Gnomeo & Juliet in 3D

Gnomeo is a retelling of the classic Shakespeare tragedy of forbidden love, dueling sides and a lawn mower from hell.   Gnomeo is a Blue garden gnome and his natural born enemies are the Red’s, although these two sides are separated by their homeowner’s fences, they still live a very frail neutrality line that is tested constantly by both sides.  When Gnomeo’s best friend is cut down in a fight, he ventures out and finds the adventurous Red Juliet who has escaped the bounds of her yard to retrieve an elusive flower.  Both being disguised as ninja’s, neither knows which color tribe the other belongs to.  With gnome color not a question, they’re kismet is given a chance to form.  Sparks fly for the doomed lovers and from that comes ancient grudge and ancient mutiny (is that Shakespeare’s?).

Gnomeo, voiced by James McAvoy (The Last King Of Scotland), is really a cool and loveable character.  Noble, self-sacrificing and when viewed through the resplendent detail of 3D, is quite the handsome little garden gnome.  I’ve always been amazed how foreign born actors can switch their accents on and off consistently.  Having seen (and heard) him as so many English speaking characters it almost seems like greater acting even though he is speaking natively.   Filling out the cast are just a great display of Hollywood and show biz talent whose voices are just as powerful even when sight unseen.  Emily Blunt (Devil Wears Prada), Jason Statham (The Transporter), Michael Caine (Batman Begins), Maggie Smith (Harry Potter films), and even Ozzy Osbourne’s voices are on display.  Hulk Hogan (Rocky III) steals the show as the outrageously funny voice-over in an infomercial for the Terrafirminator!; a monstrous lawnmower integrated with every lawn killing device known to man, coupled with artificial intelligence, and packing 75% more horsepower than you’ll ever need!

Its whimsical at times, endearing, and when you think about the supposed world of true-to-life garden gnomes, surprisingly imaginative.  The screenwriter Kelly Asbury (Beauty & The Beast) takes great poetic license with Shakespeare’s original material.  The film almost serves as a kiddie ‘Cliff’s Notes’ to the classic.  It doesn’t end in suicide like the original, but it does do a great job of bringing the macabre of death from the original story into the film.  I like how they give you the idea that gnomes can’t be seen moving around by humans, so when they venture beyond their own backyards, into our world or their owners are looming - they freeze.  Interestingly, they never explain which one drives their sudden stop in motion.  Is it an ancient system that just freezes them when we’re near, or can they choose to not turn to stone?  Either way, the attention to detail in these gnomes and the film is truly overwhelming.  Check out the moss streaks on the various garden pieces that don’t move.  Even the detail within the gnomes faces is crisp and vivid.   The animators do a striking job of detailing them down to pore, yet they still look as though they’re completely made of stone.