I really, really enjoyed this movie! It is an adorable take on the star-crossed lovers storyline, with two lawn gnomes in England, from feuding yards, falling in love. Elton John worked on the movie and the entire film is set to a dance-inducing soundtrack of his classics. Plus, he wrote and sings one amazing, tear-jerking new song in the movie called "Love Builds a Garden."
The graphics are colorful and attention-grabbing for the little ones, and the array of lawn characters are hilarious--a gnome wearing a Borat-like bathing suit, a plastic flamingo with an adorable latin accent, a fisherman gnome who is excited to keep catching the one fish perpetually attached to his hook, etc. And, as I said earlier, the music and dancing will get them onto their feet!
Adults will definitely get some of the jokes more than their kids do ("There was a squirrel... and he dropped his nuts!") and there are also very sad moments that might need explaining and might cause older kids and parents to shed a few tears (a family breaks up, Featherstone the flamingo loses his mate, Gnomeo is presumed dead at one point, just like in Romeo & Juliet). Also, as the whole movie is based around a feud between the blue and the red lawn gnomes, there is a ton of animated lawn warfare! Gnomes get smashed and lawns defaced--this movie is rated G, but sensitive kids might be frightened by the battles.
All that said, Gnomeo & Juliet really has the makings of a film that the entire family can enjoy and I wholeheartedly recommend that you check it out. You should also check out "Love Builds a Garden" on YouTube or elsewhere. With bittersweet lyrics like the following, you'll be inspired to give your own little flowers extra kisses to ensure a frost never touches your own garden:
We'd get a little rain
Then the sun came out again
But a frost it's hard to fight
Once it takes hold flowers die
There's only so much you can do
To keep some things alive
And love builds a garden
Grew it from the ground up
Each one of us knowing
Every inch of it was us
We pulled it all together
Hoping and believing
That love built this garden
For the two of us to dream in