Gnomeo & Juliet (2011)

The opening of GNOMEO & JULIET actually looks surprisingly promising, as a garden gnome wobbles out in front of a red curtain to warn the audience that “the story you are about to see has been told before…a lot.” The cute little ceramic guy then goes on to whip out a long scroll and attempts to read Shakespeare’s prologue to “Romeo & Juliet” verbatim until the shepherd’s hook snags him offstage.

Though this Elton John-produced animated feature goes on to include a few sly literary references thereafter, there’s not much from a storytelling perspective that makes GNOMEO & JULIET very interesting. In this setting, the star-crossed lovers are garden gnomes in the bordering backyards of the Capulet and Montague families living in the duplexes in front of them. The “gangs” distinguish themselves from one another by their red and blue hats, respectively. And since the humans are rarely seen in the film, the gnomes attack each other with gusto as Gnomeo and Juliet fall in love with one another in spite of it, coaxed on by a plastic lawn flamingo.

John not only produced the film but lent a stable of his classic hits to the film, to mixed effects. While “Saturday Night’s All Right For Fighting” works relatively well during a fight sequence and “Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word” is moving as instrumental scoring behind one of the film’s emotional moments, it’s hard to watch this film without wishing we were getting the kind of high-quality original material we got with “The Lion King,” or even “Road to El Dorado.” Why didn’t they want new music here? It’s puzzling.

The film isn’t a complete disaster, however. As a matter of fact, the vocal talents assembled make for quite a distinguished and clever group, starting with James McAvoy and Emily Blunt as the couple and featuring the work of everyone from Michael Caine and Maggie Smith to Jason Statham and Ozzy Osbourne. And perhaps my favorite thing about the film is the way the animation team creates the garden gnomes to truly appear as plaster lawn decorations. The faded and chipped paint, the cracks and imperfections and, especially, the hollowed-out chinking sound they make when the move around – some on square bases – heighten the film’s sense of place and its element of kitsch.

Adults will get an extra chuckle whenever a good Shakespeare joke flies by, but there are only a few. While any film that co-stars both Patrick Stuart and Hulk Hogan is worth a look, there’s little else in GNOMEO & JULIET to knock our socks off.

2.0 out of 4