A garbled pantomime, nihilistically uninterested in its own cinematic existence, The Smurfs 2 isn’t complete garbage. Originally created by Gargamel, and thus an affront to Smurf God, Smurfette (Katy Perry, whimpering a lot) worries her blasphemous nature will eventually cause the all-male Smurf community which lusts after her to stop paying attention. Now a world-famous stage magician, Gargamel (Hank Azaria) uses this to his advantage by sending his “Naughty,” Vexy (Christina Ricci), to Smurf-nap her. Original human companions Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays return to help their tiny monster friends. The couple are sweet, with Harris investing some pathos into a drawn-out subplot where he learns to accept the love of his stepfather (Brendan Gleeson, who gets turned into a duck). Like its predecessor, The Smurfs 2 wears its heart on its sleeve, but that message is only skin deep. The filmmakers, actors, even the characters seem bored with all this Smurfing around.
This article appears in Aug 1-7, 2013.