92 min | PG | July 18, 2025 | Paramount Pictures
Chris Miller reboots the Smurfs with an all-star voice cast led by Rihanna. The film chooses chaos over charm and drowns in frantic energy that never coheres.
Animated reboots of nostalgic IP face a simple choice. Honor what made the original work or reinvent completely. Smurfs attempts both and achieves neither. The blue creatures live in their mushroom village until Papa Smurf gets kidnapped by evil wizards. Smurfette leads a rescue mission into the real world. The premise is standard. The execution is scattershot. The film throws jokes, songs, and celebrity voices at the screen without rhythm or purpose.
Rihanna voices Smurfette and brings genuine star power. She recorded original songs for the film and performs them with commitment. The music is the best thing here. James Corden voices a Smurf with his usual manic energy. Nick Offerman, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Octavia Spencer, Kurt Russell, John Goodman all lend their voices to an overcrowded cast where no one gets room to create character. Everyone is doing bits. None of the bits connect.
Chris Miller directed The Lego Movie and Spider-Verse and understands how to build animated worlds with visual personality and emotional stakes. This one feels like studio interference won. The animation is bright and competent but visually anonymous. The film cannot decide if it wants to be for young children or nostalgic adults. The humor aims at both and lands with neither. The real-world sequences are poorly integrated. The magical elements are introduced and abandoned.
Pam Brady’s script has ideas about family and courage and self-worth. The film never slows down enough to develop any of them. This is ninety minutes of noise disguised as family entertainment. The Smurfs deserve better. So do children.