Gnomeo et Juliette

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.

Cut the pretentious crud. This film is obviously intended to entertain a younger audience, and it does a good job at doing that, while somewhat tactfully putting in some jokes for the parents. No, it's not spectacular. If you watch this movie expecting something "Grade A", you're not going to get much out of it.

The plot: generic, predictable. But obviously so, considering it's called "Gnomeo and Juliet".

The cast is an oddball compilation of respectable actors, with the exception of the obscure addition of Ozzy. But what is really keeping this movie going is the cuteness of it. That is the selling point, and what makes it most appealing. If you go into this movie expecting something more, you will be left disappointed. So I suggested you loosen up, look for a laugh, and you'll enjoy it more. It's not a bad film.

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!

No other writer lends himself to so many different film interpretations as William Shakespeare, whose plays have spawned musicals (West Side Story), teen comedies (10 Things I Hate About You), even cartoons (though not credited as such, Hamlet is an obvious source of inspiration for The Lion King). The latter genre is used again for a peculiar take on Romeo and Juliet, put together with CGI under Disney's Touchstone banner.

The film takes place in the present day, where Montague and Capulet no longer are two warring families, but simply two next-door neighbors who just don't get along. This animosity is also found in their adjacent gardens, where the gnomes, much like the toys in Toy Story, come to life when no one's watching. The blue gnomes, led by Lady Blueberry (Maggie Smith), belong to Mrs. Montague, while Lord Redbrick (Michael Caine) and his red acolytes belong to Mr. Capulet. Their mission is to find new ways to make the enemy garden look bad, and it all goes well - so to speak - until a full-scale war erupts, and star-crossed lovers Gnomeo (James McAvoy) and Juliet (Emily Blunt) find themselves caught in the middle...

The material is an unusual choice for Disney, which traditionally favors straightforward adaptations of popular stories (albeit with necessary alterations) over postmodern riffs that combine tribute and spoof. This take on Shakespeare's tragedy would probably be better suited for a Dreamworks treatment, as they make no mystery of having older audiences in mind. Disney, on the other hand, is torn between pandering to younger viewers and giving Bard aficionados the fun yet intelligent picture they crave and deserve. Sure, there are in-jokes galore (the house numbers 2B and Not 2B are the standout), but the third act is particularly underwhelming, with too much screen-time for the mandatory talking animal sidekick (an annoying flamingo, voiced by Disney mainstay Jim Cummings) and a climax that has inevitably been altered - presumably - to keep the kids from crying.

When it works, however, Gnomeo & Juliet is an absolute joy: the opening send-up of the play's prologue set the tone quite nicely, Elton John's contribution to the soundtrack is faultless, and the voice cast is a hoot. Aside from the filmmakers having the nerve of putting Jason Statham and Ozzy Osbourne in the same film as Smith and Caine (surely a once in a lifetime kind of thing), the idea of incorporating Shakespeare himself as a character (voiced by Patrick Stewart) and having him criticize the film's plot detours is the self-mocking stroke of genius there should be more of throughout the movie.

All in all, this is a nice little film that is worth watching for entertainment value. It suffers from some lazy writing and questionable gags (shouldn't the Terrafirminator be voiced by Arnold Schwarzenegger instead of Hulk Hogan?), but it contains enough Shakespearean wit and invention to make for a fun 82 minutes.

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.