Story

In this sequel to The Smurfs, it’s revealed that Smurfette (voice of Kate Perry) was originally created by the wicked Gargamel (Hank Azaria) to infiltrate the Smurf village and help him destroy all the Smurfs. But Papa Smurf (Jonathan Winters) cast a spell on her to make her into a real Smurf with a kind heart. This is how Smurfette became part of the Smurf family.Gargamel now plans to get Smurfette back with the aid of a brother and sister that he has created for her. These siblings are called the Naughties – because they’re naughty. Gargamel plans to make Smurfette tell him how she became a Smurf, then change the Naughties into Smurfs. From them, he’ll be able to make many Smurfs. These ‘bad’ Smurfs will take over the Smurf village and create ‘Smurfaggedon’.

Themes

Magic

Violence

There is a lot of comic violence in The Smurfs 2. For example:

  • The Smurfs are always hitting, shoving and kicking each other and also falling from great heights.
  • Gargamel zaps a taxi, which flies into the air and then comes crashing down. It lands on him, but he isn’t hurt. Azrael (voice of Mr Krinkle), his wicked cat, laughs at this as he often does when Gargamel gets hurt.
  • Gargamel falls from the top of the Eiffel Tower, crashing into it several times before landing upside down in a pond.
  • The Naughties often fight and push each other.
  • One of the Smurfs gets an electric shock while trying to switch off electricity. He isn’t hurt.

There are also many scenes showing more realistic violence. For example:

  • When Smurfette first came to live with the Smurfs, she was wicked. A flashback scene shows her hitting a Smurf with a frying pan.
  • The girl Naughty, Vexy (Christina Ricci), arrives in the pool of the Smurf village and grabs Smurfette. They fight before Vexy manages to pull Smurfette into the transport portal.
  • Patrick’s stepfather, Victor (Brendan Gleeson), tries to hit the Smurfs with a baseball bat because he thinks they’re aliens.
  • A baker attacks the boy Naughty, Hackus (J.B. Smoove), with a pizza board.
  • Gargamel zaps people at a fair. They fall to the ground but aren’t hurt. He zaps a huge Ferris wheel, making it come off its moorings and roll through the city. It crushes many people, but no-one is hurt.
  • Gargamel has seven Smurfs in vacuum packs. He sends energy into the packs and causes the Smurfs ‘excruciating’ pain.
  • In the final scene Patrick and Victor smash one of the ‘energy pots’. This causes a huge explosion, which breaks all the vacuum packs and sends everyone flying.

Sexual references

The Smurfs 2 has some sexual references. For example, Victor is changed from a duck to a man while flying with some of the Smurfs. They land in a laundry dump covered in towels. The Smurfs say that Victor is naked. One of them says that he saw ‘despicable things down there’ that will scar him for life.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

None of concern

Nudity and sexual activity

None of concern

Product placement

There is no product placement of concern in The Smurfs 2, but merchandise associated with this movie is being marketed to children.

Coarse language

The Smurfs 2 has some name-calling.

Ideas to discuss with your children

The Smurfs 2 is an animated movie likely to appeal to children.

It has more of a storyline than the first Smurfs movie, and we see more of the villainous Gargamel. Because of this, The Smurfs 2 is probably more suited to older children, but all children – except very young ones – are likely to enjoy it with some parental guidance.

It does have both comic and realistic violence and some scary scenes, which might be too disturbing for children under five years. And at 105 minutes, it’s also too long for this age group.

The main messages from this movie are that it doesn’t matter where you come from – it’s who you choose to be that’s important. The movie also suggests that ‘we rise to the amount of love we’re shown and sink when it drops’.

Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include:

  • the importance of family
  • the ability to choose who we want to be
  • forgiveness
  • acceptance of others.

This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues. For example, you could discuss:

  • whether hurting people and animals is actually funny
  • what would happen in real life if you hurt people and animals.

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