Sometimes the perks of being a blogger are pretty darn nice. This past weekend my brood of five all went and saw an advance screening of Gnomeo & Juliet in 3D. Much thanks to The Owens Group for the tickets. Anyway, I don’t have to write about it obviously but this particular movie, in addition to being VERY good, was actually very “green” in many ways. That surprised me but I guess it shouldn’t have.
The main characters are all lawn ornaments… ceramic mushrooms and frogs, pink flamingos, and of course Gnomes. All of these characters have great pride in taking care of their environment and making sure everything stays beautiful. There was a lot of eye candy in the way of prized flower beds, secret gardens, fountains, and the like. So while that wasn’t what the story is primarily about I loved that most of the story takes place outside as the Gnomes seek adventure in new places, wanting to make it beautiful everywhere they go.
The actual story is… well… a new take on Romeo and Juliet. The blue gnomes and red gnomes are at war because their respective homeowners are. Juliet takes off one night to nab a beautiful flower she saw in abandoned greenhouse down the road and she runs into Gnomeo. Both are in disguise since they are involved in mischief to some extent and they fall in love before they find out that the other is supposed to be their mortal enemy. Thankfully the whole suicide stuff was left out of this particular movie!
Anyway, it was really quite good. My 3 kids loved it (5, 7, 10) and my husband and I did as well. LOVED the references that went over the kids heads… like a line from Brokeback Mountain, Elton John in Gnome form, a Borat style swimsuit, and a play on an American Beauty scene. Oh and I was very happy to hear the voices of James McAvoy and Jason Statham.. my faves! I probably would not have chosen to see this film if not for the free tickets. I guess I need to stop being such a cartoon snob.. or so my husband would say. ;)
Will you being see this film?
I’ve heard about a method of ‘NOT WASHING’ your hair with anything apart from water (and to wash it daily – washing out any accumulated dust and sweat) and that after a couple of months your hair will balance out and you’ll be SHAMPOO FREE forever!!!! Yipppeeee! wouldn’t that be great – Have you heard anything about this? I like to know how long? and what to expect… Hmmmmm I’d love to achieve this!
I saw it with my 4 year old yesterday and we both LOVED it!
He wants to see it again and it’s one of those cartoon/kid movies I won’t mind seeing several times.
Very cleaver, very funny, very adorable.
This movie was fun and cute, but if you think it had a “green” message, then you definitely didn’t see the same movie I did. The gnomes drag raced gas powered lawn mowers, they jonesed for even larger, more destructive mowers, and they freely sprayed herbicides & pesticides. Fun yes, green no.
Wendy was it really the message that they wanted to destroy lawns and kill plants with chemicals? No. They got involved in bad behavior (and they knew it was bad) because of a feud.. that was not their shining moment and they were ashamed later.
When I first saw the commercial for this movie in theaters, I looked forward to seeing it. Now I look forward to it even more. This looks like an adorable take on a classic tale, and I’m sure it will serve as a stand alone piece of unique art despite it’s Shakespearian (sp) beginnings. Thanks for the summary!
We have three gnomes that I was so glad that the snow finally covered…my mother planted them near the entrance of our front door…much to my dismay. After we saw this movie, I am actually looking forward to their Spring arrival!
It was a cute movie, but I’d caution anyone who is sensitive to violence in children’s movies to think twice about seeing this one, depending on the child’s age and temperament. Our son is 3 and we’ve just recently gotten into movies with him. Based in part on this review, we took him to see Gnomeo and Juliet. The feuding gets very physical, with gnomes being smashed. Also, there is a scene where the gnomes are staging an attack with pesticide spraying hoses that look an awful lot like guns, sights and everything. Had I known this, I wouldn’t have taken him, especially because we need to work with him on aggressive behavior sometimes. I wish this had been flagged in the review, especially given the values promoted by this blog. Since becoming a parent, I’ve been a bit surprised at how much aggression and violence is in children’s movies. Toy Story 3 opened with a scene of a train being blown up, for example. We’re sticking with Winnie the Pooh for now — although even he has cork gun in one of the stories!
Also stick with Franklin and the bearnstein bears.
I am very aware of what I let my kids watch and I am always disappointed in the humor and rudness in kids show and kids don’t get that its not reality or a satire.
Thanks, Amanda. Our son likes Franklin and at least for now, is drawn to some of the mellower shows like Little Bear. We limit his overall viewing, although he watches more than I’d planned on allowing, for various reasons. Another thing about the movie was that Gnomeo disappears for a while (he is feared to be shattered) which had my son asking where he was repeatedly, so I had to explain that he was hiding. I’m thinking more and more that it’s best to keep the very little ones away from movies for now unless we know a lot about it ahead of time.
I did briefly think of this but my own kids (5,7, and 10) where not bothered by it. Perhaps they are desensitized by watching animals eat each other on Animal Planet. Gnomeo and Juliet was VERY mild in my mind. Though I was surprised when Tybalt shattered!
What values though do I promote on this blog that pertain to this subject? That left me scratching my head.
Hi Tiffany,
In terms of “values,” what I meant is that this blog promotes alternatives to mainstream parentiing (although these alternative approaches are probably becoming more popular than a few years ago). I see that your empahsis is on natural approaches, but perhaps I assume that part of that ethic is also a strong preference for nonviolent entertainment for children.I think that goes along with postivie discipline, etc., which I think has been mentioned on the blog. A lot of mainstream children’s programming especially for boys features combat. My son loves superheroes right now, but that’s something we limit because it’s hard to find books etc. where they are not fighting. Thanks for responding to my comment!
Gina