"Shakespeare must be rolling over in his grave at this latest rebirth of Romeo and Juliet"
The story of Romeo and Juliet has had many incarnations over the years, it's probably one of the most widely interpreted romances ever told, yet something tells me that Shakespeare might be rolling over in his grave at its latest rebirth set in an English suburban garden where gnomes, and plastic flamingoes alike can sing, dance and fall in love when no one is looking.
Like some loved up version of Toy Story, these two warring communities of garden gnomes on Verona Drive (get it) are of course The Capulets and The Montagues, or in this case the blue hats and the reds. The story of Romeo and Juliet plays out as you would expect with all the usual characters, Tybalt, Paris and even Juliet's nurse are all there, except of course in the form of tiny plaster gnomes, plus various other garden ornaments such as ditsy romantic frogs (voiced by Ashley Jensen) and even a dopy deer voiced by Ozzy Osbourne.
However what is missing is of course any real sense of drama, or fear for our two lawn crossed lovers voiced by James McAvoy as Romeo and Emily Blunt as Juliet. There is however plenty of drama between the two fighting gnome families, who relentlessly sabotage each others imaculate gardens and prized plants, which is mirrored in the hatred between the two garden owners who continue to fight over the fence while their miniature garden warlords are tearing up each others lawns, all to the backdrop of an entire Elton John themed soundtrack, and even a cameo of Elton in animated Gnome form.
The problem with doing an animated children's version of Romeo and Juliet, is you kind of need a liscence to thrill for this story to work, with burning romance and passion, to the back drop of real violence and family hatred. Which is all quite difficult to achieve when the two lovers in question are made of clay and 'clink' whenever they touch each other and the family violence is between frogs and deers and baby rabbits. It was all just a bit too cutesy, and the humour was not nearly a patch on animation classics like Shrek, where an adult can easily laugh his socks off next to his ten year old.
However the animation is undoubtedly incredible, every peeling bit of paint on a gnomes hat, and every blade of grass is considered in immaculate detail, its just that we have become so blase about the level of perfection that we expect from our animations, that the story and the humour (if a comedy) has to be just as good as the animation, if not better, because after a while we stop to notice just how well Romeo's lips move when he speaks, and we just want him to day something funny.
Over all this film has just enough charm and humour to make it worth a trip to the cinema, but really only for the kids sake, they will love it, and if that was what Elton John, David Furnish and those at Rocket Films were trying to achieve, then they've done a great job. Fun for all the family, yes, classic, ageless comedy to warrant buying the DVD for repeated viewings, it is not.
Gnomeo and Juliet Film Page
GNOMEO AND JULIET IS OUT TODAY, FEBRUARY THE 11TH
