The Smurfs 2 panders to children, offering nothing more than a series of fart jokes and pratfalls, for the obvious purpose of cashing in on an already established fan base.

| Original Score: D- | Apr 23, 2015

In this obnoxiously peppy 3D sequel, "smurf" is an all-purpose prefix that the anaemic script uses when words fail. Which is often.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 12, 2013

Yes, this is the point in the summer when I outsource my critical judgment to my kids.

| Aug 7, 2013

The sonorous voice of the late Winters in the role of wise Papa Smurf will have old-timers pine for the zaniness that comic genius could inspire in his prime. If only The Smurfs 2 had a smidgen of that madness.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 2, 2013

The Smurfs 2 reaches an apex, of sorts, when Brendan Gleeson plummets from the sky into a dumpster, entirely naked and covered in Smurfs.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 2, 2013

Smurfs 2 doesn't have to reach very high to meet our low expectations, but even then the strained, witless movie about thumb-sized, magical blue creatures proves to have a short grasp.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 2, 2013

A painless holidaykiller, if not terribly worthwhile.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 1, 2013

"The Smurfs 2" probably isn't any worse than you might expect. On the other hand, it's almost certainly not any better.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 1, 2013

Reluctant parents: you don't need to tell your kids that you won't love them if they like "The Smurfs 2." Instead, you can silently judge them until either you and/or they simply can't bear the thought of talking to each other.

| Original Score: 0.5/4 | Aug 1, 2013

Not so much of a film as it is a collection of images and sounds that bludgeon you.

| Original Score: 3.5/10 | Jul 31, 2013

It would be too much to say that there's a good movie somewhere inside Smurfs 2 looking to get out. But it wouldn't be too much to say that sometimes, the movie we do have tries harder than we might expect.

| Jul 31, 2013

The trouble with this stunted sequel is that the doughy, blobby-hatted Smurfs are mostly window dressing for an abrasive slapstick bash built around a tiresome kidnap plot ...

| Original Score: C | Jul 31, 2013

Sure, "The Smurfs 2" is a movie meant for kids, not adults. That's no excuse for it being terrible.

| Jul 31, 2013

No fun whatsoever.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 31, 2013

Only adults with 'Smurf-holm syndrome' could love this film.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Jul 31, 2013

There's a dark and gratuitously negative vibe to "The Smurfs 2" that makes it unfit even for the undiscriminating young moviegoers that made the first one a hit.

| Original Score: 0/4 | Jul 31, 2013

I found "The Smurfs 2" to be more enjoyable and far less obnoxious than [the original]. This, of course, is like saying having a cavity filled is preferable to a root canal, but in the dog days of the summer blockbuster season, beggars can't be smurfers.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 31, 2013

What is it with the Smurfs? Why do people like them? Why have people always liked them?

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 31, 2013

Voicing Papa Smurf here turned out, alas, to be comedian Jonathan Winters' final role. (A crueler fate than Orson Welles signing off with 1986's animated "The Transformers: The Movie"? You be the judge.)

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 31, 2013

This insipid, and sometimes awkward, blend of animation, computer generation and live action wastes a ton of talent and lacks a true sense of whimsy.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Jul 31, 2013