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Gnomeo & Juliet
| Released |
11 February 2011 |
| Director |
Kelly Asbury |
Starring
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James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Matt Lucas, Maggie Smithe, Michael Caine, Stephen Merchant, Ashley Jensen, Jason Statham, Ozzy Osbourne |
Writer(s)
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Kelly Asbury, Mark Burton, Kevin Cecil, Emily Cook, Kathy Greenberg, Andy Riley, Steve Hamilton Shaw |
Producer(s)
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Baker Bloodworth, David Furnish, Steve Hamilton Shaw |
| Origin |
United Kingdom, United States |
| Running Time |
83 minutes |
| Genre |
Animation, adventure, comedy |
| Rating |
G |
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Gnome sweet gnome.
Much like Snakes on a Plane, I suspect that Gnomeo & Juliet began as a water cooler joke before finding life as a feature film. The title was undoubtedly the best thing about the former but Gnomeo & Juliet is far from a one-pun pony.
The film takes place on a suburban street, where the gnomes and owners of two neighbouring gardens are engaged in a fierce feud. Gnomeo (a Blue gnome) meets and falls in love with Juliet (a Red). Meanwhile, the rivalry steps up between the feuding clans leading, not to bloodshed, but to some seriously smashed pottery. For the most part, the film follows the plot of Shakespeare’s play but opts for a happy ending (a double suicide isn’t exactly child-friendly).
Canadian based Starz Animation have created a complete but parochial world for the characters to inhabit that could hold its own against any of the bigger animation houses but what makes Gnomeo & Juliet stand apart from the crowd is the tone and humour of the piece. It feels closer to a classic British sitcom than to Pixar’s work for example. A quick look through the scriptwriters is revealing as it includes Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil -writers not only of animation Robbie the Reindeer but also contributors to Black Books and Little Britain amongst others.
Its comedy credentials are undoubtedly there along with a healthy dose of camp; hardly surprising since Elton John and partner David Furnish are amongst the producers and the action is backed by a medley of Elton classics. If you’ve ever wanted to see garden gnomes engaged in a lawnmower race accompanied by 'Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting' then here’s your chance!
The voice-cast is perfectly pitched with a great mix of hardy perennials (Maggie Smith, Michael Caine), marquee names (James McAvoy, Emily Blunt) and sitcom alumni (Matt Lucas, Stephen Merchant, Ashley Jensen). All are quality performances. Even Jason Statham, as the snarling Tybalt, is exponentially more compelling as a gnome than he is as a human.
My only quibble with Gnomeo & Juliet are the 3D effects -a couple of minutes without glasses proved that there was precious little of it actually going on. It’s just a shame that you’ll have to shell out those extra euros to see this little gem.
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Linda O’Brien |
