Warning there are spoilers in this review so don’t be furious (wink).

I’m not a fan of this series but watching the trailer made me want to know why Dom was betraying his family. Thankfully this movie gave Dom a actually good reason. Spoiler Alert: While Letty was missing Dom dated Elena until Letty returned. It turns out that Elena had a baby and now Cipher is keeping her and her baby hostage so that Dom can do her bidding. The scene where Dom meets his baby boy for the first time is heartbreaking.

Ever had one of those villains that you really wanted to be defeated just by how vile they are? That’s where Cipher comes in. Charlize Theron is wonderful as Cipher. She’s smart, threatening, and able to control an army of zombie cars. There’s something so evil about villains using blackmail on heroes to betray friends or family. I also liked how the villain was also the one who employed Owen Shaw and Jakande, connecting those films together. It reminded me of Spectre. Cipher might be the best villain of the year so far. 

The highlight for me was the last half of the movie. Not just the submarine chase but also how Dom manages to defeat Cipher. Earlier Dom shoots Deckard but it turns out that he’s still alive. Dom gets the help of Deckard, his brother Owen, their mother, and Tego and Rico from a previous film. He even gets the help of the guy who raced Dom at the beginning of the film which ties together perfectly. It’s incredible that Dom manages to plan out all this and showing that’s he’s as smart as he is at driving.

The only flaws I can find are that the movie is over the top at times. There’s a scene at the end where Dom’s gang shield Dom from the submarine explosion. Still The Fate of the Furious is very fun and action packed.

Verdict:
+Cipher
+Dom’s reason
+The action
+The third half
-Too over the top and unrealistic

Score: B+

Even from watching the trailers I could tell this was gonna be better than the first two Smurfs movies even if I thankfully never saw those movies. The animation is a lot better and looks just like the cartoon and comics. Gargamel is thankfully animated instead of live action though did they have to give him a bird henchmen when he already has the cat?

I think the positive stuff I found in this movie were from the characters. Team Smurf which consists of Smurfette, Hefty, Brainy and Clumsy do share a really nice friendship and work on each other very well. I also liked some of the female smurfs when they get to the lost village. Smurf Blossom is enjoyable and Smurf Storm is pretty badass.

The negatives however were definitely in the last half of the movie. The third half also feels rushed. Gargamel captures the smurfs (why am I not surprised?) and Smurfette decides to pledge her loyalty to him as a trick because she can absorb his magic. It goes by very quick and doesn’t leave an impact. Than comes the cliche death cop out. Smurfette returns back to her clay form. I thought she would return a few seconds later but there’s literally a scene where they take her body back to the village and they all hold hands and weep for her. She does come back to life (again not surprised) by the power of friendship. I felt that is should have happened back at Gargamel’s lair instead and we all have seen that scene where the hero dies but turns out to be okay so many times.

Throughout the movie there are pop songs that are really distracting. An example is when the smurfs are hanging out at the lost village. The pop song used is “I’m Blue”. I like the song but it’s only used just because the smurfs are blue.

All I can say is that it’s better then the other Smurfs movies but that doesn’t say much. The bright side is that I did get to see a teaser for My Little Pony Friendship is Magic the Movie.

Verdict:
+Better animation
+Team Smurf
+Female smurfs
-Pop songs
-Rushed third half
-Cliche death cop out

Score: C