Publication Date: 07-21-2025

Smurfs (2025) review

Dir. Chris Miller

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★

Rihanna is Smurfette. Haven’t you heard? Nearly every poster, one-sheet, trailer, and TV commercial for the new Smurfs movie makes the bold proclamation. Rihanna is also a producer on the film, credited as her legal name, “Robyn Rihanna Fenty,” so you know it’s serious. The declaration that “Rihanna is Smurfette” is so brazenly apparent on nearly every piece of paratext for this film that it might as well be its tagline. This iteration of Smurfs is a musical, and it’s a real pity the blue cretins didn’t break out into singing “S&M” at any point.

Whatever. I guess it’s no weirder than this being the third cinematic iteration of The Smurfs in the last 14 years. Raja Gosnell helmed the first two films for Sony Pictures Animation, and there was a separate, fully-animated feature released back in 2017 to little fanfare. Peyo‘s material certainly has gone the distance, although I still don’t understand the longevity of the diminutive blue creatures that, for decades, have done so much on TV and in film yet leave very little impact. Now it’s Paramount’s turn to keep the intellectual property alive and well.

In Smurfs, our main characters are No Name Smurf (voiced by James Corden) and Smurfette (Rihanna, who is Smurfette). In the middle of No Name trying to figure out what makes him special, so he can have a proper designation like his peers Clumsy, List Maker, Brainy Worry, and Sound Effects Smurf, he accidentally opens up a magical portal that leads to Razamel (JP Karliak), Gargamel’s brother. Papa has a magic book that could lead to Razamel and Gargamel (also Karliak) taking over the world or some cockamamie thing. The elder state-Smurf leaves a message to his kin to seek the assistance of his red-bearded brother, Ken (Nick Offerman), in order to get bring back.

To say Smurfs is more of a nothing-burger as opposed to an unmitigated disaster feels like a win in some regards. The animation is bright and lively, for it lightly echoes some of the style of the 2D versions of the cartoon characters. Moreover, for being a musical, there really aren’t very many songs featured. That said, the two that are (James Corden’s “Always On The Outside” and Rihanna’s “Friend of Mine”) are remarkably good, and despite being downtempo cuts, they do their part to invigorate an otherwise run-of-the-mill story.

The middling script is somewhat surprising because, unlike most animated movies, this one only bears one credited writer in Pam Brady, whose resume includes everything from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and the upcoming SpongeBob Movie sequel. Brady’s script does a fair job at making sure most of the primary members of the Smurfs clan get at least a couple beats, including Sound Effects Smurf, who drops a couple well-timed “bleeps” when No Name’s language gets a little salty. Overall, there’s just an aura of familiarity plaguing the film, especially when the Smurfs find themselves in (live-action) Paris. It doesn’t hit the same after we saw them crash-land into the Big Apple.

Smurfs was directed by Chris Miller. No, not the same Chris Miller who co-directed The LEGO Movie and The Mitchells vs. The Machines. This Chris Miller has had his hands in the Shrek and Madagascar franchise. I feel like if a contemporary of mine had the same name as myself (in the same field no less), I’d adopt a middle initial. Perhaps this Chris Miller mulled over billing himself as “Chris M. Miller,” but there wasn’t enough room on the poster once Rihanna signed on as a voice actor.

Voiced by: James Corden, Rihanna, Nick Offerman, JP Karliak, John Goodman, Kurt Russell, Dan Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Jimmy Kimmel, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Winter, and Maya Erskine. Directed by: Chris Miller.