Gnomeo and Juliet

This is a very loose reading of the Bard’s tragic tale of family rivalry and amour fou, only this time peopled with 3D animated garden gnomes and crossed with an Elton John rock opera. Kelly Asbury’s plucky little film is an easy target, but even if it doesn’t quite gel, it’s admirable that a film made of such weird ingredients is even vaguely palatable. Montagues and Capulets are now red and blue gnomes. Subterfuge, lawnmower derbies and canoodling in the toolshed are all amply served by smooth, bright animation and a script dashed with sharp local humour. Emily Blunt sounds like she’s having fun as Juliet; James McAvoy goes cod serious for Gnomeo; while Ashley Jensen steals the film as a frog-shaped fountain ornament with all the best gags. But didn’t the play end with a double suicide?