Smurfs (2025) Parent Guide

In Smurf Village everyone has a “Thing”, everyone that is, except No Name (James Corden), who can’t seem to figure out what he’s good despite his best efforts. While expressing his wish in the forest one day, he suddenly develops the ability to perform magic. But when he shows the village his newfound ability, No Name unwittingly alerts the evil wizard Razamel (JP Karliak) to their location, who promptly Smurf-naps Papa Smurf (John Goodman). Desperate to save him, No Name, Smurfette (Rhianna), and a group of their Smurf friends enter a magical portal and experience an adventure they couldn’t imagine.

Remember in the 1980s when almost every show for children was nothing more than an extended advertisement for toys? That’s what this movie feels like except instead of selling toys they’re selling an album. Every song in this “musical” feels like it was written to be as bland as possible in order to appeal to a broad demographic. Not a single one of the original songs is catchy or interesting. The only good song the entire runtime is Rhianna’s “Please Don’t Stop the Music” playing in the background of a scene, but that came out in 2007, so it doesn’t count.

Smurfs is a lazy movie made by people just looking to make some money; not to create anything worthwhile. What I truly cannot understand is the casting. The production was able to pull in some all-star talent including Nick Offerman, Amy Sedaris, Kurt Russell, and Natasha Lyonne but they decided that their leads should be Rhianna and James Corden. It’s a baffling decision and it killed the movie before it even started. The story and writing are weak at best, with almost no laughs to break up the boredom. I was in a theater full of preschoolers and I think I heard two audible laughs the entire runtime.

Lest I be accused of relentless negativity, I must say the animation is fantastic. The 2D style is well done with gorgeous backgrounds and some fun visuals. Once the animation moves into the real world it doesn’t look as good, but the fully animated scenes are stunning. I do think there are some fun components, like Razamel’s eager assistant Joel (Dan Levy), and the interactions between Razamel and Gargamel (both played by JP Karliak). But those small moments of brilliance are no match for the sheer stupidity of the production as a whole.

The script delivers clear messages around teamwork, resilience, and self-confidence that children are sure to pick up on, but the incoherent story and grating music are not worth those lessons. There is little negative content to note, aside from some general cartoon violence and a couple of bleeped out expletives, but in my opinion, those don’t matter when weighed against the poor writing, bland music, and inconsistent performances, which makes Smurfs a poor choice for anyone of any age.

About author

Savannah Sillito

Savannah Sillito is a librarian with a master's in library science, a bachelor's degree in English, and a certificate in early childhood education. She enjoys nonfiction books, travel, and is a staunch proponent of the Oxford comma.