Gnomeo and Juliet

Gnomeo & Juliet is a 2011 British-American computer-animated fantasy, romantic comedy film loosely based on William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet and an original screenplay by John R. Smith and Rob Sprackling. Financed by Disney and released through its Touchstone Pictures banner, the film was independently produced by Rocket Pictures and animated by Starz Animation. It was co-written and directed by Kelly Asbury and starring the voices of James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine, Jason Statham, Maggie Smith, Patrick Stewart, Ashley Jensen, Stephen Merchant, and Ozzy Osbourne.

The film was originally going to be released by Miramax, but ended up distributed by Touchstone Pictures after Disney sold off Miramax in 2010. The film premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on January 23, 2011. It was theatrically released in the United Kingdom and United States on February 11, 2011. A sequel and spin-off titled mh:awfulmovies:Sherlock Gnomes was released on March 23rd 2018, with Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer distributing and producing the film, respectively. However, it received generally negative reviews from critics and was a commercial disappointment.

Plot
In Stratford-Upon-Avon, birthplace of William Shakespeare, Miss Capulet and Mr. Montague feud over whose garden is the better. Garden gnomes that decorate each neighbor's flower beds continue the rivalry when the humans aren't looking, and gnomes from the Red Gardens don't get along with those of the Blue Gardens. Then Gnomeo (James McAvoy), a Blue, and Juliet (Emily Blunt), a Red, fall in love, leaving many obstacles to overcome.

Good Qualities

 * 1) Really solid CGI animation from then named Starz in the time (before being named Arc Productions from 2011-2016, and Jam Filled Toronto from 2016-onwards) and realistic details and textures.
 * 2) The titular leads are really likable and relatable.
 * 3) Fun to point at Easter eggs like a T-shirt showing Kermit the Frog.
 * 4) Talented voice acting from Emily Bunt, James McAvoy, Jason Statham, Maggie Smith, Jim Cummings, Ozzy Osbourne, etc.
 * 5) Really funny cameos from Stephan Merchant and Patrick Stewart.
 * 6) Heartwarming moments with Gnomeo and Juliet themselves.
 * 7) Unlike the humour in Sherlock Gnomes (it's sequel), the humour is silly, humourous, and quite clever in the same time.
 * 8) It isn't afraid to explain a sympathetic and sad story on why Mr. Capulet and Ms. Montague divorced after an argument and moved away from each other as explained by Featherstone, even how much we see that he missed his loved one so much.
 * 9) Featured the greatest choices of songs by British music star, Elton John.
 * 10) Featherstone (voiced by Jim Cummings) is a really solid comic relief.
 * 11) William Shakespeare's statue looks really nice and accurate enough to the original statue that can be found in the real life side of Great Britain.
 * 12) Touchstone proves they still have the magic that was once used in Splash and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
 * 13) It is a clever parody of one of Shakespeare iconic stories Romeo and Juliet with a little Toy Story vibe to it.
 * 14) The British vibe in the film itself is flawless.
 * 15) Shroom is a very adorable and funny pet-like companion to Gnomeo. Throughout the movie, Shroom shows many facial movements that are worth a laugh or chuckle, Shroom also has very noble loyalty to Gnomeo and his love to Juliet like bringing the Cupid Arrow's Orchid flower to them as a small and cute moment, but can be smart when communicating to Gnomeo about the actions that The Reds done to The Blues garden like Lady Bluebury's Giant Plant.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Overused pop-culture references despite the references in the film being decent.
 * 2) Some unfunny jokes, bad attempts at adult humor and unnecessary toilet humor for a G rated Disney and Touchstone movie!. But nowhere nearly as much as in it's sequel.
 * 3) The scene where Juliet commits suicide might be really much for a kids' film (as pointed out in IHE's review).
 * 4) Some of the characters are unlikeable.

Reception
Gnomeo & Juliet received moderate positive reviews from critics and audiences. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 56% of professional critics gave positive reviews, based on 125 reviews with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While it has moments of inspiration, Gnomeo & Juliet is often too self-referential for its own good.". On Metacritic, it has a score of 53 out of 100, based on 28 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A+ to F.

Trivia

 * This was the first animated film by Touchstone Pictures since The Nightmare Before Christmas, the same movie that both Disney and Touchstone worked together making on.
 * In the United Kingdom and Canada, the movie was distributed by Entertainment One Films.
 * There is no counterpart for Mercutio, as stated by James McAvoy in an interview with NBC, ”Gnomeo in this is a little bit of amalgamation between Romeo and Mercutio. We don’t have that Mercutio character in this. We don’t have that leader of the pack, which Romeo isn’t but Gnomeo is a little bit." Prince Escalus also doesn't have a counterpart.
 * The movie itself was released the same day on February 11th, 2011 in the United Kingdom and the United States.