Directed (and screenplay) by Kelly Asbury, Starz Animation, 2011. Starring James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Ashley Jensen and Michael Caine.
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Romance.
We all know the Shakespeare play: Romeo & Juliet but I bet you have never seen it told like this before. I took my kids yesterday to see Gnomeo & Juliet along with countless other families. The theatre was packed and my kids were anxiously waiting for the movie to start after seeing the previews for weeks.
I must confess that I studied theatre history in college and I am a huge fan of the Bard. Also, I have probably seen almost every film adaptation of his plays; and I have liked most of them - until now. The movie started out okay but as the story progressed, and after a few initial giggles, I found it to be rather boring and uninteresting.
Yes, the main characters are there but with some additional ones and some removed but that was fine. It was the placement and selections of songs by Elton John that didn’t seem well thought out; and then there was an additional story that got wedged in to help modernize it, I suppose. It just didn’t work for me. As I have said before - why try to reinvent the wheel? Oh well.
Perhaps this is the perfect movie for the toddler range – a segment of the population who knows nothing of the original story. But with all that said I do think most kids will enjoy it.
My kid’s reviews:
Daughter, 9: 5 out of 10 – she said it was boring and that she knew most of the songs (that didn’t seem like a good thing). She liked the bunnies though.
Son, 11: 8 out of 10 – but he said if he was a few years younger he would have liked it more. He did enjoy the action – which there is a lot.
My favorite thing: The animation was great and it was fun to see on the large screen. We did not see the 3D version. Also, I did like the frog – Nanette.
My least favorite: The music.
Possibility of a sequel? I don’t think so.
Did the previews ruin it or show too much? Actually, no. There were a lot of funny lines and segments never viewed on any preview I ever saw.
Rating: G
Length: 84 minutes
Rating: 4 out of 10
Videos on Demand
2 comments:
I have two preschoolers and they just loved it. I posted a review on www.MomsLifeMadeEasy.com if you would like to view it to see the perspective of a mom to preschoolers.
Look forward to following your blog!
MomsLifeMadeEasy
Ellery - thanks for your comment. I did read your review and agree that this is a good movie for the toddler age. Thanks for joining.
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