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Smurfin' USA

Let's face it: Smurfs are ridiculous. Little, blue and nearly identical, they live in oversized mushrooms in an enchanted forest. There is only one female in an entire village full of males. They randomly substitute the word "smurf" to mean pretty much anything. And that song... the Smurf theme song has the distinction of rivaling only "It's a Small World" in its annoyingness. "The Smurfs" movie, directed by Raja Gosnell ("Scooby Doo", "Beverly Hills Chihuahua"), and starring the likes of Neil Patrick Harris and Katy Perry, is gleefully aware of all of this. And it doesn't let you forget it.

If you were a child of the eighties, the Smurfs need no introduction - they're as much a part of your pop culture vernacular as "The Dukes of Hazzard", or "You Can't Do That on Television". Those of a younger generation are not so lucky (or maybe it's the other way around): the Saturday morning staple went off the air in 1990, never to be heard of again... until now. Not to worry, though. Not much has changed in Smurf Village. The Smurfs are still, well, smurfing, and Gargamel (played by Hank Azaria) is still bumbling around trying to catch them.

And he almost does! As the Smurfs all prepare for their blue moon celebration, Clumsy Smurf ("Star Trek"'s Anton Yelchin) - a very effective plot device - inadvertently lets Gargamel (and, of course, his cat Azrael) into the Village! What's a Smurf to do? Run - most to safety, but a handful down a wrong turn (thanks, Clumsy!) that lands them smack in the middle of, yep, Central Park in New York City. Gargamel follows and soon our little blue buddies are not only evading his evil clutches, but also trying to find their way home. Along the way (thanks Clumsy!), they fall in with Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris) and Grace ("Glee"'s Jayma Mays), expectant parents who find themselves reluctant guardians of some very strange houseguests.

The film is a combination of live action and computer animation. As you would expect, the Smurfs are animated and New York's citizens are live. Sadly, Gargamel flounders somewhere in between. Try as he might, Hank Azaria never quite finds the right pitch - a flaw of the direction more than the acting. His over-the-top, slapstick antics will be a crowd-pleaser for the kiddies, but as an adult, they're so out of place against the backdrop of normalcy, it's hard to watch.

The rest of the cast fares much better. Mr Harris does well as the straight man; Ms Mays is an adorable bff to Katy Perry's Smurfette. The voice talent is an all-star lineup: Alan Cumming as Gutsy, George Lopez as Grouchy, "SNL"'s Fred Arminsen as Brainy and Jonathan Winters (who was in the original series) as Papa. They bring the right energy to their diminutive characters and seem to enjoy doing it.

The smurfiverse doesn't provide a particularly rich canon, but the screenplay (co-written by J. David Stern, David N Weiss, Jay Scherick and David Ronn) is actually pretty cute. Children will enjoy the physical humor and well-used 3D, though there isn't much for their folks, who are likely to get bored. Try as it might to be "Enchanted", it's still a movie about Smurfs. It's not high art, but there are worse ways to spend a hot afternoon with the kids. Just smurf with it.