So the first Smurfs movie was better. But this one has more than it's fair share of moments too. Is it predictable? Yes! But does it have a coherent theme running through it concerning parent hood and moral message that might be a bit hammered into our heads? Yes, though it's still acceptable and doesn't overdo it.

The movie is aimed at kids and while Pixar has shown us you can do that without forgetting about the parents/adults, this doesn't mean every animated movie has to be like that. There can and should be movies like Smurfs too. The success was there, but the rating suggest that many people might have watched under duress or being forced to. It's unfortunate if you couldn't enjoy some nice little family entertainment. I'm a cynic too, but I could relax with this. It's really not that bad

The success of the first live animation Smurfs film obviously meant a sequel in the works to cash in. This was playing over and over and my kids grooved on its repeated viewings. Sufficed to say, I was actually off today and tuned in and out to it over the four or so times it was on.

Smurfette was once a creation of Gargamel's (Hank Azaria, having such a good time), and thanks to Papa Smurf (and his convenient magic), she was rescued from a life of pure evil. Turned blue and provided a new lease on life, Smurfette insulated herself within the Smurf society. Of course, the two films felt the need to transplant the Smurfs into the alternate world of us humans, and so they met Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mayes in The Big City. At first, the Smurfs caused much aggravation, annoyance, and trouble, but soon were welcomed and loved by their human friends. In the sequel, Harris and Mayes, married and celebrating a birthday with their son, named Blue (after their Smurf friends), join forces with Papa Smurf and his "B-Team" (his typical team of Brainy and Hefty got left behind when a choking incident caused created "travel crystals" to fall into the mouths of others) to rescue Gargamel-captured Smurfette.

Equipped with a specially made sword by Gargamel in an attempt to seize her affections, and often told of how she is his daughter, Smurfette finds herself under much pressure to determine where she belongs…with him or the Smurfs. Who is her true family? Gargamel, of course, desires the magic spell used by Papa to turn her blue in a grand diabolical plan to…wait for it…take over the planet and have us grovel to him.

With the likes of the late Jonathan Winters (that marvelous voice and face produced a lot of laughs, but I remember him best in the Twilight Zone episode, opposite Jack Klugman, in A Game of Pool), Katy Perry, Christina Ricci, George Lopez, Anton Yelchin, Fred Armisen and Jeff Foxworthy as the voices of the Smurfs, and use of our world (most of the setting is Paris) as a backdrop for them (the Smurf village is also given some significant screen time as the Smurfs are planning Smurfette's birthday party), there's prime entertainment value for…mostly kids, and a few adults. Watching it, I can't really say this was aimed for too much of an adult audience, but is a perfectly fine family film. It even provides Brendan Gleeson a rare comedic role as Harris' stepdad; Gleeson has one of those fun-loving, energetic characters that Harris is embarrassed by because of his jovial behavior and scenery chewing. Eventually Gleeson is involved in the Smurfette rescue, turned into a duck (!) at one point by Gargamel. Gargamel's shtick involves popular magic shows in theatrical settings to much fanfare, but he has that evil itch to cause very bad things. Gargamel creates two new "anti-Smurfs" (Ricci and JB Smooth) to help him "indoctrinate" Smurfette, and achieve his masterplan. But those Smurfs soon kindle a friendship with Smurfette which throws a monkey wrench in Gargamel's plans. As much as computer-generated Smurfs might have me longing to watch the old cartoon (not *that* much but close), this is the way it is so I'm not about to go on a belly-aching old fart rant about taking beloved characters that were popular when I was a kid and cosmetically re-envisioning them for today's audience. It is what it is. Azaria, fully immersed in his evil wizard role with rat-like teeth, doesn't have a subtle bone in his portrayal.