Photo by: Stitchkingdom.com
What better way to make Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” than to turn it into an animated kid’s comedy and slap the name “Gnomeo and Juliet” over it?
The cheesy idea works for the kids, but some will not be terribly thrilled with the “colorful and happy” take on the famous tragedy. However, some parts of the film will entertain an older audience.
James McAvoy (“Wanted”) and Emily Blunt (“The Devil Wears Prada”) star as Gnomeo and Juliet, respectively. Gnomeo is part of the blue gnomes family, while Juliet is a member of the red family. The two groups of gnomes live side-by-side in a quiet neighborhood, but when the house owners are gone, the gnomes always get into arguments.
Lady Bluebury (Maggie Smith), the mother of Gnomeo, and Lord Redbrick (Michael Caine), the father of Juliet, are the leaders of the fighting sides.
For any that know Shakespeare’s tragedy, one would wonder how such a depressing story of multiple killings could make it into a movie aimed at children. Well, to be honest, the tragedy is twisted into a comedy.
The Benvolio character is renamed Benny (Matt Lucas), and Tybalt (Jason Statham) is the aggressor that everyone expects him to be. Shakespeare even makes an appearance as a bronze statue (played as a cameo by Patrick Stewart). There are many other well-known names in the credits, including Ozzy Osbourne, Hulk Hogan and Julie Walters.
This very stylish cast does little to make adults connect to the characters. Many of them are deprived of screen time, including Michael Caine. This contributes to the movie’s length being less than an hour and a half long.
The animation is superb; the gnomes look terrific and the sounds of clinking gnomes are great. While the story works, the pacing of the movie is awkward. There are a few long seconds of silence after several cheap jokes, causing the viewers to look at each other and mutter, “Should we start laughing?”
Like any kids movie, the ending involves a ton of reconciliation and cheerful dancing. There are admittedly a few funny scenes in the movie. In fact, there are a few jokes that are outright raunchy.
One or two characters, including an overly eccentric pink flamingo garden decoration, light up the screen. Others, including a frog waterspout, get increasingly annoying with their constant yelling.
The kids will have a blast. For students looking to spend an evening with younger siblings, the film certainly has its moments and is a good opportunity in these situations. For the rest, this is probably one to skip.
