I know that I am about to say something radical, but despite being adored by millions (or billions or perhaps the entire galaxy),I hated Elton John's contributions to this film. While I long ago tired of his singing (the death of Diana Spencer killed my love for Mr. John's songs, as "Candle in the Wind" was played TO DEATH),this alone is not why I hated his songs in "Gnomeo & Juliet". It was because so much of the film just looked like a freaking music video--with song after song after song sung by Elton. If this is a kids' movie, surely the kids will be bored by all this. And, if it's for adults, do they really go to a CGI movie when they could just as soon pop in a DVD of Elton John's Greatest Hits (volumes 1, 2....etc.)?! The music video-izing of this film shows that the film was heavily padded and the film makers realized that the main story idea was all too familiar as well as a bit thin.

As for the story, it's pretty much exactly what you'd expect. Great Touchstone CGI and a story that is an odd retelling of "Romeo & Juliet". There are quite a few Shakespeare references that will thrill Shakespeare buffs, but which will go completely over the heads of the kids and many adults in the audience. And, as far as a kids' movie goes, it's not bad...but also not especially endearing. Part of it, of course, were all the irrelevant songs but also because there simply have been much more entertaining films of the genre. Worth seeing if it appears on a premium cable channel and you already are subscribed, otherwise easy to skip. As for me, I lost interest about midway through the flick (despite Matt Lucas providing one of the voices).

Gnomeo (James McAvoy) is a blue gnome, and Juliet (Emily Blunt) is a red gnome from next door. Neither side gets along including the human owners. One night, Gnomeo and Juliet meet and they fall in love before they realize they're on opposite sides. Now they must deal with their battling families.

It's an animated story of Romeo and Juliet produced by Elton John. It's notable for the many Elton John songs. However there isn't much truly funny moments. The comic relief lack real comedy. And the lead voices don't have anything special. They make the mistake of using their regular voices. They really need to develop their cartoon voices. The story is fair and watchable. It doesn't have the memorable characters needed.

I wasn't expecting Gnomeo and Juliet to be amazing, and it wasn't. However, it was pretty decent, and quite an improvement over the trailer which gave me low expectations for this film. Gnomeo and Juliet was better than I thought, it is not among the best animated films of all time and it never tried to be, but it isn't among the worst.

The story loosely based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is predictable with not that many surprises, but at least it didn't have a jarring change of tone and at least it went somewhere. The film is also too short in my view, and some of it was rather rushed.

However, Gnomeo and Juliet is beautifully animated, with wonderful colours and backgrounds. The character designs weren't as good, but they were tolerable. The film also has an energetic soundtrack, a funny and witty script that children especially will love and likable characters. Adults will love or at least admire the voice cast, as all of them from Maggie Smith, Ashley Jenssen and Michael Caine to Patrick Stewart, Julie Walters and Jim Cummings are terrific.

Overall, a decent movie that didn't try to be anything more than it was other than a fun and entertaining film. 7/10 Bethany Cox