Eric Stevenson
This is one of the more recent Shakespeare adaptations and it's more or less the story with gnomes. In fact, that's all it is, really. I actually thought the animation was pretty nice. The main problem is that it's too short and it tries to put in too much with all this big conflict at the end that wasn't in the play. It just seems silly for a something with garden gnomes to have battle scenes. Still, I actually would recommend this to little kids because the film is completely harmless. There's absolutely nothing offensive in it.It's at least much better than "Romeo And Juliet: Sealed With A Kiss" because this film was at least animated well and it didn't have the annoying characters. Of course, it's hard to make a kid's version of a Shakespeare play. I really do like the bit where the William Shakespeare statue comes to life and comments on the story. It does make you wonder how their world works. It seems to work on "Toy Story" where they're not allowed to show themselves to humans. The Elton John music is good too. **1/2
o-mcdowell1
This modern, fun filled, animated adaptation of Shakespeare's famous 'Romeo and Juliet' directed by Kelly Asbury is primarily and none the less aimed at children. How else would we have grasped that fact if it wasn't for the edited title which incorporates the use of gnomes, yes gnomes. The directors previous films were also targeted at children such as the Oscar nominated 'Shrek 2'. Since the film is child orientated and modern the famous Shakespearian language is excluded, with the use of simple and common vocabulary. The scenes of violence in the older generation films are switched to playful battles over gardens and contests involving lawnmowers. Not to mention to most shocking peculiar ending of all time. It just keeps getting better and better. In the opening scene of this film a small garden gnome is narrating the story of Romeo and Juliet and reveals that this time the story is different. Many different things spring to mind as this is unravelled. Firstly, how is this going to be different? And secondly, this is going to be awful. Gnomeo voiced over by James McAvoy is a small blue gnome who falls endlessly in love with Juliet, Emily Blunt, who is of course a red. The blues in this case symbolise the house of Montague and you've guessed it the reds the Capulet's. The whole way through this enlightened love story we are awaiting the twist in the plot, the big 'difference'. As the film progresses we think numerous scenes are the awaited 'difference'. Such as the fast and furious scene involving Romeo and Tybalt's lawnmower race, exciting right. Another possibility is the twist in the lack of violence. We can't imagine gnomes having swords or guns right, but what about pitch forks? No, not them either, instead the main element of violence is the use of weed killer in the destroying of the red's garden. So when we ask ourselves what's the most famous and controversial scene in Romeo and Juliet most of us will answer the death of our two young protagonists. However in the denouement or in extremas res of this film they both miraculously live. Even though this isn't chronological did we really expect them to die? As mentioned in the beginning of my review this is aimed at young children so death was never an option, was it? Children need happy endings. In this case I believe this twist in the plot gave the film a cutting edge and new updated direction for other adaptations. Who wants to watch the same story played over and over again by different actors in the same fashion. This animated high strung film introduced Shakespearean tales to youngsters in a not so direct fashion excluding the elements of death and violence. Although in this adaptation there are a lot of contrasts to the usual Romeo and Juliet's such as the 1996 version, which we are all somewhat familiar with , there are also a vast amount of similarities that the elder audience can relate to and pick up on. An example of this is the garden scene which always stands out to viewers and also the similarity between the character of Nanette to the nurse in house Capulet. Who always stands as an adult companion to Juliet in her times of trouble, need and overwhelming happiness. In both movies the nurse and Nanette are in somewhat that mother figure that Juliet is longing for in her life. Overall Kelly Asbury's 'Gnomeo and Juliet' has been a success in targeting children and interpreting a fun filled adaptation of the Shakespearean classic Romeo and Juliet. The differences are controversial to the elder viewers but as whole this film incorporates laughter, happiness and romance to the younger generation of viewers.
Thomas Dinnegan
Gnomeo and Juliet is a 2011 animated adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Directed by Kelly Asbury, the film takes a new look at Shakespeare's famous tragedy, presenting it as a comical, fun-filled film aimed at a younger audience. At the beginning of the film a rather squeaky garden gnome tells us that "the story you're about to see has been told before, a lot, and now we are going to tell it again, but different". The first thing that sprang to mind about "different" was different as in good or different as in bad. This film is definitely "different" as in good! Asbury manages to bring to life the world's most adored tragedy through garden gnomes in a hilarious, imaginative and witty way. At first I thought "garden gnomes" and "Shakespeare", nah! However, after watching the film for 84 minutes (its runtime), I was a little devastated that I had to return to a world of non-speaking garden gnomes and non-existent flamingo's with Spanish accents. The film begins in the clever setting of Verona Drive, with Mrs. Montague (Julie Walters) and Mr. Capulet (Richard Wilson), two elderly neighbours who hate each other. Lady Bluebury (Maggie Smith) is the leader of 'the blues' who inhabit Mrs. Montague's garden, while Lord Redbrick (Michael Caine) leads 'the reds' who decorate Mr. Capulet's garden. Both houses (and gardens of course) hate each other and to settle this hatred, the gnomes have an annual alleyway lawnmower race- Tokyo Drift style. Gnomeo (James McAvoy), son of Lady Bluebury races Tybalt (Jason Statham), a troublesome red who hates the blues more than anyone else. Gnomeo feels that he has been cheated after the race and seeks revenge by entering the reds garden,something "never done before". This adventure leads Gnomeo into the path of the rebellious Juliet (Emily Blunt), daughter of Lord Redbrick. Both are fascinated by a beautiful orchid and they playfully fight over it before falling into a pond, where they both see each other's true colours for the first time, red and blue! The humour used in this film is incredibly witty and clever with many scenes containing laugh out loud moments throughout. When Lady Bluebury tells Gnomeo about his father, who has passed on, she says "may he rest in pieces". The camera then pans to Lord Redbrick, who is speaking to Juliet about her mother,who has also passed on, and he states "bless her to bits". When you consider the fact that both leaders are telling their kids about their dead parent, it would lead you to believe that the scene would be sad and slow; however, in contrast it is clever and quick, just like the film itself. In a scene reminiscent of Shakespeare's famous Balcony scene, the writers of the film seem not only to grasp the use of beautiful language from this scene, but they also add a tablespoon of humour to it,just for fun. When Juliet is alone, just before Gnomeo enters, she utters the line "because you're blue, my father sees red and because I'm red, I'm feeling blue". Then Gnomeo enters and proclaims that "stealth" is his middle name, before standing on a button that turns Juliet's pedestal into a singing castle, which captures the attention of the whole garden. To finish it off, Lord Redbrick enters and states that if he sees a blue in his garden again,"they'll be swimming with the fishes". The camera then pans wonderfully to Gnomeo who is hiding in the pond under Juliet's pedestal, as a fish swims by. Poor old Lord Redbrick has a tendency to mix up his vocabulary also, and after an altercation between Gnomeo and Tybalt, he comes running from his garden and asks with fierce venom "what is all this constipation?" instead of the not-so funny word "consternation".I'm sure this gave the kids a giggle. Okay, I admit it, I laughed too!The character creation in the film is marvellous. The frog called Nanette (Ashley Jensen) acts as Juliet's flirtatious, chatty girlfriend, while the hilarious pink flamingo with a Spanish accent called Featherstone (Jim Cummings) acts as a mentor of love for Gnomeo and Juliet. Matt Lucas voices Gnomeo's playful friend Benny while the incredibly slow reindeer Fawn, who is Tybalt's best friend, is voiced by Ozzy Osbourne. The casting of the actors to voice these characters is something that the film should receive great credit for also. There is an excellent balance between the powerful voices of the leaders and the playful "different" voices of characters such as the Scottish frog Nanette, the Spanish flamingo Featherstone and Dolly Gnome, voiced by Dolly Parton. In all, Kelly Asbury's Gnomeo and Juliet is a clever, witty, hilarious, imaginative film, that should be appreciated for its fresh take on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and for its unprecedented ability to turn the world's most famous tragedy into a fun-filled animated film aimed at a younger audience, but that is enjoyable to people of all ages. I adored this movie and found it thoroughly entertaining and for this I award it 4 out of 5 stars. I now look forward to John Stevenson's sequel "Gnomeo and Juliet:Sherlock Gnomes".
