In this day and age when Hollywood seems like its scrapping the bottom of the barrel everything is being remade, rebooted, and recreated. There is no more hollowed ground, even for board games, and the latest to find themselves on the big screen is Peyo’s Les - Schtroumpfs or as we know them in the states, The Smurfs.

Going into this film with no expectations was a reasonably easy feat seeing as how I’d been here before with films like The Chipmunks and Mister Poppers Penguins. As the film began and we find ourselves in Smurf village I instantly felt like the director had gotten it right. The Smurfs were their usual character stereotypes; Brainy, Vanity, Smurfette, and the rest. Even the village instantly brought on a sense of nostalgia as I gazed upon the familiar. Of course the trouble I sensed with this film was the fact that our favorite little blue friends end up dropping into the real world and live action actors mingling with CGI characters was going to be a real issue. There’s also Hollywood’s history of taking the childish aspects of some beloved kids pop culture icon and splashing them over with adult innuendo’s. While the film does manage to over use the word Smurf in ways that are suggestive the movie is relatively tame without becoming condescending towards children and boring for adults.

Fortunately the turn out for this particular screening was well balanced with both children and adults, and as the film progressed I found myself being infected by the amount of laughter in the theater. Nothing breaks the ice between one viewer and a film their holding out on then the participation of the crowd, and the crowd had every reason to laugh and be entertained. The 3D for The Smurfs, while not overtly exciting has its moments that truly blow most 3D movies out of the water. Sure they were a bit gimmicky at times but the balance between a great story and the use of 3D effects without patronizing the audience made for some memorable moments in the film. Far separating itself from its predecessors with an excellent little adventure and solid acting throughout The Smurfs feels like the first really good archive cartoon turned big screen movie that works. As always, final judgment is yours. Enjoy.