Cast: James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine, Jason Statham, Maggie Smith, Patrick Stewart, Ashley Jensen, Stephen Merchant, Matt Lucas, Jim Cummings, Julie Walters, Richard Wilson, Ozzy Osbourne
Synopsis: The greatest love story ever told, starring…garden gnomes? In Gnomeo & Juliet, Shakespeare’s revered tale gets a comical, off-the-wall makeover. Directed by Kelly Asbury (co-director of Shrek 2) and showcasing both classic and original songs by Elton John, the film features the voices of James McAvoy and Emily Blunt as Gnomeo and Juliet, who have as many obstacles to overcome as their quasi namesakes when they are caught up in a feud between neighbors. But with plastic pink flamingos and thrilling lawnmower races in the mix, can this young couple find a happy ending?
Review:
Elton John’s GNOMEO & JULIET is visually colourful and well animated thought that’s really all there is going for it. The fact that he produced this himself and managed to score the stellar line up of stars he did is just a testament to how deep his pockets are and how big his Rolodex. There were some well chosen voices in the mix though with Statham as a bad gnome, and doing a throwback to DEATHRACE. Caine as Juliet’s father was also well placed. There is something about his voice, like that of Morgan Freeman that puts the listener at ease. It also commands attention but, despite his best efforts, Caine got lost in the crowd giving way to slapstick and a well trodden formula.
There were seven different scribes at work here and that accounts for about 11 minutes of dialogue each. There was perhaps only one joke per writer in the film on average and the story of ROMEO & JULIET was butchered and mowed down (literally) for the sake of a happy ending.
It is not worth commenting on the music of this film as it was all Elton’s. It’s also pointless to comment on the story as it’s a well known classic albeit with a new ending. John’s material was inappropriately omnipresent both visually and aurally and the target audience of youngsters would be right to question why a man was depicted in a purple glitter suit pounding away on a piano in a movie that was all about gnomes. True, some of the songs were used effectively, but was there a chariot race in the original? So why are they racing lawn mowers? Why the obsession with lawnmowers? It is true that traditionally, both families were rivals but there were surely more options for avenues of conflict.
So it seems that Elton John is delirious. Not because he’s tired from working so hard, but because he’s under the impression we think he’d make a great producer, in his down time from saving the world one Eminem at a time.
Dreamworks and DisneyPixar have cornered the ‘kids movies for adults’ genre. With Blue Sky coming in a close third. There is no need for Elton John to invade kids movies also. Didn’t we suffer enough with MOULIN ROGUE?
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