Written by Jennifer
June 09, 2011
Even if you don't want to settle in and watch with the kids, this one won't leave you tearing out your hair as you listen to it in the background.
Did the world really need a version of Romeo and Juliet set in the suburbs of modern day London and performed by animated garden gnomes? Perhaps not, but if you throw in enough bright colors and jaunty Elton John songs, audiences can be convinced of just about anything.
Like the William Shakespeare original, Gnomeo and Juliet is a story of forbidden love between members of warring families. In this case the families consist of garden gnomes separated by a fence in the backyard of a duplex. Tensions rise when Gnomeo (voiced by James McAvoy) falls for Juliet (voiced by Emily Blunt), but our two lovebirds do their best to find happiness together. Thankfully things end a bit better for these Disneyized lovers than they did for their Shakespearean counterparts, and you can rest assured that the kids aren't in for a movie ending in death and despair.
The family conflict and ensuing drama remains a bit convoluted, but there are some adorable scenes that show our protagonists gussying up for a date as only garden gnomes could do and there's a subplot involving lovelorn lawn flamingos that's actually very touching. Despite any messiness in the plotting, Gnomeo and Juliet is an enjoyable romp thanks to its colorful characters (featuring familiar voices like Dolly Parton, Michael Caine, Ozzy Osbourne, and Maggie Smith) and its Elton John-heavy soundtrack. Even if you don't want to settle in and watch with the kids, this one won't leave you tearing out your hair as you listen to it in the background.
DVD AND BLU-RAY NOTES
The 2 disc combo pack includes both Blu-Ray and DVD versions of the film with extra features. The standard DVD includes the featurette "Elton Builds a Garden" (about Elton's music in the film), "Frog Talk With Ashley Jensen", and the "Crocodile Rock" music video. The Blu-Ray disc includes the DVD extras as well as deleted and alternate scenes, two alternate endings, and "The Fawn of Darkness" which finds Ozzy Osbourne "mumbling" about voicing the little lawn deer.
