Introducing tragimation! – ‘Gnomeo & Juliet’ Review

“Two households, both alike in lawn ornamentation..”

And so begins Disney’s first foray into the world of Shakespeare. There were some rumblings years ago about similarities between The Lion King and “Hamlet,” but as far as a straightforward adaptation, this is the first one, and they’re starting out of the gate at a respectable gallop.

Not only is the movie almost impossibly entertaining, it's educational too! At the end of the movie, ask your son or daughter what years Shakespeare lived and they may very well know (1564-1616, watch closely). Also worth noticing is a brief homage to “As You Like It,” a truly underrated Shakespearean play, and my personal favorite. This is a movie that warrants multiple viewings.

I studied Shakespeare in college so I’ll admit that I went into Gnomeo & Juliet with some trepidation. Seriously, they remade one of the most well-known love stories ever created using ceramic and plastic lawn decorations.  I’ll grant that it’s not the kind of thing that will inspire instant confidence among moviegoers, but I’m relieved to report that they pulled it off brilliantly.

So here’s the dramatis personae. Two irritable next-door neighbors live in two polarly opposite homes, right down to weathervanes that point opposite directions. They’re clearly enemies, but we never learn anything about them. The movie is about the little creatures decorating their respective lawns, and the ancient rivalry continuing amongst them.

A few of the characters retain the same names as in the original story, but a few are changed, like Lady Blueberry (Maggie Smith), Lord Redbrick (Michael Caine), and Bill Shakespeare (get it?). That’s right, the Bard himself makes an appearance, voiced by Patrick Stewart, in what has to be the best cameo of the year, and definitely one of the funniest scenes in the movie ("Told you so!").

But the story is centered on the treacherous love playing out between Gnomeo (James McAvoy) and Juliet (Emily Blunt), who meet in a chance encounter that momentarily shields their identities from each other long enough for them to fall in love at first sight. Each is horrified at the discovery that they other is a member of their family’s ancient enemy, but they immediately embark on this journey to convince their respective clans of the futility of the ongoing war between them before they can destroy each other.

This is pretty hefty stuff for a kids movie. That may explain the use of tiny lawn ornaments as characters.

But despite the diminutive cast, the movie brings us right down into their world, and their battle is pretty convincing. So much so, in fact, that that the youngest members of the audience may have trouble with some parts. I heard one woman leave the screening I attended angrily saying “That is not a children’s movie!” Frankly I think that’s a ludicrous overreaction, because I know exactly which scene she’s talking about. And even though it did look briefly like the movie was gonna veer into tragic territory, a few seconds later something else happens that will have the kids laughing hysterically. You’ll know it when I see it. 

But the story-telling is so brisk, and the animation is so startlingly realistic, that the movie creates this permeating sense of wonderment that reminded me of why people go to the movies in the first place.

When I see a movie that’s driven by its special effects, that’s full of CGI imagery that’s there just because it’s possible, it’s just a pointless distraction that often negates the entire story anyway. It’s like someone bragging about themselves. No one wants to hear that.

But this is a movie that understands that the secret lies in the details. And this isn’t only true of animation, it’s true in all movies. There’s a scene in Braveheart, for example, where a crew member walks right onto the screen wearing a baseball hat. Kind of kills the atmosphere, know what I mean?

In Gnomeo & Juliet the animation is so real, and the 3D imaging so convincing that you feel like you can reach out and pick up one of the gnomes. It’s a tragic irony of 3D movies, which are only now emerging from the gimmick stage, that we’ve already become so callously jaded to them that we remember with derision the time when people in the theater would reach out in front of them, like they can touch the things coming off the screen.

But the reason we laugh at that kind of behavior is because even now, decades after filmmakers learned how to make a 3D image come off a two-dimensional screen, so many movies feel like they have to come to a screeching halt so a sword or a shark or some other thing can come poking into the auditorium and we’re supposed to go oooh and ahhh like we think it’s gonna hit us in the forehead.

But watch the details in Gnomeo & Juliet. Watch the way the leaves rustle in the wind. Watch how the dirt moves, and how smoke and dust billow in the air. Listen to the way the gnomes’ hands make a clinking sound when they’re clapping, or whenever they touch, reminding us that they’re porcelain, and that the foley artists are doing their jobs. Animated movies are almost uniformly outstanding these days, but this is the first time I’ve had the feeling that I’m looking at an example of the future of animation.

And that’s to say nothing of the vocal performances, which are one of the best things about the movie. It’s one of those spectacular ensemble casts where new voices keep popping up so much that it’s like they’re never gonna end – Jason Statham, James McAvoy, Hulk Hogan, Dolly Parton, Michael Caine, Patrick Stewart, even Ozzy freaking Osbourne, for crying out loud.

And it takes a special kind of movie to be able to take such diverse talent and put it together in a cohesive and family-friendly story, but writer/director Kelly Asbury, a Shrek veteran, is carving a comfortable spot for himself in the animation world. See it!

The Bean Meter