Rating:  

Rocket Pictures, Starz Animation, Touchstone Pictures, and Walt Disney Pictures.

Written by: Kelly Asbury, Mark Burton, Kevin Cecil, Emily Cook, Kathy Greenberg, Andy Riley, and Steve Hamilton Shaw, based on an original screenplay by John R. Smith and Rob Sprackling, adapted from the play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare.

A puzzling and rather strange concept for a film, “Gnomeo & Juliet” does re-tell William Shakespeare’s classic tragedy in cartoon 3-D form, with anthropomorphic garden gnomes. Brought to the screen by director Kelly Asbury (“Shrek 2″) and by producer David Furnish, with music provided by Furnish’s legendary husband, Elton John, “Gnomeo & Juliet” is drunk with talented contributors. Look at that list of featured voices – Caine, McAvoy, Blunt, Maggie Smith, Jason Statham, Ozzy Osbourne and Hulk Hogan. Despite my preconceived notions from the film’s rather underwhelming trailer, “Gnomeo & Juliet” is quick, efficient, and entertaining; assuming you can stomach a dismantling of Shakespeare’s classic story for some cheap laughs for the grown-ups and a bit of pandering to the littlest of viewers.

With the opening disclosure that this is another retelling of “Romeo and Juliet”, albeit one that serves as very, very different, we meet the Capulet and Montague families living next to one another in a large duplex. Living on Verona Drive, the blue Montague mailbox indicates they reside at 2B, while the red Capulets live at Not 2B. In a nod to the “Toy Story” concept that toys come to life when their humans are not around, the gnomes and other yard-dwelling objects come to life when the adult Montagues and Capulets leave for the day.

The Montagues, clad in blue, and the Capulets, emblazoned in red, are in a battle of one-upsmanship, and front and center in the bitterness, is the rivalry between Gnomeo Montague (James McAvoy) and Tybalt (Jason Statham); one often settled in intense and out-of-control lawn mower races. Juliet Montague (Emily Blunt) is more mild-mannered and insular than most and while loyal to her family, she simply seeks a more peaceful existence between the neighboring families. A flower blossoming on an adjacent greenhouse gives her the inspiration to provide some good for her red gnome family and hopefully can give her family a bit of a leg up in the ongoing back and forth between the houses. When both she and Gnomeo seek the flower for different reasons, and meet in disguise on top of the greenhouse, a connection is made. A playful back and forth over the flower, however, leads to true identities being revealed, some anger and resentment, but ultimately the spark has been set and Gnomeo and Juliet become smitten with one another.

Although “Gnomeo and Juliet” steers away from the more adult themes found in Shakespeare’s classic play, those who know the work will find enough here to see that despite the strange (or is that clever?) premise, settings, and characterizations here, the film serves as a well-intentioned tribute of sorts. The kinetic pacing of the movie allows more grown up references to fly over the heads of the young folks and the visual sight gags resonate with the younger viewers alright. I cannot say I was ever blown away by what I was watching, but everyone in attendance, young and old, seemed to laugh and had a good time.

The movie, while not at all necessary in 3D, serves as engaging and technically impressive. The animation looks crisp, the colors vibrant, and the voiceover work by an almost entirely British cast is strong. McAvoy and Blunt do a fine job as the equally strong-willed, stubborn, and lovelorn leads. Recognizable voices spike in from Michael Caine (Juliet’s father, Lord Redbrick), Maggie Smith (Gnomeo’s mother, Lady Blueberry), and Patrick Stewart arrives in a clever cameo as Bill Shakespeare, a talking statue of the famed playwright who motivates Gnomeo to not end up in the same fate as the namesake characters of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”.

Ozzy Osbourne and Hulk Hogan are surprises as well and at times, the big names and rather inventive casting seems to serve as an attempt to gloss over the more thin and weaker elements of the tale. There are moments where the jokes miss and the sight gags feel a bit threadbare. The film struggles to keep things afloat in the last act, although for my almost 5-year old, the scenes of gnomes in peril served as riveting. Parents need not worry about the original ending of “Romeo and Juliet” being maintained here, the nine (!?!) credited writers have made sure that this concludes comfortably for all involved.

A bit precocious and perhaps too odd for some, “Gnomeo and Juliet” is a harmless, easy watch, that finds a way to sustain an 84 minute running time. As other animated films come out, you and your children may forget this movie and move on to better fare, but for the time being, “Gnomeo and Juliet” fills a void for families looking to find something a bit unique and original.

Should I See It?

YES

It possesses charm and wit, and means well. Kids and pre-teens will enjoy this.

If you buy in to the concept here, the film may serve as quite an enjoyable excursion and something that certainly has a different look and feel. The voicework and animation is tremendously well done and adds to the appeal.

Elton John’s catalog surprisingly fits in here and will draw in some appeal to adult and older viewers.

The “Why not?” attitude of this whole thing is a bit refreshing.

NO

Shakespeare retold with garden gnomes, in a London neighborhood, with lawnmower races? I can see many folks passing on what on paper looks to be a mess.

Moments in the film feel desperate, and when you have 9 screenwriters all with credited work here, you can see that at its worst, “Gnomeo and Juliet” falls victim to a few too many chefs in the kitchen, too many spices in the soup, and a few disparate flavors from scene to scene.

Perhaps “Romeo and Juliet” isn’t a play you want to introduce to younger kids just yet.