Gnomeo & Juliet is a pretty gorgeous sight to behold, especially in Blu-ray. You can see the little wavering hand-painted paint lines, chips, and scuffs in every gnome, every garden ornament (living or otherwise). I found myself lost in textures, with everything life-like enough to touch. It's the kind of stuff that makes you want to go dig in the yard, build a miniature castle intended for garden anole royalty, and just look at everything like a kid again.
The movie doesn't exactly follow its Shakespeare inspiration closely, but one of the characters quite literally has a conversation with Shakespeare, in case you needed to be persuaded to let that go. There are two warring neighbors who, in turn, have yards full of gnomes that hold a never-ending grudge against each other as well. The gnomes come alive when they aren't watched, and use the time to stage lawnmower races and garden heists against each other. Of course, Gnomeo meets Juliet, and their tragic love story commences. The movie manages to keep everything light and fun, though one gnome is tragically smashed, which propels to two clans of gnomes into all-out war. The movie does take a long time to pick up, and get most of its cliche and sight gag humor out of its system. There are also a few dance numbers, but they don't dominate the movie like some Disney films are known to do.
I don't know exactly where a film about living gnome statues is supposed to go, but I did get the feeling it could go further. One of the funniest scenes for me was where the gnomes spy on the owner of the house as she's looking into buying a new mower. Of course, anything garden-related gets a gnome excited. But the humor just often stayed in a very safe, very bland area for me. When you've got something as naturally comedic as garden gnomes, it just seems like you can go a little wild with it.
Gnomeo & Juliet has a decent offering of special features. The DVD is the same as the Blu-ray, but with fewer of the special features. The deleted scenes are entertaining, but they are only in storyboard form. Of course, you don't just render hours of unneeded footage in a CG movie, but it's still not as entertaining as fully rendered clips. The interviews and behind the scenes moments with the cast are particularly entertaining. I, for one, would have never realized that the concrete deer named Fawn was voiced by the prince of darkness himself, Ozzy Ozbourne.
Gnomeo & Juliet is just a sweet film. It doesn't have a nod to the adults in the room as much as some animated films, but it doesn't feel so simple that only a child could enjoy it. The nod to the adults probably comes more from the casting with stars such as James McAvoy as Gnomeo and Hulk Hogan as the voice of the killer "Terrafirminator" lawnmower advertisement. There are parts that could be pretty sad, but it manages to skip along that sad lake instead of sinking in. For me, it is a bit too sweet, and the much touted Elton John music included in the film isn't a plus for me either. Either way, it's sweet, colorful, and definitely a movie that won't bring down your day.
Clips
Gnome IntroBalcony Scene
Doomed Love
