Gnomeo & Giulietta

Okay, so I bought myself a pack of 10 movie-tickets from Hoyts and thought "what the heck" lets see a movie with the family. So, we went for Gnomeo and Juliet and we really, really enjoyed it. Yes, the movie is predictable from start to finish, but I say: "So what!" It's supposed to be a family/kids movie and we all know that this movie is not going to end like the real Romeo and Juliet. The characters are funny, the voices are great, the flamingo(s) even better. The Terrafirmanator is cool - I would like to order three and have them delivered within the next 5 minutes. Mixing in the music of good old Sir Elton John makes the movie even better - it becomes so English! Mmmm... the end-scene did remind me of Shrek a lot (just a lot softer, which makes sense them being a bunch of garden gnomes - they are quite fragile), but it's still very, very positive. Yeah, I believe Gnomeo and Juliet is a must see for the family - you won't regret it. Oh, please observe the sound when the gnomes happen to touch each other - I think the sound artists have done a fantastic job!

Gnomeo (James McAvoy) is a blue gnome, and Juliet (Emily Blunt) is a red gnome from next door. Neither side gets along including the human owners. One night, Gnomeo and Juliet meet and they fall in love before they realize they're on opposite sides. Now they must deal with their battling families.

It's an animated story of Romeo and Juliet produced by Elton John. It's notable for the many Elton John songs. However there isn't much truly funny moments. The comic relief lack real comedy. And the lead voices don't have anything special. They make the mistake of using their regular voices. They really need to develop their cartoon voices. The story is fair and watchable. It doesn't have the memorable characters needed.

This movie is simple and joyful. Starting with the story, taken from Shakespeare, which is much better that concocting an unsatisfying script just in order to be original. I like that the story is what it is, and a lot of the humour comes from playing with this idea of borrowed action and characters. Plus, the kids have a way of finding out about the original writer and play, if not by asking earlier, at least when Old Will's statue appears as a character. Then the gnomes, individualised in a successful and comic manner (honorable mention for the "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts" gnome!).They are kitschy pieces of garden landscape, but still they can be nice, in a hip manner. They are mocked and sort of self-mocking themselves, as the plastic flamingo manages to do brilliantly.

And the music is absolutely super, it adds to the general atmosphere of fun. As much as I personally remain not interested in the Lady Gaga show, I could still appreciate her and Elton John's song - it sounded great.

It is a simple pleasure to watch the movie, even if in the end I wonder what made me become childish and sort of feel guilty to have liked so much a colourful and loud movie about garden gnomes. And the kids seem to love it, too.

I read a few comments that didn't do it any justice, almost avoided it because of them. But it's better that other animation of this year seen so far, for example the much praised Rio. And it's a happy movie! It's tiring that "sad streak" that maintained in the Disney movies and that was passed on to other American animations, why does anyone considers that movies for children need a tragic spot? This one plays a bit with the drama, but finally let everybody be happy.

Gnomeo and Juliet is the latest re-imagining of Shakespeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet . I will admit that I didn't go into this film with high hopes, but while its not an instant classic, I was pleasantly surprised.

Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean...

The film begins with an amusing homage to these lines, before we really get into it. The garden gnomes of two neighbouring backyards, the Red Gnomes and the Blue Gnomes, have an ongoing rivalry as to who's garden is best. They constantly try to sabotage each other and dislike each other immensely. After a lawnmower race in which Tybalt the Red gnome (voice of Jason Statham) beats the Blue gnome Gnomeo (voice of James McAvoy), Gnomeo and sidekick Benny decide to sneak in by night and vandalise the Red's garden. Meanwhile Juliet (Emily Blunt), protected and thought too fragile by her father Lord Redbrick, is desperate to prove she is otherwise. Gnomeo and Juliet meet, and the rest is history as they say.

Of course, the film can't follow the original play exactly - this is a kids movie! It's not a tragedy, it's a comedy. This is where I expected to be let down - I honestly didn't think I would find it funny, but I'm glad to say for the most part, I found this film charming and funny. It could have been funnier, but the younger audience will love it, which is the important thing I suppose.

Shakespeare fans will have fun spotting the little references to the Bard's works (including a cleverly worked in quote from Macbeth of all plays). I did. For instance, the owner of the Blue Gnomes is Miss Montague (Romeo's family in the play), while the owner of the Red's is Mr. Capulet (Juliet's last name). The owners themselves hate each other. Spotting the celebrity voices is fun too. Michael Caine is Lord Redbrick, Maggie Smith is Lady Bluebury (I didn't notice this) - I particularly enjoyed Patrick Stewarts brief appearance as a statue of Shakespeare, with whom Gnomeo has a brief conversation. Shakespeare was a smug guy. The voices were all well cast, and the animation is of a good quality.

Complimented with a fun Elton John soundtrack (he was an executive producer, go figure), this film is enjoyable, and a good one for the kiddilinks.

When I first saw trailers for "Gnomeo & Juliet", I groaned at the thought: Romeo and Juliet as told by garden gnomes? Really? Aside from the obvious absurdity of the concept, I wondered exactly how faithfully they'd stick to the story. The ending of Shakespeare's original story would prove awfully dark for the young audiences that would be naturally drawn to this.

So, with these reservations in mind I saw the film last night with my 7 and 10 year old daughters, and found myself enjoying the movie much more than I expected to. Is the concept absurd? Sure, but the writers made plenty of clever use of that absurdity, with some great sight gags and setups.

I won't go into detail on the issue of the original's dark ending, but the writers here found a sly way to acknowledge that original ending without having to actually incorporate it in this loose remake.

Elton John is credited as an Exec Producer (and his partner David Furnish has a Producer credit as well). The movie makes liberal use of EJ's music, generally to good effect.

And my daughters both loved it. Great family fare.