Family Fun Day at the Smurfs 2 - Review

Family Fun Day at the Smurfs 2 - Review

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Posted 2013-09-10 by Ruth Henwoodfollow
Movies are quite expensive these days and for many families it's a rare treat to go watch one on the big screen. Fair enough when you think it's $19 an adult (although adults tend to pay kids' prices for certain movies) and $14 a child for a regular 2D, no whistles and bells session. For this reason it's a great idea for parents to be on the constant lookout for deals and events that make this a more reasonably priced family outing.



Village Cinemas host a Family Fun Day around the time a big new release is due and this tends to coincide with the start of school holidays. This is a super fun morning with a host of free activities and an exclusive viewing of the movies even before its proper release date. Tickets are at a very family-friendly price of $10 each. That makes for a decent saving and more cash to blow at the candy bar.

This weekend we attended the advanced screening of The Smurfs 2. This isn't the first of these events we have come to, in fact we've been to several, each different from the one before and in my opinion getting better and better and even more value for money. Today's Fun Day was extremely well planned and executed compared to those we have been to previously. I really think they take their customer feedback seriously.



There were numerous things for the kids to enjoy starting about an hour before the movie. These included a colouring competition, mushrooms to decorate, Smurf Mining, which involved digging through sand, a lolly treasure hunt, sack races, face painting, balloon artistry and even life-sized Smurfs to cuddle and get a photo with. All the activities were held in the safe confines of one crazy and chaotic cinema yet two screenings were held in staggered time slots. By the time the movie started the kids were happy to settle into their seats with the standard popcorn and drink and enjoy some calm and the show.



The Smurfs 2 is obviously the sequel to the first and very popular Smurf movie released back in 2011. This instalment follows the adventures of the Smurfs and their human friends, Patrick, Grace, Vincent the grandfather, and their son Blue as they struggle to find Smurfette who has been cunningly kidnapped by none other than the evil bad guy Gargamel, played brilliantly by Hank Azaria. One can't forget to mention Gargamel's trusty yet horrible side kick cat Azrael too. The action takes place in beautiful Paris and if you've never been to France before this will certainly get your feet itchy for a bit of travel.



The grotesque Gargamel has hatched a devious plan to force the lovely Smurfette to disclose the secret spell Papa Smurf used to change her into a full fledged blue-blooded Smurf. You see Gargamel has become a world renowned illusionist who uses the essence of Smurfs to fuel his nasty magic and his greed for world domination.



However without it he can't turn his two failed attempts Vexy and Hackus also known as the Naughties, into true Smurfs in order to harvest their essence. Already doubting her place in the Smurf Village and not feeling the love on her birthday, which as we all know will annoy the sweetest of divas, Smurfette must decide whether to join forces with her new family of naughties or will Papa Smurf and his band of accidental heroes convince her she is true blue and belongs with them after all.

It's an exciting and very humorous movie guaranteed to have kids jumping out of their seats and on and off your lap and clutching their bellies with fits of laughter for the whole time. The visuals are brilliant and the interaction between the actors and the Smurfs is seamless. You will certainly forget these little blue pocket rockets are make believe and of course if you're 6, you would never have doubted it to start with.



Being a longer movie (about an hour and a half with previews) it has to keep its momentum going and entertain the younger audience constantly in order to keep them on their seats and their focus on the screen. In my opinion it achieves this with the use of witty and clever one liners, lots of personality and attitude in the Smurf characters and dynamic and expressive voices by popular actors such as Katy Perry, Christina Ricci, and Jonathan Winters as the wise and always knowing Papa Smurf.

The Smurfs 2 was a huge hit with my family and definitely well worth a watch. Be aware however that it is classified as a PG movie due to some scarier scenes so individuals will need to decide if this suits them and their kids. My nine and six year old were engrossed but not fearful. Anyway keep it in mind for the fast approaching school holidays and definitely get friendly with your local Village Cinema and watch out for upcoming Family Fun Days. We'll be there for sure.

#school_holidays
#film_reviews
#family
#comedy
#cinema
%wnmelbourne
216103 - 2023-06-16 07:23:22

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