Review of Gnomeo & Juliet (2011) by Eliza J — 23 Jan 2017

Kelly Asbury's Gnomeo and Juliet was not nearly as terrible of a movie as I initially thought it was going to be. I based my first impression off of the cover art, which presents an aura of five-year-old humor with its whimsical wee gnomes and the childish font styling. I was expecting, in essence, a Minions sort of horror fest. I was delightfully proven wrong.

The film begins, appropriately, on a stage, with a gnome preparing to read the opening lines of Romeo and Juliet. He remarks on the dullness of the text, and he is eventually prevented from finishing his recital as a trapdoor opens beneath him. This scene does a wonderful job of framing the remainder of the film. It is clearly a movie meant for younger people and children, and by making fun of something that they perceive to be boring the filmmakers ensure that the boredom is removed entirely. It is a wise move, as it enables the essence of the original Romeo and Juliet to be presented without turning away a young audience who would struggle with the text.

That being said, I believe this is also the closest the film ever came to accurately reproducing the original tragedy. I would consider Gnomeo and Juliet to be more of an homage to Shakespeare, rather than an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. There are multiple references to both Shakespeare himself and his other works throughout the film - it takes place in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, the moving truck is from the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern moving company, the teacup truck belongs to the Tempest Teacup company, and there is a talking statue of Shakespeare in the park. These references, along with the plot's wild deviation from the original story, make the film an amusing endeavor, but ultimately unfaithful to the source material.

Some base elements of Romeo and Juliet remain, namely the feuding Capulets and Montagues (as seen in both the humans and the gnomes), the love-struck children of the warring families, and... that is effectively it. There is no reference to Rosaline, which outright removes one aspect of Romeo's entire character. He is supposed to be passionate, in love with love, but instead he is portrayed as a street-racing gnome with a penchant for playing pranks on the neighbors.

Other characters are cut or altered: Nanette the frog substitutes for Juliet's nurse, Benny the gnome appears to merge the characters of Benvolio and Mercutio, and the film's Lady Capulet and Lord Montague are both dead. Tybalt remains, but his duels with Gnomeo devolve instead into lawnmower racing. His "death" was indeed caused by Gnomeo, but Benny was not killed, only maimed. Even Tybalt was not actually killed, as he reappears again at the end of the film. This detracts from the significance of the duel, as there is no real consequence to motivate either side. The mob ends up effectively banishing Gnomeo, as they mistake a shattered blue teapot for his remains.

In Gnomeo's absence, Juliet has been firmly affixed atop her castle by her father, who disapproves of her relationship with Juliet. While this does a god job of showing her father's strictness and the role of women as seen in Romeo and Juliet, it also completely undermines the secret nature of Romeo and Juliet's relationship. In Shakespeare's tragedy, no one knew about it until it was too late. In Gnomeo and Juliet, everyone knows about it and is enraged. Benny, deciding to take matters into his own hands, orchestrates the destruction of both gardens. This places Juliet in danger, as she is stuck on top of the tower and unable to move. Gnomeo attempts to rescue her, but the tower collapses and the two are presumed dead. This prompts the two families to reconcile their differences and declare the feud over. Moments later, Gnomeo and Juliet emerge from the rubble. Again, this detracts from the significance of the moment and negates any consequences their actions may have had. While the feud is still over, it is still not as satisfying as it would have been if they had both perished in order to bring their families together.

All-in-all, the film was a solid homage to the tragedy while still being an independent work that had its own merits. The musical numbers were completely unnecessary, but the abundant puns and poking fun of the Bard would have made Shakespeare, if not proud, at least amused.