Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Smurfs: The Lost Village 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 9, 2017

It's The Smurfs as everyone knows and loves them, but it's not The Smurfs as audiences have come to embrace them in recent years. While The Lost Village follows the (further/re-imagined) adventures of everyone's favorite little blue forest-dwellers, this latest film detours from Sony's last two, ditching the live-action/animated hybrid presentation in favor of an all-digital movie that all but ignores the previous two entries and treks out on its own. That comes with plusses and minuses. Gone is the humor and charm and novelty of The Smurfs wandering around a foreign, human-inhabited world. Gone are the human actors, perhaps the biggest loss of all for this film. On the plus side is a film that's more focused on the title characters, showing them as they exist in their own world and on their own adventure independent of real-world interference and more in-lin with classic Smurfs stories. With the first two films earning tidy profits over budget and considering their widespread popularity, it was a gamble to reimagine the whole thing (not that Sony is any stranger to such a thing) and take the franchise in a new, yet still very familiar, direction. The result: a fun little movie that doesn't exceed expectations but that holds its own well enough and portends yet another sequel in a few years.

Smurfette (voiced by Demi Lovato) is...different...than all of the other Smurfs. She's a girl, for one, and the only girl at that, but her name also says nothing about her. All of the other Smurfs are named after an attribute, something they do well, and do often. One day, exploring the world around her village, she's captured by the evil but largely incompetent wizard Gargamel (voiced by Rainn Wilson). Her capture ultimately allows Gargamel to get a fix on the fabled "Lost Village" that, if it's populated by Smurfs, he can use to increase his powers exponentially. Smurfette is rescued and she and several of her friends -- Clumsy (voiced by Jack McBrayer), Brainy (voiced by Danny Pudi), and Hefty (voiced by Joe Manganiello) -- set out on an adventure to locate the Lost Village before Gargamel and save whoever -- or whatever -- might live there from his evil ways.

The Lost Village may not be directly related to the previous two films, but it does, in a matter of moments, essentially recap part of the previous film's plot that explored Smurfette's origins, telling the story, in very condensed fashion, of how she was "made" by Gargamel and why she is the only female Smurf. Of course, the rest of the movie only builds on that, in its own way, as she and a few of her male Smurf companions discover a whole new world, as it were, inhabited by something very familiar yet very, very different. Along the way, the film follows basic animated film action and adventure elements. Various creatures attack the party along the way, they meet some strange and unique friends, and they're always on the run from Gargamel and his feline companion who is always one step ahead of his master. The film uses the magical Smurf world to its advantage. Adventure on land, on water, and even in the skies is commonplace. It's nothing new -- most every animated film follows essentially the same basic patterns -- but this film does it with enough spunk, color, and sound to mask any deficiencies in core novelty while still ramping up creativity in how things look, sound, and in the way the protagonists and antagonists adventure through it all.

The film does miss its human characters. The largest absence in the film, by a massive margin, is Hank Azaria, whose work as the boneheaded evil wizard Gargamel in the first two films was truly second to none, in this reviewer's opinion one of the all-time great comedic villain performances in movie history. The actor's verbal cadence and physical mannerisms alike gave life to the hybrid films in a way that this animated Gargamel, who looks much more like his original animated counterpart and comes competently, but not amazingly, voiced by Rainn Wilson, cannot come close to achieving. It wasn't special effects, it wasn't color, it wasn't sight and sound, it was a man in a bald cap and a patchwork robe that really made the first two films. Here, all of that charm and energy are gone in a stale recreation of the iconic villain. Beyond, the Smurfs look identical. There appears to have been no tinkering to the digital structure and color, and the magical world in which they live appears no worse for the transition to all-digital, either. The movie is certainly serviceable, adequately funny and humorously adventurous. It just doesn't have the character of the live action films working in its favor.

Smurfs: The Lost Village 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.

Smurfs: Lost Village was reportedly finished at 2K, making this UHD, presumably, an upscale from that master. The UHD, clocking in at the basic 2160p resolution, offers a mild upgrade in textural nuance and stability over the Blu-ray. Everything is a touch more firm here. The Smurf hats and shorts show a little more clarity of fabric, down at the more dense and finely detailed layer. Smurf skin shows a hint of added texture. Environments enjoy a small increase in sharpness and clarity. The move from 1080p to 2160p is marginal. The Blu-ray is more than capable of revealing the movie's textural nuances, and the UHD offers a cleaner, more precise image, but it's not so much improved that Blu-ray viewers would be missing any significant information. The HDR color palette tones down the movie's cheerfulness a bit. Colors are deeper and more dense. Smurf blue isn't quite as punchy, the image a little less bright and shiny. There's clearly more color nuance; small transitions in Smurf skin, for example, are more obvious. Brighter shades out in the magical world through which the characters adventure enjoy a little more precision and diversity at the finest transitional levels. On the other hand, the movie could be said to look better on Blu-ray, with the punchier, more showy colors playing into the film's diversity of palette and general cheerfulness. That said, the UHD is no slouch. It's not dim or dull in the least, but switching back and forth does reveal a fair bit more brilliance on Blu-ray, more accuracy on the UHD. In this case, advantage Blu-ray. With the better colors on Blu but slightly better detailing on the UHD, this one's more or less of a wash.

