Movies for tonight

Smurf

When Papa Smurf is mysteriously kidnapped by the evil wizards Gargamel and Frigamel, Smurfette takes the lead and guides the Smurfs on a mission to the real world to rescue him. Is the new installment worth your attention?

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• Little kids will have a great time, which is exactly the point.
• Full of colors and sounds, it certainly doesn’t go unnoticed.
• The story idea of the “nameless Smurf” sounds interesting in theory (though it doesn’t play out the way you’d expect).
• At times it is visually impressive.
• The songs are just okay, but nothing memorable.

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• The plot feels repetitive, which to me means there’s nothing new to say.
• I found the animation mediocre to poor (aside from a few scenes).
• Rihanna is a bad choice for Smurfette’s voice casting.
• It lacks the spirit of the older films and the energy you expect. It feels like it’s trying to merge too many things at once.
• Even though it isn’t long, it still has moments that drag.

World War Z

A United Nations employee, Gerry Lane, travels across the globe in a race against time to stop a deadly pandemic that transforms people into aggressive creatures. The virus spreads rapidly in every corner of the world, threatening to topple armies and governments and to decimate humanity itself.

This adventure film was released in 2013 with Brad Pitt in the lead role, and despite its flaws, I really enjoyed it.

Even though it’s still a zombie movie, it avoids excessive gore and gut spilling, it has plenty of action, a solid performance from Brad Pitt, functional and effective creature design, and the zombies move at lightning speed, which I also liked.

The absence of heavy splatter gives the whole project a sense of realism, as much as that’s possible. I found the airplane sequence and the outbreak fantastic, just like the entire Jerusalem scene. The final hospital sequence fell short of expectations and felt like an easy cleanup.

Marc Forster does a good job directing. For me, it’s quite well shot, with the tension and suspense it needs (though it could have been handled even better), and any attempts at political commentary end up feeling empty.

If you haven’t seen it and you’re a fan of the genre, I think it’s worth your time.