Make more mistake, the plot seems like pretty basic kids’ movie fare, where cute magical creatures get swept away to the REAL WORLD and learn about things like Uber Eats, reckless drivers, and DJ Khaled, and famous actors basically just do their own voices for the characters. There are also some jokes involving the fact that “Smurf” is apparently a curse word for the Smurfs. Ha ha ha.
But unlike the frankly uncanny Smurfs in the 2011 movies (wherein Katy Perry was Smurfette), the Smurfs themselves look really damn good.
The animation style is a cool, almost painterly, blend of 2D and 3D. Smurf Village looks downright magical. It’s a bit The Bad Guys, a splash of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and toward the end of the trailer at least, a dash of Spider-Verse’s funky mix of styles (though we’ll see how much of the movie actually includes that mish-mash). Also! Rihanna’s cover of “Heaven is a Place on Earth” slaps.
In addition to Rihanna as Smurfette, the Smurfs movie also features the voice talents of John Goodman and Nick Offerman, with James Corden, JP Karliak, Daniel Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Winter, Maya Erskine, Billie Lourd, and Xolo Maridueña, all in mysterious undisclosed roles.
Smurfs hits theaters on July 18.
