Gnomeo and Juliet

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself

Anything you need to know about this film is in the trailer. If you like that then you'll probably love the film, if like me you thought it was a shining pinnacle of mediocrity, well it is. Romeo and Juliet told with garden gnomes, a happy ending for the kiddies and a whole bunch of Elton John songs awkwardly shoehorned into the soundtrack. James Newton Howard, being the genius that he is, manages to use those themes to create a variety of moods, from sad tragedy to action epic, but the fact remains that they are still Elton John songs and when the singing starts it never quite matches what action in the film. More original songs would probably have been better suited.

There were one or two jokes that Shakespeare fans will appreciate. Tybalt does get smashed. But he is glued back together before the end credits. Speaking of which, what's the deal with ending films with a big song and dance number? It rarely works for me. Grating, annoying and lazy.

For an animated film that was produced independent of one of the big 4 animation houses it looks great and has a great cast (that do average work) but it didn't click for me. The old people in the cinema loved it though, so go and enjoy it in 3D if you must.