We were given passes to go see a pre-screening of Gnomeo and Juliet this past Saturday. It opens in theaters tomorrow (Feb 11) so now you know in case you were wondering. First off, a trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/e/uXyT9tlQ9Pc
Secondly, some thoughts. I’ve been hearing some critiques around the internet on how in the world could they take a classic tragic story and give it a Disney-esque spin? My answer to that is simply to say that you’ll have to trust me when I say they were true to the traditional ending of the story AND the traditional tied-up-with-a-pretty-bow happy ending.
Scratching your head on how? I’d love to spill the beans on that, but I think I’d better wait a bit. I don’t want to spoil it for you if you are planning to go see the movie.
So I have some yays and nays about the movie.
Yays:
It’s cute. The story is interesting in that most of us (older set) are really familiar with Romeo and Juliet already, so to see it get spun this way with garden gnomes was actually fairly clever.
I appreciated the way Gnomeo and Juliet met each other and the confusion they felt when they later discovered who they really were and then had to reconcile if their color really was who they were or not.
Nays:
The filming was too dark. I don’t mean dark in a mysterious kind of way, but a “can you even see that?” on the screen kind of way. At first I thought they were just trying to make us believe it was night time in the backyard, but they never lightened it up for those scenes and it was a pretty big distraction.
There were several moments of inappropriate inclusions that were simply not necessary for the story. We’re not too terribly picky about what gets included in movies for kids usually, but there is a line we have and I think this movie crossed it.
The 3D nature of this movie does nothing for it. If given a choice, don’t bother with the 3D.
Back to Yays:
They did bring in William Shakespeare in the movie and it didn’t seem forced to me. I was glad he was included and for what he contributed to this version of the story.
So there you have it. Gnomeo and Juliet in a nutshell. If you end up seeing it this weekend or later, please come back and tell me what you thought. I’d love to discuss it with someone else.
Half-Pint House 
I think this looks like a good show. Thanks for the tip on the 3-D since it adds soooo much more $$ to the cost.
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We saw it this past Monday at a preview screening. They told me reviews weren’t allowed until opening day, though. I wasn’t going to bother because if you can’t say something nice, don’t say it. Heh.
I agree that 3D wasn’t necessary and didn’t enhance the movie at all. I took 3 of the boys with me and they agreed. They did like the movie, though. They thought the flamingo and the frog were the best characters. Personally, my favorite character was the big lawn mower.
Curious about the line that was crossed…?
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We were told we could post on the 9th, so guess we have different reps? 🙂
I could just be overly picky, but the scene with the frog with strategically placed rose petals ala American Beauty (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169547/) and the gnome getting stuck in the bra – stuff like that drives me nuts. It seems like there was something else but I’m not recalling it now so it must not have been that big of a deal… 🙂
Loved the flamingo and his story of the happen, then divorced owners was heartbreaking.
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Nice article, thanks.
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Nice article, thanks.
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appreciated your comments in your article
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Good article
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my daughter has been whining to see it, thanks for the review.
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Agreed with the 3D… I hate 3D
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Tweeted today!
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This looks fun! I am too cheap for 3D anyway, so I glad I wouldn’t be missing out!
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Well, you’ve managed to convince me in a vague and non-spoiler way that my Shakespeare loving self wouldn’t be completely horrified by this movie. We may have to put it on our Netflix list when it comes out on DVD.c
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