The new Smurfs movie brings back old memories. (Photo Illustration: Annelise Capossela for Yahoo News, photos: Paramount Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection)Hello, Yahoo readers. I'm Suzy Byrne, and I've been covering entertainment in this space for over a decade.I'll be the first to tell you I'm no hardcore cinema buff. Since I had a child, though, I've made it a point to see as many kid-friendly movies as possible. Maybe it's because I'm a big kid ✔ and love a cheerful ending ✔. But also, as a busy working parent, is there greater joy than getting two hours to turn off your phone and put up your feet while your child is fully entertained?!So that's what this is - one entertainment reporter + her 10-year-old child + friends seeing family-friendly fare, indulging in film-themed treats and replying all to you about the experience. Welcome to Kids' Movie Club.
Now playing: SmurfsSometimes my kid picks the movie we sit down to watch, like Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires and A Minecraft Movie. Other times, it's my inner child calling the shots - the one who grew up religiously watching The Smurfs during Saturday morning cartoons back in the day.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementI may groan about the sequels and remakes now playing these days, but there's a certain comfort in familiarity. The two moms I went to the theater with also felt that nostalgic pull. As I reclined my seat and dropped my hand into the greasy popcorn bowl (hey, didn't I say no butter?), I'm taken right into that world - in this case, the one where little blue creatures, three apples high, live in a colorful, hidden mushroom village and dodge villains in patched robes with feisty cats.
Yes, this mostly animated, part-live-action flick is one as much for the grown-ups as the kids. Case in point: Rihanna voices Smurfette and debuts new music. That flew right over the heads of the 6-year-olds in the theater, but the adults and the Rih Navy? Very aware. There are also bleeped bad words and Smurfette talking about what happens to "handsy" men. There are jokes about forgetting to unmute on work video calls and, for '80s kids, a cover of '80s goddess Belinda Carlisle's hit "Heaven Is a Place on Earth."In the PG flick, clocking in at 1 hour, 29 minutes and featuring a star-studded voice cast, the kids enjoyed the free-flowing humor throughout. Though, for the other original watchers, not from Jokey Smurf, who's apparently been retired from the crew. A character giving everyone exploding boxes lands different in 2025.
There's also an uplifting message about finding your purpose, as No Name (voiced by James Corden) tries to discover what he's good at - just like Brainy, Hefty and the rest of the largely blue man crew.
The plot 🎬The story jumps, skips and detours into chaos, but here's the general idea: No Name gets magical abilities from a talking book named Jaunty (Amy Sedaris). He shows them to Papa (John Goodman) - I've found my thing! - and in doing so alerts Gargamel's even more sinister brother Razamel (both wizards voiced by JP Karliak) as to the location of the Smurfs' village.
Papa Smurf was Smurfnapped by Gargamel's brother, Razamel, setting off a global mission to get him back. (Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection)Papa Smurf gets Smurfnapped, prompting Smurfette and No Name to go on a Smurfs world tour - to France, Germany and Australia - to try and get him back. Along the way, they meet a dizzying number of new characters - Papa's brother Ken (Nick Offerman), friend Ron (Kurt Russell), the furry but fierce Snooterpoots, the Alliance of Evil Wizards and the International Neighborhood Watch Smurfs - who require an org chart to keep straight.
Our viewing party 🍿Three moms, three 10-year-old girls and my husband, who slept through a good portion of the film but somehow remembered every plot point better than the rest of us. The theater was out of blue slushies, but we survived - like true '80s latchkey kids who got themselves up, fixed their own breakfast (Smurf Berry Crunch, anyone?) and made it to school on their own.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt was a cozy scene: My daughter had won Smurf plushies for the other kids in a claw machine while on vacation, so they all had those friends. (More stuffies! 🙄) One girl even brought her blanket from home.
Smurf swag for our movie date: Papa, Smurfette and Brainy. (Yahoo Entertainment)Parts that had the kids talking 👧🏻👧🏻👧🏻Smurfette didn't have that much to do beyond being supportive, but the kids were still stans. They enjoyed learning her backstory about Gargamel making her from clay to sow discord among the Smurfs. She later had a mic-drop moment with the villains, saying just because she was created by someone bad doesn't mean she has to be: "Who I am is up to me."Smurfette with No Name and Mama Poot in a bag of takeout before she devoured the fries. (Paramount Pictures /Courtesy Everett Collection)Other Smurfette highlights included when she momen