and I had almost forgot the Tony Danza vehicle: The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon.
I might be the other spectrum of bias opposite Drunky Smurf but I’d much prefer those movies to the CGI movies of today. Some of those Disney songs are serious works of art. Those kids movies were cheesy and unwatchable if you weren’t indoctrinated at that age, but at least they were cheap. And the rest? The screenplays were original and even if they spawned sequel after sequel after sequel, you have to admire the balls to step forward making a movie about a talking toaster.
I just don’t get why the Smurfs need to be in the real world, amongst humans. That’s just not what they were about. That’s what made the movie feel dumbed down to me–as if kids can’t enjoy anything not set in the real world.
I just checked Wikipedia. The three Alvin movies grossed a total of 1.1 billion dollars. The last one grossed 343 million, so of course there will be a fourth. I’ve spent time with small children (not my own) and there is a market for innocuous, kid-friendly films. Ideally, there are actual good movies for them to watch and ideally the kid-friendly film has something to appeal to the adult taking them to the theater. That, of course, is not always the case.
It took me a while to recognize John Oliver as Vanity. His voice was really toned down and it didn’t really sound like him. He’s joked a lot about the Smurfs on his podcast The Bugle.
I took my daughter last night and she liked it. I thought it was boring, as I do of almost all the things she likes.
Well not literally of course. :o That would be a little silly and I think everybody here knows that.
On this Daily Bugle podcast, John Oliver has been unabashed in his bashing of the movie despite not having seen it and quite open in his willingness to be paid to make bad movies. He also enjoys jokes at the expense of The Love Guru.
And on the other hand, you seem to never get to see live action versions of current cartoons. I’d go see a live action movie based on Futurama or Family Guy regardless of how bad of an idea that is.
I liked the Smurfs as a kid and so was looking forward to the first movie as a nice bit of nostalgia made photorealistic. I liked the visuals and it was very well cast, but I didn’t enjoy the premise of them being in our world. I guess the second one is more of the same so that’s kind of disappointing. I’d like to see one if they were back in their own village for most of the film. An adaptation of King Smurf or Astrosmurf would be sweet.
Remember that a lot of the development cost for a CGI movie is creating the characters in the first place. Once the data’s in the computer, additional animation is comparatively cheap and easy. An analogous principle applied to traditional animation, where the animators underwent a “learning curve”, after which they could draw the characters faster than when they first started out. Sort of like creating a custom tool and die for a machinery part- once the sunk cost is payed, the marginal cost of reusing the die is a lot less. So if the first movie is a success, there’s little reason not to continue an animated franchise as long as it can still make money.