This reboot will not blue you away.

There have been three movie realities of the Smurfs where these three apples high blue creatures have sounded more like movie stars than Smurfs. In the live-action movies in 2011 and 2013, they sounded like Katy Perry, George Lopez, and Jonathan Winters. In “Smurfs: The Lost Village” in 2017, they sounded like Demi Lovato, Julia Roberts, and Jack McBrayer. And now in 2025 with the simple title “Smurfs,” they sound like Rihanna, John Goodman, Kurt Russell, Nick Offerman, James Corden, Sandra Oh, and Bill himself Alex Winter. I think we can agree that these Smurfs are trying to channel on the success of the “Trolls” franchise with the upbeat music and the assumption that ever since Perry, Smurfette has to sound like a pop star. And that’s why Rihanna voices her.

The drawing style in this reboot is close to Peyo’s drawing, and closer than in 2011, 2013, and 2017, but the animation quality diminishes it and is too scared to even reach the stylized animation of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” or “The Peanuts Movie.” At one point late in the movie, a chase sequence has many dimensions, but barely in the nostalgic sense.

This time, “Smurfs” basically combines themes of the last two movie attempts by placing these blue characters in a live action world and by having a new girl Smurf-a spy Smurf named Moxie (voiced by Oh). The live-action humans apparently don’t even notice that these Smurfs are riding on drink trays or running in the streets of Paris. The only animated humans in that world are the evil wizard Gargamel (voiced by JP Karliak), his more evil brother Razamel (also voiced by Karliak), and his personal assistant Joel (voiced by Dan Levy). And also, Moxie runs the International Neighborhood Watch Smurfs-Paris Division-but she’s barely used in the story.

There are some new Smurfs with arbitrary names. For example, No Name Smurf (voiced by Corden) wants to find the name that can distinguish himself. Kick A** Smurf is out of the question, and we have Sound Effect Smurf censoring that out. Then comes a magic book (voiced by Amy Sedaris), who gives him magic powers, and he accidentally sends Papa Smurf (voiced by Goodman) in another dimension. So No Name, Smurfette, and the others (including a turtle for some reason) must find Papa’s brother Ken (voiced by Offerman) and furry creatures known as Snooterpoots (Natasha Lyonne voices their leader Mama Poot) to save him.

I think Karliak is the one who tries to honor Paul Winchell as Gargamel, while others like Hank Azaria and Rainn Wilson had wasted potential. He’s a cartoon voice actor with credits like “Wabbit” and “Tiny Toons Looniversity,” so that should make sense that he’s cast here.

Rihanna is a big talent, but for some reason her talents aren’t able to carry movies. She has done some good acting in “Home” “Ocean’s Eight,” and “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planet,” but it wasn’t enough to save those movies. She had a hilarious cameo in “This is the End,” so in a way, that would be her best movie. In “Smurfs,” the movie oversells her talents, and basically has her promoting new music, instead of completely acknowledging what makes a Smurfette more than a lump of clay created by Gargamel and redeemed by Papa Smurf. At least she’s not tied to a bed like The Weeknd in “Hurry Up Tomorrow.”

“Smurfs” is now distributed by Paramount Animation, and I suppose the look and feel is supposed to be reminiscent of the recent “SpongeBob” movies (like the successful “Sponge Out of Water” and the very weak “Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie”). But if you’re an adult who has seen a lot of better animated films and want to have that crossover appeal, you deserve better. The little kids might enjoy this movie, but I’m not a little kid.

And on a small note, “Smurfs” is preceded by a lost “SpongeBob” episode called “Order Up,” in which the Nickelodeon sea sponge annoys Squidward with the order up bell. It’s supposed to work as a dialogue free short like the “Reef Blower” episode from the 90s, but personally I’ll stick to Beavis playing with the drill in class.