probably don’t think about “Gnomeo & Juliet” very much these days. But, back in 2011, this strange little Shakespeare adaptation managed to do some tidy little business for itself.
“Gnomeo & Juliet” is one of the weirder adaptations of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet,” starring James McAvoy and Emily Blunt in the title roles. Instead of the Montagues and Capulets, “Gnomeo & Juliet” focuses on the Bluebury and Redbrick families. Just like in the Shakespeare original, a young man (gnome, in this case?) and woman (gnoman?) fall into a starcrossed entanglement. However, “Gnomeo & Juliet” swerves that dour ending for the couple through some clever machinations that subvert the Shakespearian tragedy audiences might be expecting.
Ozzy Osbourne and Hulk Hogan aren’t part of the main cast of characters, but the metal musician ends up playing a pretty sizable role as a secondary antagonist for “Gnomeo & Juliet,” with his villainous character Fawn backing up Jason Statham’s Tybalt. Hogan, meanwhile, plays the voice behind a Terrafirminator lawnmower TV advert that ends up providing tension near the climax of the movie.
