Smurfs – The Lost Village: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
Smurfette and her best friends Brainy, Clumsy and Hefty set on an exciting and thrilling race through the Forbidden Forest filled with magical creatures to find a mysterious lost village before the evil wizard Gargamel does. Embarking on a rollercoaster journey full of action and danger, the Smurfs are on a course that leads to the discovery of the biggest secret in Smurf history!
I’m not going to lie, the last two Smurfs films weren’t really my favorite. That was mainly because the reason that they were half live action and half CG. Stuff like that works for some movies (i.e. Alvin And The Chipmunks) but for some reason it just didn’t hit with me. This movie however corrects all of that and is strictly in CG which I feel makes the film more palatable. I did like the plot a whole lot because it centered around the underlying message of: It’s okay to be different. Those are the kind of stories that kids need to be seeing more often. I did however feel like there were plenty of beats and situations in the film that felt a lot like I was watching Trolls again. It wasn’t a terrible thing nor did it ruin the experience for me but it was a bit odd that it was somewhat similar. Either way the movie was super fun and seeing each Smurf’s personalities in certain situations made me laugh out loud numerous times. It’s not the best animated kids film out there but for family movie night this is one that everyone will enjoy. 7/10
4K Presentation:
Animated films in this format always look fantastic and this film is no different. The clarity of the film looks great and you can see so much detail in pretty much every scene. There is one thing that I did notice however. The color palette does look a bit more dim and not as vibrant as I would’ve expected and the standard Blu-ray does look better in that aspect but everything else about release is very slick.
Special Features:
Demi Lovato Meets Smurfette – The character interviews her own voice actor.
Lost Village Dance Along – Dancers bust a move to one of the songs from the film.
Smurfify Your Nails – A small tutorial on how to make your nails match certain parts of the film.
Kids at Heart! The Making of Smurfs: The Lost Village – A really nice look at the production of the film. The cast and crew talk about the whole process and what they took from the experience.
Making the Song “You Will Always Find Me In Your Heart” – Composer Christopher Lennertz discusses how the song became such an integral part of the film.
The Sound of the Smurfs – The feature looks at the importance of music and sound design in the film.
The Lost Auditions – A few actors audition for parts they didn’t perform.
Baker Smurf’s Mini Kitchen – The culinary Smurf watches someone make tasty treats.
Draw Your Favorite Smurfs – A small tutorial on drawing Smurfette, Brainy, and Clumsy.
Deleted Scenes – Only a few scenes here that are presented in a very early form.
Meghan Trainor “I’m A Lady” Music Video
Audio Commentary With Director Kelly Asbury, Animation Supervisor Alan Hawkins, and Head of Story Brandon Jeffords
