Gnomeo & Juliet has a comedic sensibility that isn’t going to be for everybody—and I wouldn’t be able to disagree with anyone who goes to see it and thinks it stupid. It worked for me, though, managing to walk the tightrope of putting silliness above story without ever losing my attention.
As the title suggests, Gnomeo & Juliet is a retelling of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy. Just in case you don’t know, the movie is introduced by a gnome who tells you this, tells you that they’re aware it has been done many times before, but promises they’ll do it differently.
Miss Capulet and Mr. Montague may be neighbors who hate each other, but they share a passion for lawn ornaments—his all in red and hers all in blue. In the nature of Toy Story (or, more historically significant, Mannequin) all of the lawn decorations actually lead private lives, becoming animated once all human gazes are averted. For reasons never explained, though presumably as a trickle down from the owners, the reds and the blues also hate each other and “compete” for who has the nicest garden, which for them, involves lawn mower races down the back alley.
Gnomeo (James McAvoy), the young scion of the blues, and Juliet (Emily Blunt), daughter to the red patriarch—and literally kept on a pedestal—meet each other while sneaking about at night. And, of course, immediately fall in love. They agree to run off and live in a neighboring garden with a one-legged plastic flamingo who has his own story of romantic woe. Unfortunately, escalating tensions between the reds and the blues get out of hand, drawing them both back into the conflict.
A key word earlier is “tragedy,” and purists may be upset that the ending is not in line with the source material, though Bill Shakespeare does show up to opine on this.
Believe me, I know that what’s been described here sounds stupid. At a surface level it is, but the entire enterprise has a sufficient feeling of loose silliness that simply carries the day. It is never hesitant to break away for a musical number or to let loose with a (stale) pop culture joke (an American Beauty moment, really?). It really should collapse under it its own fluffiness but by the third Elton John dance break (he’s a producer for the movie), I’d gone from “that’s so stupid, when is this over?” to “that’s so stupid, give me more.”
Perhaps it is the almost entirely British voice cast—including Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, Jason Statham, Ozzy Osbourne, and Steve Merchant; Hulk Hogan being the major exception—that keeps the nonsense from becoming overwhelming. Honestly, Patrick Stewart voicing Shakespeare has to mean it’s highbrow, right?
The animation is cartoonish, as it should be, but well done. More immersive to me was the sound design, where little things like the clank of pottery when the gnomes move and touch helped make things feel real. As with everything these days, Gnomeo & Juliet is mostly offered in 3D, but the extra dimension isn’t particularly necessary for this story, though things are brightly colored enough that wearing glasses doesn’t make things too murky.
In the final analysis, though, how can you refuse the opportunity to see a movie with this credit: “Mankini Gnome”?
Gnomeo & Juliet is a Walt Disney Pictures release
- Wide release on Friday, February 11
- Directed by Kelly Asbury
- Screenplay by Kelly Asbury, Andy Riley, Kevin Cecil, Mark Burton, Emily Cook, Kathy Greenberg, Steve Hamilton Shaw (yes, a lot of writers)
- Rated G.
- Alex Rating: 7 out of 10
