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Film Title: Gnomeo & Juliet

 Best for ages: 6 & Up

Movie Website:  Click Here

Year Released: 2011

Rated: G (US)

The Review

   The premise of William Shakespeare’s Romero & Juliet has been used in many films. Besides the many tellings of Shakespeare’s own Romero & Juliet on film and television, their have been films that reflect the same story and the overall universal premise. Disney along with Touchtone Pictures and Rocket Entertainment have put together Gnomeo & Juliet;  a more family friendly version of the classic Shakespeare involving garden gnomes.

   In the tradition of Romero & Juliet, Gnomeo & Juliet begins with Mrs. Montague and Mr. Capulet, in this case two elderly neighbors who despise each other and their gardens feel the same way. When they are not around their gardens come to life. The Montague garden is filled with blue garden gnomes, and the Capulet garden houses red garden gnomes. Competition ensues in the form of lawnmower races.  Our hero, Gnomeo from the Montague garden and his rival Tybalt from the Capulet garden race it out. However when it is discovered that Tybalt has cheated, Gnomeo and his friend decide to do something about it. This leads to them almost getting caught, yet at the same time Gnomeo meets Juliet and in staying true to the premise of William Shakespeare’s story, with a few cute changes here and there; the animated feature plays out with one exception; this film has a happy ending.

    Gnomeo & Juliet is a cute film in its own little way. The film does have some animated violence and in the fashion of keeping true to the Shakespeare side of the original story there is some jealously and war like scenes between the two gardens. I would say it’s safe for kids over the age of six to view. My four year old did not show much interest in this film at all and I found myself watching it alone. It’s one of those stories where you really don’t need to know the story of Romero & Juliet to understand what’s going on, but it does help. I just saw it more as a film for older children and not so much for younger kids.

    The Blu-ray Disc has many features and also come with a DVD copy also. Both the Blu-ray and DVD include three featurettes. “Elton Builds a Garden” A feature that talks about Elton John’s Music and it’s effect on the film.  “Frog Talk with Ashley Jensen” A look into how Ashley Jensen voiced the character of Nanette, along with crazy faces and a Japanese lesson. There is also a “Crocodile Rock” music video featuring Nelly Fortado and Elton John. Features exclusive to the Blu-ray are two alternate endings, deleted and alternate scenes and a feature called “The Fawn of Darkness” a look at Ozzy Osbourne’s voice over of the lawn deer Fawn intercut with outtakes.

   Overall, Gnomeo & Juliet is a cute film that gives a cute and fresh feeling to Shakespeare’s story with a more kid friendly version. The film does have some animated violence and a few scenes that you might not want your younger children under the age of six to view. However, overall it’s a cute fun family film and is at least worth renting.

BUY THIS MOVIE.