Though the first two Smurfs movies combined live-action and animation, the third flick eschews that approach. Instead, 2017’s Smurfs: The Lost Village solely becomes an animated affair.

As always, the Smurfs live in peace, as they enjoy a happy, idyllic existence. As always, wicked wizard Gargamel (voiced by Rainn Wilson) attempts to disrupt this tiny blue utopia and utilize their strengths for his own evil ways.

When Smurfette (Demi Lovato) finds a mysterious map, she and pals Brainy (Danny Pudi), Hefty (Joe Manganiello) and Clumsy (Jack McBrayer)+ decide to follow it on a search for a Lost Village. Of course, they find Gargamel hot on their trail and need to deal with a mix of threats.

Despite – or perhaps because of – low expectations, I felt the 2011 Smurfs offered a reasonably entertaining experience. While the 2013 sequel had its moments, it seemed less fun and became a minor disappointment.

At least this wiped clean the slate for Village, as I entered it without the same moderate hopes for amusement with which I went into Smurfs 2. Throw out the shift to animation without the live-action talents of Hank Azaria and Neil Patrick Harris and I suspected Village would become a forgettable, witless effort.

Did these fears prove true? Yeah, for the most part – while Village musters the occasional moment of cleverness, it mainly feels like a disjointed experience without much redeeming value.

It seems unclear if the producers intended Village as a reboot of the Smurf franchise. However, because it retells the characters’ “origin stories”, it acts as a reintroduction, one that seems to assume the viewer didn’t see the earlier flicks.

All of this feels unnecessary, as the Smurf world doesn’t feel so complex that we need the reiterated character background we receive. In addition, the opening offers hints of the movie’s themes that don’t really come to fruition.

At the start, we get the impression that Village will act as Smurfette’s search for her own identity. The only female Smurf, all the boys enjoy names that describe their personalities, but “ette” doesn’t tell us anything.

After the film drops this notion, it largely discards it. Not that I think a film about Smurfette’s inner journey sounds all that fascinating, but at least it would add focus to the tale.’

Instead, Village acts more as a compilation of semi-random action and comedy scenes with little overall purpose. Oh, the film still wants us to believe that it pursues Smurfette’s search for self, and the involvement of the titular location adds to that idea, but it largely fails to come to fruition.

This means we get goofy scenes mixed with broad mayhem and not much else. Occasional sequences point toward character development, but no one cares, as none of these elements become engaging or useful.

Neither of the prior Smurf movies went plot-heavy either, but at least they offered instances of wit and cleverness – especially the first flick. Though the 2012 film hewed fairly closely to the franchise’s kid-friendly roots, it made fun of the property enough to give it a little spark for adults in the audience.

Village never shows that sense of self-awareness, and it also fails to attempt entertainment for adults. Okay, that’s not entirely true, as a handful of gags clearly exist for older viewers, like when a centipede masseuse asks Hefty “shiatsu or Swedish?”

Kids in the audience won’t get that joke, and Village occasionally shoots for other gags intended for adults. However, these appear awfully infrequently, and even when we do get them, they don’t become especially witty. Seriously – if a question about massage techniques from an insect acts as the height of adult-oriented comedy, the flick doesn’t bring much to the table.

Too much of Village feels oddly bland and generic, and the cast doesn’t add a lot. While not devoid of talent, the actors found here feel like a step down from those in the prior flicks, and they just can’t find a way to enliven their roles.

We do find one actual Hollywood legend when we get to the Lost Village, as Julia Roberts plays SmurfWillow, that location’s female equivalent of Papa Smurf (Mandy Patinkin). Why does Roberts appear as a relatively minor character in a fairly low-budget animated flick?

I have no idea – she lost a bet? Whereas Roberts should add star value to the proceedings, instead her presence just confuses and makes me a little sad.

Not that Village turns into a true embarrassment for anyone involved, as it never seems genuinely bad. However, it delivers pretty generic kid-oriented material without real cleverness or charm.

Smurfs: The Lost Village appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This became a pretty strong presentation.

Sharpness worked well, with virtually no instances of softness on display. This left us with an image that appeared concise and well-defined at all times.

At least no issues with jaggies or shimmering occurred, and edge haloes were absent. Of course, the image lacked any print flaws; it remained clean at all times.

Colors became a strong element. The movie went with a somewhat pastel palette, and it displayed consistently vivid hues within its chosen range. The disc’s HDR didn’t elevate the colors as much as I might expect, but that technique still gave them added warmth and range.

Blacks were dense and tight, and shadows felt fine. The HDR brought some extra punch to whites and contrast. Though not one of the greatest CG animated 4Ks I’ve seen, this nonetheless became a highly satisfactory image.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the film’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack, it opened up the film in a satisfying manner. The mix didn’t give us wall-to-wall theatrics, but it managed to use the spectrum well.

As expected, the film’s occasional action sequences boasted nice breadth and activity, and these elements created a fine sense of involvement. While the soundscape didn’t stun us on a frequent basis, it provided more than enough to succeed.

Audio quality seemed consistently solid. Speech appeared natural and distinctive, and no edginess or other issues marred the dialogue.

Music sounded warm and full, while effects showed good clarity and accuracy. When necessary, bass response came across as deep and tight. All of this lifted the track to “B+” status.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the film’s Blu-ray version? The Atmos track became a bit more immersive, and visuals looked somewhat better defined and more vibrant. While not a major upgrade over the Blu-ray, the 4K UHD nonetheless offered the more satisfying presentation of the film.

On the 4K UHD disc, we find an audio commentary from director Kelly Asbury, animation supervisor Alan Hawkins, and head of story Brandon Jeffords. All three sit together for this running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, design choices, animation, music and related areas.

Overall, we get an engaging chat. The commentary touches on a nice mix of technical and creative areas to offer a pretty solid examination of the film.

All the other extras appear on the included Blu-ray disc, and we find four Deleted Scenes that fill a total of seven minutes, 35 seconds. We find “Smurfberry Blast” (3:39), “Brainy’s Experiment” (1:11), “Bridge Escape” (1:06) and “Gargamel’s Lair” (1:55).

“Blast” offers an expanded action sequence, and “Experiment” just retells Smurfette’s origin story. “Escape” provides a smidgen of exposition and “Lair” shows more of the Smurfs’ efforts to foil Gargamel. None seem all that interesting, though the last two come from an early version of the film that followed a marginally different narrative path.

A slew of short video pieces flesh out the rest of the extras, and we go to a featurette called Kid at Heart. It runs nine minutes, 12 seconds and offers info from Asbury, Jeffords, Hawkins, producers Jordan Kerner and Mary Ellen Bauder Andrews, production designer Noelle Triaureau, visual effects supervisor Michael Ford, character designer Patrick Mate, co-producer Mandy Kisthardt Tankenson, and actors Jack McBrayer, Joe Manganiello, Demi Lovato, Danny Pudi, Rainn Wilson, Ariel Winter.

A basic “making of” reel, “Heart” looks at Asbury’s work as director, cast and performances, storyboards and storyreels, art, character design and animation. Though a few basic filmmaking details emerge, “Heart” shoots for cutesy most of the time.

The Lost Auditions goes foe four minutes, 14 seconds and features McBrayer, Manganiello, Winter, Pudi, Wilson, and actors Michelle Rodriguez and Mandy Patinkin. The performers try out (mostly) for roles other than the ones they play. Expect a smidgen of comedy – but not much.

Next comes Demi Lovato Meets Smurfette, a one-minute, one-second segment in which “Smurfette” chats with Lovato. Expect another lackluster stab at humor.

Lost Village Dance Along goes for three minutes, 10 seconds, as it shows youngsters who bust their moves to one of the movie’s songs. Pass.

After this we get Smurfify Your Nails, a two-minute, 23-second tutorial that teaches you how to give yourself a Smurf-oriented manicure. Double pass.

Baker Smurf’s Mini Kitchen spans four minutes, seven seconds. Though it sounds like it’ll offer a cooking lesson, instead it shoots for comedy – and fails.

Up next comes a music video for Meghan Trainor’s “I’m a Lady”. A mix of lip-synch footage and movie clips, it brings a forgettable song and video.

Making the Song goes for three minutes and offers notes from Asbury, musicians Shaley Scott and KT Tunstall and composer Christopher Lennertz. Here we get info about the song “You Will Always Find Me In Your Heart”. The clip emphasizes happy talk, so don’t expect much.

With The Sound of the Smurfs, we discover a three-minute, 44-second program with Asbury and Lennertz. “Sound” looks at music. It provides a few insights but mostly veers toward praise and fluff.

Draw Your Favorite Smurfs breaks into three tutorials: “How to Draw Smurfette” (3:02), “How to Draw Brainy” (2:51) and “How to Draw Clumsy” (1:58).

As expected, these offer art lessons. They seem functional enough.

The Blu-ray disc opens with ads for The Emoji Movie, Surf’s Up 2, The Swan Princess: Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today and The Swan Princess: Royally Undercover. We also get an Emoji “Sneak Peek” that is just a long trailer.

No trailer for Village appears here. However, we do find promos for Smurfs, Smurfs 2, The Legend of Smurfy Hollow, Smurfs: A Christmas Carol and Smurfs Bubble Story.

Perhaps very young viewers will take pleasure from Smurfs: The Lost Village. However, I suspect most over the age of eight will find this to offer a dull, charm-free affair. The 4K UHD comes with positive picture and audio as well as decent supplements. Even based on my low expectations, Village falls short.

To rate this film, visit the prior review of SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE