‘Gnomeo and Juliet 3D’ succeeds in retelling old story

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4.5 stars out of 5

Retelling a story told as many times as familiar as “Romeo and Juliet” is a challenge, but “Gnomeo and Juliet 3D” pulls it off.

The film was intriguing because it seemed odd to attempt to turn a story originally ending in a ritualistic suicide into a children’s cartoon, but it managed to pull through.

The cast featured the likes of Michael Caine, Julie Walters and Ozzy Osbourne, among others. The voice work is mostly made up of people using their regular speech, which is always less impressive than true voice acting.

However, since voice acting seems to be a dying art form this is one of those films that is worthy of a star cast. As most of these characters are English and no one character sticks out more than the others, it is possible to get lost in the film without too much trouble.

The film featured a score composed of nothing other than revamped Elton John songs, such as “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting).”

The 3D effects are well done, yet mostly unnecessary. If a film is not directed (and make sure it is directed, not produced) by James Cameron or does not include some sort of horrible monster or light cycles then it is unlikely the 3D is going to blow minds.

That being said, there several moments where the 3D is worth the cost of the ticket.

The animation, however, is done very well. Nearly every scene contains animation illustrating the battle between the competing families.

The story itself is very old and has been redone more times than I have the energy to look up, but suffice it to say it plays a large role.

There is of course the question of how to end this film. The Bard’s tale is not known for its happy conclusion.

This film does treat its ending in a different fashion (as it is a children’s film) but it does so with a very interesting nod to the original Shakespeare play.

This is Kelly Asbury’s first solo directorial output following team efforts directing the very lovely “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron” and the pretty good “Shrek 2.”

With the steady hand that guided this film it would be a treat to see whatever comes next from this man.

All of this makes for one of the best computer-animated films made this side of a Pixar film in quite some time.