Well, ya have to admit: It's looks better than those OTHER Smurf movies.

is it just me or is papa smurf out of character?

Yeah, Papa Smurf is usually in a good mood.

I suspect these will be more faithful to the cartoon series.

Obviously, someone at Sony said "You know, fans of the cartoon deserve a more convincing movie adaption. Maybe not one done in pencil and paper, but something a little better than what the other movies were."