Gnomeo and Juliet

I'm loving this. Second movie this year that is retelling a very old tale into a modern twist and it's awesome. We've become very familiar with it, it's been taught to us in school and we know how it all goes. This movie is filled with humor and adults will love it as much as kids.

Story:
Two neighbors, two yards, and one giant feud. Mr. Capulet and Mrs. Montague have never been the most friendly of neighbors. Strange enough considering their hobbies of gardening and love of gnomes. Little do the home owners know, that when their backs are turned, and their eyes are elsewhere, their little friends the gnomes take the rivalry to a more extraordinary level.

No one knows how this gnomish feud started, because no one can remember. Whenever the Blues avenged for something, the Reds would be quick to follow with retaliation. When Tybalt(Jason Statham), of the red gnomes cheats in a lawnmower race between him and Gnomeo(James McAvoy) of the Blues, Gnomeo follows suit with a retaliation of his own. A midnight stealth operation to deface their lawnmower. Meanwhile, Juliet(Emily Blunt), daughter to Lord Redbrick(Michael Caine) sees a beautiful orchid that would put the blues garden to shame. Despite the over-protectiveness of her father, she dresses as a ninja to take the orchid as a prize, to prove to her father that she isn't "delicate".

After Gnomeo's attempt of retaliation, he is awestruck by a mysterious gnome sneaking about. He follows close behind her and when the two come upon the orchid, it's love at first sight. After a friendly game of keep away with the orchid, both their identities become revealed. But when Tybalt accidentally finds Juliet, she protects Gnomeo from being discovered, and must go away.

When they meet again, they realize the problems that arise. But with these two gnomes, love keeps them from being apart. But love can't save them from the problems that are to come.

Review:
This was a good one, and I liked it better than Shakespeare's version. There, I said it. Sue me. With all the versions of the story so far, this one is the favorite. It's the first kid's movie I've seen in awhile. Typically for adults the kids movie's are a pain, but I found this one enjoyable, and I think other adults would too. Modern kid's movies have those subtle jokes that adults would get, and the ones in this one didn't really get more than a shy smile out of me. The parts where it was funny to anyone though, did get me to laugh a little bit louder. The aim of the movie isn't primarily a comedy though, the aim is a sweet love story that's a bit happier than the original play. With that, I think they delivered well.

Cast:
With having Elton John as the executive producer, you get lots of pull. I mean, Jason Statham is in this movie. You know, the guy who typically drives cars off buildings and kills LOTS of people. They got him to be a gnome who wears a flower apron. I'm amazed. That's not all though. Patrick Stewart is in too, does the voice of a Shakespeare statue. Michael Caine, Hulk Hogan, Dolly Parton, Maggie Smith(Also known as Mrs. McGonagall), Julie Walters(Mrs. Weasley), and even Ozzy Osbourne.

But the headlining talent here is James McAvoy, and Emily Blunt. Neither I'm very familiar with, but they did most of the hard work and played great characters.


In closing, go see it. It's cool, kids will love it.