Director: John Stevenson
Writers: Ben Zazove (screenplay by), Andy Riley (story by)
Stars: Kelly Asbury, Mary J. Blige, Emily Blunt
Plot: Sherlock Gnomes is an Egotistical London Detective who must work with his sidekick Holmes and Gnomeo and Juliet to try to solve the mystery of disappearing gnomes across London.
Review Summary: Well…at least my 3 year old niece had a good time.
Review: I love kids movies so I am most certainly not just slating this because it isn’t aimed at me. Most filmmakers have a level of awareness that an adult is more likely to bring their child to the cinema if they feel that they might get some enjoyment out of it too (see the success of the Toy Story and Shrek franchises). I really enjoyed Gnomeo and Juliet and I like Sherlock Holmes so perhaps I expected too much, but I was painfully underwhelmed by this one.
Negatives:
-The jokes that are supposed to be amusing for the adults felt forced. It is almost like they wanted to pull a Shrek and be amusing for both adults and children but didn’t fully commit.
Positives:
-This film is really nicely animated. It is aesthetically pleasing and the animation feels very smooth.
-My toddler niece loved it so they have hit a winner with the very young market.
Many of the jokes fell flat and the story was too complex for young children and the twists were too random for adults to appreciate. The characters seemed prone to overreaction to the extent that I would be worried about children mimicking the behaviour. Not great. Won’t be watching a second time.
Enjoyment Rating: 2/5
Quality Rating: 3/5
Movie Burner Entertainment 