Smurfs: The Lost Village 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Blu-ray release of Smurfs: The Lost Village delivers a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack that's pretty much perfect under those parameters, but it takes only a few key moments in the UHD's Atmos presentation to truly appreciate how much better things can be on this side of the additional speakers. The track opens up in a seriously fun and active way. Transitional details that move from speaker to speaker are much more precise. The sense of fullness and wide-open space is multiplied greatly here. Smaller effects are not necessarily amplified, but more distinct and more precisely placed that they seem more prominent yet more finely folded into the overall experience. The top layer channels are active, alive and very much kicking during action scenes. Elements swoop and sling and zip about the stage with uncanny precision. Various big chases sequences are reference quality all the way for the Atmos format. Meanwhile, musical clarity remains stellar, while coverage is increased and the seamlessness around the listener is more tight and precise. Dialogue remains firmly positioned the front-center and features lifelike clarity with every syllable. Even if the picture isn't a serious boost, this audio track is worth the UHD's price of admission.

Smurfs: The Lost Village 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Beyond Sony's usual cast and crew photo gallery and collection of Moments (2160p/HDR/Atmos) which include Gargamel & Azrael, The Forbidden Forest, The Lost Village, and Smurfy Moments, all of the extras are included on the Blu-ray disc. The lone exception is the audio commentary track, which is present on both discs. A UV digital copy code is included with purchase.

• Emoji Sneak Peek (1080p, 2:05): A trailer for the upcoming film.
• Audio Commentary: Director Kelly Asbury, Animation Supervisor Alan Hawkins, and Head of Story Brandon Jeffords offer a rewarding, detailed, and diverse commentary that explores the movie in a number of different areas, large scale and anecdotal alike.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 7:35 total runtime): Included are Smurfberry Blast, Brainy's Experiment, Bridge Escape, and Gargamel's Lair. Scenes are preceded by a title card and a brief text description. Scenes are presented not in finished form but rather basic, early depictions with only a little bit of occasional color.
• Kids at Heart! The Making of Smurfs: The Lost Village (1080p, 9:12): Cast and crew talk up the moviemaking process, covering the joys of making the film, voice actors, animation, and more. Children stand in at times for the adults who made the film, demonstrating the light, childlike atmosphere of the entire process.
• The Lost Auditions (1080p, 4:14): Actors audition for roles they didn't perform.
• Demi Lovato Meets Smurfette (1080p, 1:01): Smurfette interviews her own voice actress.
• Lost Village Dance Along (1080p, 3:10): Dancers move to the beat of one of the film's songs.
• Smurfify Your Nails (1080p, 2:23): Learn how to paint nails that match bits of the movie.
• Baker Smurf's Mini Kitchen (1080p, 4:07): The Smurfs' culinary genius watches a human whip up some miniature treats.
• Music Video (1080p, 2:48): "I'm a Lady" by Meghan Trainor.
• Making the Song "You Will Always Find Me In Your Heart" (1080p, 3:00): Composer Christopher Lennertz discusses how a song become a key part of the film's climactic and most emotionally powerful scene.
• The Sound of the Smurfs (1080p, 3:44): A discussion of how sound elements and music enhanced the movie's visuals.
• Draw Your Favorite Smurfs (1080p, 7:42 total runtime): This staple of animated film supplemental packages shows viewers how to draw several characters: Smurfette, Brainy, and Clumsy.
• See More Smurfs! (1080p): Trailers for The Smurfs, The Smurfs 2, The Smurfs: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow , Smurfs: A Christmas Carol, and the Smurfs Bubble Story mobile game.
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

Smurfs: The Lost Village 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Smurfs: The Lost Village is perfectly serviceable, and even generally fun, family entertainment. It's not particularly unique in structure or even style, maintaining the same core digital pieces as the hybrid animated/live action films. The movie suffers greatly from the loss of Hank Azaria; even keeping the voice would have done wonders for the film. As it is Gargamel falls from "classic villain" to "dull villain." The movie otherwise works well enough but never stands out in any meaningful way. The UHD's 2160p/HDR visual experience is fine but not a particularly huge upgrade over the Blu-ray, and that format's punchier colors might suit the film better, anyway. The Atmos soundtrack is terrific. Supplements are generous. Recommended.