Smurfs Rotten Tomatoes Score: Zero

If any childhood television property needed to be remade and funneled into beautiful 3D, it was definitely "The Smurfs."

Most of us, in our spare time, spent the hours sitting back and waiting, patiently, for the day that Hollywood would announce that it was finally releasing a 3D film version of the crudely animated, beloved children's show about a family of blue, potentially socialist creatures based on a comic strip by Belgian artist, "Peyo."

It was only a matter of time.

This weekend those dreams become reality, as "The Smurfs" -- featuring the vocal talents of Neil Patrick Harris, George Lopez, and Katy Perry -- is released across the globe. However, most critics aren't fans thus far. The movie has maintained a steady "zero percent" rating for the past week, with more bad reviews being added day after day.

Here are some fun blurbs from critics:

"Why does the villain Gargamel have a name that sounds like a sore-throat product? Why are there countless male Smurfs and only one female? (The mind boggles.) Why do they only know one song, and why is it so irritating? So many questions."
- Seattle Times

"Advances in CGI have meant that inserting comic strip favourites into live action flicks is now a cheap, often horrifically cheerful way of making a film."
- The Guardian

"[I]ncontinence -- as the result of either as-yet untrained bowels or a terrible adult affliction -- is presumed to be a major concern for the viewer here."
- Flick Filosopher

"The Smurfs may be blue, but their movie is decidedly green, recycling discarded bits from other celluloid Happy Meals like Alvin and the Chipmunks, Garfield, and Hop into something half animated, half live action, and all careful studio calculation."
- Entertainment Weekly

The original TV cartoon version of "The Smurfs" ran from 1981 to 1989 on NBC, while later versions were picked up and rebroadcast on Cartoon Network and Toon Disney. Die-hard Smurfs fans might recall the 1965 film, also based on the original Belgian comic strip, called "Les Aventures des Schtroumpfs" (or "The Adventures of the Smurfs.") That film featured five short Smurf segments in black and white - one of them involved the Smurfs being terrorized by an infectious disease, and another had our blue friends befriending a domesticated dragon.

Despite those snarky critics, will you be seeing the new "Smurfs" film this weekend? Or will you be avoiding this "Marxist Utopia?"

Check out Rotten Tomatoes for more.

Comments

[Gregory White 1]

01:11 AM on 07/30/2011

I would hate to see what their Betty Boop would be like.

[mmkay]

06:33 PM on 07/29/2011

Shocker. Smurfs and Pailin in the out pail. Whass diss worl coming duh?

[biglog]

06:23 PM on 07/29/2011

And you're surprised by this? What exactly were you expecting, universal acclaim?

[Fletch55]

12:42 PM on 07/29/2011

It could have been great but the mixed live action with cgi killed it. They also went so far away from the original smurfs with bad voicing choices and poor character changes it just looks awful. It should have been animated and had some resemblence to the original. i would fire all involved on this as it will be a huge looser and prevent a good smurfs movie from happening.. great guys killed the future and made an awful movie.

[kfodom]

12:06 PM on 07/29/2011

I've always thought of the Smurfs as lees a "family" than a commune.

[TXconfidnz]

12:03 PM on 07/29/2011

I still love the Smurfs after all these years and was hoping that a CG movie would do it justice but I've watched many of my childhood favorites get butchered by technology over the last few years so seeing this assessment wasn't surprising... but I am STILL going to go see it and hope that even if it is a total bomb, the nostalgic value will be enough to carry me over.

[dblan9]

09:58 AM on 07/29/2011

Nonetheless it will be playing in DVD players from coast to coast this fall. There is literally not enough family/kids media to satiate the little ones appetite. Hollywood keeps producing these because the DVD sales alone are a solid investment.

[saysaycollins]

09:24 AM on 07/29/2011

Stop ruining my childhood with 3D and CGI

[spaceytracy91]

08:29 AM on 07/29/2011

....but, but...i love neil patrick harris...

[Atwill]

08:26 AM on 07/29/2011

Most of the time I do not like these movies based on cartoons or TV shows. The moves I did like based on these things were, The Flintstones, The 2 Garfield movies and Scooby Doo. I am waiting for a good live action up date of Johnny Quest.

[Whythehate]

05:48 PM on 07/29/2011

Atwill, check out The Venture Bros. It's a cartoon show (definitely aimed at adults) loosely based on the Johnny Quest meme. More specifically, it's about former "boy adventurers" and how their fathers' insistence on dangerous adventuring has shaped them as adults. No, it's not a movie, nor is it live action, but it's a fantastic and funny show.

BTW, Johnny Quest appears in a handful of episodes (as recovering drug addict "Action Johnny"). Haaji (sp?) is even around once or twice, as well as Race Bannon.

[MaybeMilo]

08:10 AM on 07/29/2011

Why in God's name would somebody think this film would be a good idea?

I can't even imagine...

[mmkay]

06:35 PM on 07/29/2011

There is presumed to be a huge marked for sentimental slop.

[Said One]

04:14 AM on 07/29/2011

You know what was sad for me - is that one goes to Flickr for example and looks at groups just run by ordinary people and if one joins one has to agree to a strict code for some of them - that includes nothing that is NOT family friendly or inappropriate - and if one still persists and adds the photos anyway they get deleted within a minute - and these are ordinary people - HW worth millions can't tell someone cover up and stop corrupting our kids.

[sf omega man]

02:16 AM on 07/29/2011

I guess these are the kinds of brilliant creative concepts one dreams up while inching along the 405.

[liberalbug]

01:53 AM on 07/29/2011

Kids these days don't have a clue what a smurf is. Those who do gave up acid a long time ago.
Hence the lousy ratings for the film.

[LeftLeanWing]

12:42 AM on 07/29/2011

Do they still eat only Smurfberry's and who's knocking smurfboots with Smurfette ?

[Jim Marusak]

02:20 AM on 07/29/2011

smurfberry crunch cereal wasn't that bad.