Gnomeo & Julia

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.

I really like this movie. It was cute, fun and action packed. My family and I laughed a lot, and I loved all the music by Elton John especially the song "Crocodile Rock." We were dancing in our seats! This is the kid's version of the William Shakespeare classic love story "Romeo and Juliet," but made for kids. I think what makes this movie so cute is the majority of the characters are garden gnomes that come to life when the humans aren't looking. I enjoyed all the characters. I thought they all did a great job, but I do have my favorites. Gnomeo, voiced by James McAvoy, was very adventurous and ready to accept any challenge. Juliet, voiced by Emily Blunt she was an attractive, brave tough little cookie whose father, Lord Redbrick voiced by Michael Caine, is an over protective father. He reminds me of my father! Finally Nanette the frog, voiced by Ashley Jensen - I think she brought a lot of humor to this movie. I particularly liked her red lips and long eyes lashes. I rate this movie 5 out of 5 stars. I thought it was hilarious, and cute. I recommend this movie to kids 5 and up, because it does have a few violent scenes. So If you want to laugh and listen to good music at the same time. you must see this one! Reviewed by Ny'Asia Bell, age 7, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic

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!

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.