Theatrical Thursday!!

I missed Theatrical Thursday last week due to not watching any interesting movies. Meh, it happens, so here I am with a brand new post!! Yay Me!!

Gnomeo & Juliet

Starring: James McAvoy (as Gnomeo) and Emily Blunt (as Juliet

Release date: February 11, 2011

Running Time: 84 mins

Rated: G

My Rating: 5 Stars *****

Ok, so this is a children’s movie, but let me tell you…it is awesome!! I have sat down with my kids and watched it tons of times (and at least once by myself) since we got it. The movie is a modern day Romeo and Juliet with a twist…are you ready for this? The whole great Shakespearean tragedy is played out completely…by…GARDEN GNOMES!!! I thought this would be the most irritating movie ever, but it was soo, soo awesome.

So the story begins with the perfect opening…”Two households, both alike in dignity. In fair Verona, where we lay our scene…” Come on, this is right out of the original play (Love it!!). The story continues to follow the backyard gardens of neighbors Montague and Capulet. These humans are constantly trying to better each other’s gardens with fountains, more gnomes, and whatever else they can come up with….yeah, perfect feud…I can think of something better to fight with my neighbor over, but hey…it works here.

This feud continues on to the garden gnomes that live in the gardens. One side is Red, the other…Blue. They are always at each other and striving to ruin each others works of art. Out of all of this, comes Juliet, a Red, and (wait for it…this was hysterical) Gnomeo (can you freaking believe it???), obviously a Blue.

Naturally, these two enemies meet by chance and discover that they are enemies, but does that stop them from having a great love affair (PG of course, but you can totally feel the tension on the screen…I am way too into this aren’t I?) in secret?? Not a bloody chance!

 I loved how they made this movie reflect Shakespeare’s work so much. Not only Romeo and Juliet, but his other plays too. There are references to Hamlet (house numbers 2B and Not 2B), MacBeth (Juliet says “Out, Out” and the male neighbor, talking to his dog says “Damn Spot”), and tons of other great plays. William Shakespeare is even involved. What better way to introduce the classics to children? Pure genius!!

There was one part that didn’t thrill me, and that was this one little Sweedish (I think he was Sweedish) gnome who was decked out in a thong bathing suit so that you could see his little gnome bum. I could have lived the rest of my life without ever witnessing that, but…you take win some, you lose some I guess.

The icing on the cake, though? The entire soundtrack is classic Elton John, with…even an Elton John look-alike gnome to sing at one point!!! This could not get any better!!!

So, yeah…I freaking loved this movie! I might be a huge Shakespeare fanatic, but that just made me appreciate all the subtle references. A Freakin’ Plus Plus Plus!!!

To find out more about this movie, check ot out at IMDB!!