Katy Perry
Smurfette (voice)
Overview
The evil wizard Gargamel creates a couple of mischievous Smurf-like creatures called the Naughties that he hopes will let him harness the all-powerful, magical Smurf-essence. But when he discovers that only a real Smurf can give him what he wants, and only a secret spell that Smurfette knows can turn the Naughties into real Smurfs, Gargamel kidnaps Smurfette and brings her to Paris, where he has been winning the adoration of millions as the world¹s greatest sorcerer. It's up to Papa, Clumsy, Grouchy, and Vanity to return to our world, reunite with their human friends Patrick and Grace Winslow, and rescue her! Will Smurfette, who has always felt different from the other Smurfs, find a new connection with the Naughties Vexy and Hackus or will the Smurfs convince her that their love for her is True Blue?
Cast
12 people
Reviews
5 min readSmurfing the Void
I remember the first time I saw a Smurf. It was on a Saturday morning in the early '90s, a tiny blue figure with a white hat and a grin that seemed to exist purely to sell breakfast cereal. The Smurfs were never meant to be deep—they were a marketing juggernaut, a Belgian comic turned global phenomenon, designed to be inoffensive, colorful, and just clever enough to keep kids watching.
So when The Smurfs 2 arrived in 2013, it wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. It was trying to sell more Smurf-shaped merchandise. And yet, here I am, years later, still thinking about it—not because it’s good, but because it’s a fascinating failure, a film that exposes the limits of corporate nostalgia and the strange, hollow charm of trying to force meaning onto something that was never meant to have any.
The film’s premise is simple: Gargamel (Hank Azaria), the bumbling, self-loathing villain, creates two "Naughties"—Smurf-like creatures named Vexy and Hackus—to trick Smurfette (Katy Perry) into revealing the secret to her Smurf-ness. The goal? To steal her essence and become the most powerful sorcerer in the world.
It’s a plot that feels like it was reverse-engineered from a toy commercial, and in many ways, it was. The Smurfs have always been about merchandising first and storytelling second, but The Smurfs 2 leans so hard into this that it becomes a kind of meta-commentary on itself. The film isn’t just a sequel; it’s a product, and it knows it.
The question is whether that self-awareness is intentional or just a happy accident.
The most interesting thing about The Smurfs 2 isn’t its story—it’s the way it grapples with identity, albeit in the most ham-fisted way possible. Smurfette, the only female Smurf in the original comics, was literally created by Gargamel to sow chaos among the Smurfs. Her existence is a lie, a construct, and the film leans into this, framing her as someone who doesn’t know where she belongs.
The message is heavy-handed but oddly resonant: "It doesn’t matter where you came from, what matters is who you choose to be." It’s a line that could have been pulled from a self-help book, but in the context of a film about a blue cartoon character, it feels almost profound. Almost.
Audience Opinions
Broad evidence
Audience 4.0/10
"A divisive sequel that leans heavily on celebrity voice talent and spectacle but lacks the originality and charm of its predecessor."
Audience reception for *The Smurfs 2* (2013) was mixed and often disappointed. The sequel to the 2011 live-action/animated hybrid *The Smurfs* kept its core cast, including Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, and Brendan Gleeson, and added new characters voiced by Katy Perry and others, yet critics and general audiences agreed it failed to recapture the first film's magic. The visual effects and celebrity voices, particularly Katy Perry's Smurfette, earned some praise, but the humor and storytelling were called shallow, with jokes and plot points that felt recycled or forced. The 105-minute runtime ran long for a family audience, and the pacing dragged in places. A few enjoyed the lighthearted, colorful spectacle, but the consensus was a forgettable, underwhelming follow-up.
What viewers praise
- Celebrity Voice Cast Recognizable voices, particularly Katy Perry as Smurfette and Hank Azaria as the villain Gargamel, add star power.
- Visual Effects and Animation The blend of live action and animation is well executed and visually engaging for younger viewers.
- Lighthearted Entertainment A harmless, colorful diversion with enough humor and action to keep children entertained.
Common complaints
- Lack of Originality The sequel brings nothing new, with a plot recycled from the first film and other animated franchises, and uninspired, repetitive jokes.
- Weak Storytelling The narrative is thin and predictable, more a series of disjointed set pieces than a cohesive story, and the low emotional stakes make the characters hard to connect with.
- Pacing Issues The 105-minute runtime is too long for its target audience, and the middle act drags.
- Over-Reliance on Spectacle Flashy visuals and celebrity cameos take priority over substance, so the movie feels more like a product than a creative endeavor.
Recommended for
Young children who enjoyed the first *Smurfs* film Fans of lighthearted, colorful animated films Fans of celebrity voice casts in family movies
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsSofia Vergara went to Paris for a cameo they deleted.
July 11, 2013, three weeks from release. Raja Gosnell told reporters she came to Paris, shot a tiny Odile Anjelou bit, and they cut it for story clarity. It muddied things. Sad day, he said, but she would always be part of the Smurfy family. She had been Patrick Winslow's cosmetics boss in the 2011 film. latestnetflix.com's view is that Variety noticed she was simply gone, as if the job had gifted him hours for an unscheduled European vacation.
Papa's last session.
Jonathan Winters voiced Papa Smurf again. It was his last film. He died April 11, 2013, and Sony dedicated the picture to him. Gosnell told TheWrap that Winters had arrived on the first movie feeling forgotten by the world. After that film hit, his attitude changed. He was more positive, more engaged. They felt blessed he made the sequel. His warmth, Gosnell said. He just was Papa. Katy Perry had already locked Smurfette at the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards. Christina Ricci and J. B. Smoove signed on as the Naughties, Vexy and Hackus. Britney Spears, uncredited, sang for Vexy on the end-credits track "Ooh La La". Gosnell told Animation Magazine the sequel used Gargamel's old Smurfette origin as a jumping-off point. How does she feel that Gargamel made her? Does she consider herself an outsider, a step-Smurf?
The money did not follow them to the Opera.
Sony wanted another New York-sized hit. Variety called the new backdrop tax-incentive Paris, Palais Garnier to Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower. Box Office Mojo lists a $105 million budget and $347.5 million worldwide, $71 million of that domestic. Deadline, as Wikipedia relays it, put the negative cost at $146 million with $21 million back in production benefits. That is about $200 million behind the first film's $563.8 million. Opening weekend was $17.5 million, third behind 2 Guns and The Wolverine. Sony had projected $35 million. Too many PG titles, the studio said,. Rotten Tomatoes landed at 14 percent. CinemaScore was A-. It still picked up a Razzie nomination for worst sequel.
Then they killed the live-action line.
A Smurfs 3 was on the books for summer 2015. The underwhelm, plus Winters's death, ended that plan. Sony pivoted to the all-CG Smurfs: The Lost Village in 2017. The 2013 trailer is still Gargamel in Paris, Smurfette in trouble, and Perry's voice selling True Blue. Kids got the McDonald's toys. Adults got the dedication card.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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