Gnomeo and Juliet

How many times "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare has been seen on the silver screen in adaptations more or less faithful to the work is hard to count. One would almost think that every variation of probably the most famous love story of all time has already been told. But far from it. Because with "Gnomeo and Juliet" now comes a fun version starring cute garden gnomes.

There has always been pure hostility between the two gardens of Count Vermilion and Countess Blueblood. Time and again, the neighboring garden gnome families clash and settle their disputes in cap-breaking lawnmower races. When the mean Tybalt from the red-capped garden tries to use a trick to drive Gnomeo and his blue pointed cap to smithereens, this devious attempt fails and Tybalt himself crashes into a wall. Now the long simmering feud really erupts. But it is in this heated atmosphere that Gnomeo meets the beautiful Juliet in an orphaned garden and immediately falls in love with her - even though she is the daughter of Count Vermilion. But does this love have any chance at all? Or can it perhaps even bring the feuding families together?

"Gnomeo and Juliet" may not be the best animated film in recent memory. Too often the action is just nice, but not hilarious. But Kelly Asbury's ("Shrek 2") pointy-headed fun is convincing with originality, charm and its great soundtrack, which consists primarily of classics by Elton John, who was also involved in the making of the film as a producer. On the other hand, another plus point unfortunately doesn't come into play in German cinemas, because the full star power can only be heard in the original English version: Jason Statham, Emily Blunt, James McAvoy, Michael Caine, Patrick Stewart or Ozzy Osborne lend their voices to the animated dwarves and provide extremely much wordplay for a really good mood.

Unfortunately, much of this is inevitably lost through the dubbing. Although the German speakers, including citizen Lars Dietrich as Gnomeo and Anke Engelke as fountain frog Nanette do their best, they can not hold a candle to the charm of the original. But there are still enough gags that work to make "Gnomeo und Julia" enjoyable cinema fun even in the German version. In the process, adults are encouraged to laugh with numerous film quotes and allusions to Shakespeare's work, as well as delicious anarchic wit, while the little ones can enjoy the many visual gags.

Not only the affectionate and, of course, not quite tragedy-oriented treatment of the original text, but also the satirical look at the garden gnome culture is always a source of sometimes more, sometimes less funny ideas. Especially the way in which the old adage that the grass is always greener on the other side of the garden fence is implemented here in the form of completely exaggerated competitive battles between people who remain largely invisible is, in its slightly exaggerated way, damn close to reality - and just for that reason really funny.

In the USA, "Gnomeo and Juliet" was only partially convincing at the start, but then proved to be quite a success, probably also thanks to good word of mouth. Especially since the film is also presented in many cinemas in neat 3D, which is still reason enough for many moviegoers to see a film. But to be honest, this excursion into the world of ceramic gnomes is one of those movies that only uses the 3D effect effectively in a few places. The movie itself doesn't gain a bit in quality because of it. Granted, when the three-dimensional effect works, it works really well. But for long stretches, it's completely unnecessary and only marginally justifies the 3D premium.

Bottom line, then, is that "Gnomeo and Juliet" offers pure good humor, with plenty of amusing characters and an original treatment of a more-than-familiar story. A nice animation fun, which can't show the complexity of the last PIXAR films, but at least offers a lot of food for the eyes, ears and laughing muscles - and tells a really touching love story of two plastic flamingos. Therefore: for animation fans and garden gnome lovers absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp