Critic Reviews

The message about never confusing kindness with weakness is a valuable life lesson and a reminder of why the Smurfs are so enduringly beloved.

It’s refreshing to see children’s animation makers use surrealism, instead of winking pop-culture references, to charm adults.

“Smurfs” might be the best of the Smurfs films. It’s an amiable diversion for kids.

A movie that’ll just about keep young viewers’ attention, Smurfs is part Rihanna jukebox musical, and part flimsy attempt to give the little blue critters an identity that’ll stick.

An odyssey that—weird characterizations notwithstanding—is tiresomely unexceptional.

Smurfs is better than its maligned predecessors, but it's still an absolute mess.

Smurfs may be all over the multiverse, but it doesn’t land anywhere worth writing home about.

Every few scenes, there’s a chuckle-worthy bon mot or sight gag, or the animation style will alter radically for some plot-driven reason, but there’s far too much downtime between Smurfs’ sporadic delights.

The script has its moments, and I chuckled a bit at a few points. But what the film lacks is genuine heart and warmth.

This very uninteresting and uninspired story plods along for an hour and a half, though there are some almost-interesting surreal scenes when our heroes find themselves in weird alt-universe dimensions.