Movie Review by Matthew Schuchman…
For the first time ever, a movie on this site will not receive a ‘Stache rating. While a lot of films I review are not made for me as its target audience, I still can somewhat relate to them and treat them on a certain level that all films can be. “Gnomeo and Juliet” however, totally overshot that level and while kids and family fun audiences will enjoy it, it was 75 or so minutes of pain to me.
When I first saw the poster for this movie, I almost dropped dead of embarrassment. Then I saw the trailer and thought, it actually looks like someone may have made a cute movie here and actually had my hopes up for it. By now you can tell though what I really thought of the film.
You don’t need me to tell you what the movie is about, the film makers took the story of “Romeo and Juliet” and put it in the world of the crips and the bloods red garden gnomes vs. blue garden gnomes. When the homeowners are away (or home it seems), the gnomes come to life and feud until things boil over. Obviously if you know the story of “Romeo and Juliet,” you know the story of “Gnomeo and Juliet,” sans the suicide.
The movie is not very funny even for adults and the constant Elton John music becomes annoying, pretty fast. But, I know I am in a minority here for how I feel about this movie because all of the kids at the screening loved it and it seemed to get a lot of applause even though no one laughed much at all. So if you want to take your family, you should enjoy the movie. If you want to take a date to see “Gnomeo and Juliet,” bring a cyanide capsule.
