Gnomeo & Juliet

Animated movies now have such high production standards to live up to that, unlike other major movie genres, their success depends critically on the depth, wit and overall audience appeal of their screenplay. They cannot rely simply on star voices, glitzy locations or 3D effects. Inevitably, there will be therefore be more ransacking of the classics, as with Gnomeo & Juliet, an attractively reworked version of Shakespeare's play.

This time, the Capulets and Montagues are clans of red and blue garden gnomes, backed up by various other garden figurines, in neighbouring semi-detached English houses. Lord Redbrick (voiced by Michael Caine) is over-protective of independent-minded Juliet (Emily Blunt); Lady Blueberry (Maggie Smith) is the vengeful mother of bold Gnomeo (James McAvoy).

The production was headed by the partnership of Elton John (recycling some of his songs and Bernie Taupin's lyrics playfully) and David Furnish. The lively original score incorporating themes from many other John hits was composed by James Newton Howard. Director Kelly Asbury had previously made Shrek 2 and Spirit: Stallion, and the cast of voices includes many unexpected stars (from Lady Gaga to Hulk Hogan, Dolly Parton to Keith Statham, Ozzy Osborne and Matt Lucas) for the unusually ambitious non-US Disney (Touchstone) package, crafted by Toronto's Starz Animation (makers of 9), flourishing their CG skills on leaves, smoke, water, reflections and, uniquely, stone/cement surfaces.

Maybe there are just a few dozen too many cute word plays with Shakespearean and/or garden furnishing origins, and for sure the characters are too cute for comfort. Yet the movie achieves the impossible mission of making garden gnomes look and sound likeably cute. There's a host of visual comedy from plastic flamingos, lawn-mowers, a mute and loyal sniffer mushroom and a statue of Shakespeare (Patrick Stewart). The whole movie is colourfully wild and wacky, albeit going nowhere near the magical reality qualities of a Burton or Gilliam fantasy.