


Sherlock Gnomes may keep some older viewers off-balance by its Elton John-only soundtrack (one Mary J. This observation is not to insist that every kid flick need contain gentle and positive lessons for little kids, but – to state something that should be obvious – children deserve rich, textured, intelligent films just like adults do, and it's always better to see a film with a modicum of thought and intelligence contained somewhere inside it. This is a good message for first graders, I suppose, and while it may not be as hefty as the lessons of emotional maturity from the better entries in Pixar's canon, it certainly less empty than cloying slap-fight films like Peter Rabbit. It teaches kids, in brief, not to be mean. Sherlock Gnomes contains numerous gently positive and easy-to-understand messages about treating your friends and partners with dignity and respect. Their adventures take them to visit various tchotchke shops in the city to visit the living kitsch therein to make inquiries, including a mildly amusing sequence involving an army of angry maneki-neko. As the investigation commences, we see a parallel stagnation in the relationship between the persnickety and egotistic Holmes – sorry Gnomes – and the hard-working and ignored Watson. Watson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to track them down and to solve the riddles of the evil Moriarty (Jamie Demetriou), a recently-vanquished-now-returned living pie mascot. Luckily, our heroes will be joined by Sherlock Gnomes (Johnny Depp) and the often elbowed-aside Dr. To reflect their upheaval, it won't be long before Gnomeo and Juliet's friends and family are spirited away to a secret location by an invisible supervillain who has been plundering London's gardens for their tacky ceramic denizens. Gnomeo and Juliet have reached a point of romantic stagnation in their relationship (a wrinkle Shakespeare perhaps didn't consider), and they now have to consider themselves more of a long-term romantic partnership than a pair of star-crossed lovers. Sherlock Gnomes follows Gnomeo (James McAvoy) and Juliet (Emily Blunt) as they and their menagerie of chintzy living lawn ornaments move to a new garden in the city with their human owners.
