The film begins with a gnome discussing what the story will be about on a stage. He calls it a prologue.

The scene then switches to 2 British neighbors, Ms. Montague and Ms. Capulet, who fail to get along with each other, despite living next door. Their gnomes act the same way—but only when no humans are around. That’s when they come to life.

The Montague garden has gnomes with blue hats, and the Capulet property has gnomes with red caps. And they are enemies.

At some point, Gnomeo decides to race against a red gnome, Tybalt, in a lawnmower race. But it ends poorly.

Meanwhile, this red gnome, Juliet, is overprotected by her father. He forbids her from leaving her pedestal.

One night, Gnomeo goes out and accidentally meets Juliet. They immediately fall in love. But they also realize how harmful this could be.

The next day, Juliet meets Gnomeo in a garden. Then this Spanish plastic flamingo, Featherstone, who has been in in the neighborhood for 20 years, meets them.

Juliet’s dad arranges for her to wed this nerdy gnome, Paris. Yet Juliet is unimpressed by him and decides to have him spend time with her frog companion, Nanette, instead.

Gnomeo attacks the red garden, which Juliet notices. The two fight for a bit… until Featherstone returns.

He shares his tragic backstory about how he became infatuated with a female plastic flamingo. Sadly, she was removed from the property, leaving Featherstone lonely and heartbroken.

While Gnomeo and Juliet are strengthening their relationship, a blue gnome called Benny finds out and panics. In addition, Gnomeo flees and crosses the street. But then a truck comes and the other gnomes think Gnomeo was run over.

However, that was actually broken pottery. Gnomeo ends up in a park, where he encounters a statue of William Shakespeare. Shakespeare shares what he thinks will happen with Gnomeo and Juliet.

Meanwhile, the blue gnomes are mourning the “death” of Gnomeo. And Juliet has her feet glued to her pedestal.

Can the gnomes make things better for themselves and turn their rivals into allies?

The concept of a modern-day retelling of Romeo & Juliet using gnomes was creative and executed well. That even includes the gnome at the beginning with the introduction and the curtain behind him.

I was also surprised at how funny it turned out to be. I laughed several times throughout it.

In addition, I admired the inclusion of big names like Emily Blunt as Juliet, Maggie Smith as Gnomeo’s mother, and Julie Walters as Ms. Montague. I do wish Julie Walters got more time in this film, though.

Even though this movie is set in England, I loved how they included a gnome with a southern American accent. She was the referee for the lawnmower race.

Although it’s standard for male gnomes to have beards, I do think it would have been smarter if the character designers gave Gnomeo a different beard color. I am assuming that he is supposed to be a teenager or young adult. Yet that’s a minor flaw.

Overall, I enjoyed Gnomeo & Juliet. It was a fun watch with lots of twists and turns that can appeal to people of all ages.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.