Sherlock Gnomes Review

"A man doesn't make you strong, but the right partner can make you stronger"


Sherlock Gnomes was directed by John Stevenson, and is the sequel to Gnomeo & Juliet which was released back in 2011. The film stars the likes of Emily Blunt, James McAvoy, Johnny Depp, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, Matt Lucas, Stephen Merchant, Jamie Demetriou and Ozzy Osbourne. The film follows garden gnomes, Gnomeo & Juliet as they recruit renowned detective Sherlock Gnomes to investigate the sudden disappearance of other garden gnomes.

When Sherlock Gnomes was announced it crossed my mind if anyone actually wanted a sequel to Gnomeo & Juliet, sure the original film was fun and entertaining, and a new and fresh approach to the classic Romeo and Juliet story, but surely if you were going to make a sequel to the original film you would of hoped to of released the film maybe a couple of years after the first film to capture on the appeal of the first film (not nearly seven years later!), so the timing of this sequel doesn't really make sense to me. Whilst Gnomeo and Juliet tackled a fresh approach to Romeo and Juliet, Sherlock Gnomes tackles one of the world's most famous detectives Sherlock Holmes. And that without a doubt is one of the film's most successful aspects. Johnny Depp (Sherlock Gnomes) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dr. Watson) steal the show as the detective duo, and there performances and approach to the classic characters honestly steals the show in what is a lacklustre sequel. Credit is also due to the animation style of the film, and the overall design of the characters in particular, which is definitely on par with the original film, and the film also introduces some new characters into the film (some more memorable than others) which helps to create this idea that it's not just garden gnomes that come to life in this world (think on the lines of Toy Story).

Sherlock Gnomes at times is certainly a fun and colourful film, and I am sure that kids will love going to see this film, but in my opinion it certainly doesn't match up to the heights of the original film. One of the biggest issues that I had with the film is the overall pace and structure to the film. The film speeds by without even thinking of giving its audience a break just to catch up with what's going on. Generic dialogue flies backwards and forwards between characters without a second thought for a pause, and you are thrown from one set piece into another to a fast paced dialogue sequence without even thinking that maybe what the film needs is just a moment to pause, to regather yourself so you feel more for the characters in their situation. Sherlock Gnomes also introduces a certain villain from Sherlock lore (I won't say which one, but if you are familiar with Sherlock Holmes then you know who I am talking about!), whose design is so awful (and I mean awful!) that it just ruins moments of the film when the villain is on the big screen.

Also towards the end of the film (no spoilers) the film takes a bold approach with an interesting reveal (which if played out fully could of been great and what the film needed!), but instead of going with that reveal and playing with what the possibilities could of been, the filmmakers decided to back track itself and in a way try and correct itself all most instantly, returning back to a generic showdown situation. This could have been a truly great moment in the film, but was ruined by the decision to play it safe and give us a stereotypical showdown which is not as fun as it could of been. Some of the best films targeted towards children in my opinion are not just films with elements that children will love but also have elements that adults come to love as well such as most Disney films, but Sherlock Gnomes falls into the opposite category of your kids will love this films, parents probably won't.

Overall Sherlock Gnomes is at times a fun and colourful adventure with a fun approach to Sherlock Holmes, but often falls into the generic category in many aspects. Without Johnny Depps Sherlock Gnomes and Chiwetel Ejiofor Dr. Watson this film could have truly been a disaster, one in which Sherlock Holmes would need to investigate himself.

Verdict: 2.5 out of 5 stars