No, this isn’t William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, but there are some echoes. Montague and the Capulet feud is symbolized by the red capped lawn gnomes vs. the blue capped lawn gnomes. Gnomeo meets Juliet and sparks fly. Emily Blunt voices Juliet exquisitely. James McAvoy is the voice of Gnomeo. Ozzy Osborne, Maggie Smith, Michael Caine, Patrick Stewart, and a few more surprise voices animate their ceramic, plastic, or metal characters. Music for the movie is supplied amply by Sir Elton John. If you’re a fan, you’ll want to own the excellent soundtrack. Gnomeo & Juliet is sweet, clever fun for children of all ages. GRADE: B+
TRACK LIST
1 Hello Hello / Elton John Version 3:45
2 Crocodile Rock / Nelly Furtado 3:27
3 Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting) / Elton John 4:53
4 Don’t Go Breaking My Heart / Kiki Dee 4:31
5 Love Builds a Garden / Elton John 3:35
6 Your Song / Elton John 4:02
7 Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time) / Elton John 4:42
8 Tiny Dancer / Elton John 6:16
9 Bennie and the Jets / Elton John Live 5:23
10 Gnomeo and Juliet / James Newton Howard 4:22
11 Dandelions / James Newton Howard 4:25
12 Bennie and the Bunnies / James Newton Howard 2:52
13 Terrafirminator / James Newton Howard 5:34
14 The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room / The Mellomen 2:38
No doubt Shakespeare would’ve loved it.
Actually, Shakespeare has a cameo in GNOMEO & JULIET, Bill. With all the classical references and 3D effects, you would love it.
I’m guessing it was a little lighter than Jackie’s pick for Valentine’s Day…BLACK SWAN.
I’m guessing BLACK SWAN was a buzz-kill for Valentine’s Day, Jeff.
Funny, because through I lot of it I kept thinking of Polanski’s REPULSION and when I came home and read some stuff online it seems Aronofsky had that in mind (among other things) when he wrote it.
Jackie wants to know if there were other adults in the theater for this one.
Watching GNOMEO & JULIET IN 3D yesterday afternoon was like attending a private showing, Jeff. There were two 20-ish women a couple rows ahead of us and that’s it!