The Movie
Two houses, both alike in dignity, both awash in gaudy lawn decorations, provide the setting for this unique new spin on William Shakespeare's timeless tale of tragic love. In Gnomeo & Juliet, the red garden gnomes (and their inanimate ilk) and the blue have been locked in a feud for so long, no one can remember the cause, not even angry neighbors Miss Montague and Mr. Capulet.
It's the whole Toy Story scenario whereby, when no human is watching, the little ceramic statues come to life and have very complex personal lives. One day a forbidden love blossoms between roguish "Gnomeo" and a thoroughly modern Juliet and, well, you probably already know most of the story because so much of this movie is almost slavishly devoted to Bill's infamous text.
But in the quest to hit as many of the plot points of the original and preserve the talky style--and in "paying homage" to Woody and Buzz every few minutes--G&J never really finds its own way. We almost feel like a fly on the wall in the pitch meeting: "Shakespeare, Elton John, gnomes: How can we miss?" Yeah, Sir Elton is a producer, and his tunes weave in and out, including a couple famously utilized in Moulin Rouge, directed by Baz Lurhmann, who also made Romeo + Juliet: Is there anything gnew under the sun?
In all fairness, there are a few fresh ideas here... they're just not all that great. Some subtle, intellectual jokes might entertain Mom and Dad, but bits like a pre-date polishing sequence go on too long, and another of a gnome dancing on a computer keyboard is just silly.
While you're here, check out Beth McCabe's review of Gnomeo & Juliet, and don't miss Rachel Cericola's Gnomeo & Juliet Blu-ray 3D review, too: She probably found some depth that I overlooked.
The Picture
To its credit, the animation really does look like little garden decorations come to life, right down to the brushstrokes of their painted faces and the various degrees of wear and tear, while the quality of the 1.85:1 image occasionally crosses into photo-realism. Colors are bold, and the gentle lighting effects are appreciable. There is some motion streaking but I noted no noise, and of course no film grain in this all-digital concoction.
The Sound
The reworked Elton John songs, some now used as musical score, float all enjoyably around us in DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1. (The movie was originally mixed for its theatrical release in Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound.) There are discrete voices in individual channels, and well-crafted directionality as stuff comes at us, or past us, as well as whizzing blueberries during one battle sequence. Little touches like chirping birds help, and the audio becomes more aggressive when the story demands it, but overall I wasn't really floored by this one.
The Extras
We learn about the knighted songster's involvement in the brief "Elton Builds a Garden," as well as the contributions of performers Ashley Jensen and Ozzy Osbourne in even shorter segments. These are all in HD, along with a music video for the new Nelly Furtado/Elton John recording of the popular ditty "Crocodile Rock," which also packs Dolby Digital 5.1-channel audio.
The extra scenes are quite extensive, but all in standard definition. There are two alternate endings introduced by director Kelly Asbury (about four minutes) and eight deleted and alternate sequences, also with his intros (42-and-a-half minutes). These are rudimentary "story reels" but quite interesting.
Disc Two is a DVD of the movie plus the Elton John and Ashley Jensen featurettes and the music video.
Final Thoughts
My kids seemed to like this one a lot more than I did, and I suppose now they will have some small advantage when they get around to studying Romeo and Juliet in high school. For kid-less grownups I'd only recommend a rental of Gnomeo & Juliet, but honestly, how many of those were likely to buy it anyway? For those with kids curious to check out this Bard-inspired animated tale, the strong video and full 7.1 channel surround make Blu-ray (or the similarly priced Blu-ray 3D version) the only way to bring it home.
Product Details
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