dvd review

Sherlock Gnomes

Director: John Stevenson Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp, Michael Caine

Rating: (PG) ★ Release date: July 11

THE mystery of Sherlock Gnomes is elementary, my dear reader: The film is as flat as British cooking.

Director John Stevenson (Kung Fu

Panda) has taken the few best parts of the animated film Gnomeo & Juliet and the intellectual stylings of the Sherlock Holmes tales and removed them from the equation in making this clueless tale of suspense. It is neither flashy nor fun enough for youngsters, nor mentally challenging enough for adults.

One of the big problems is the sequel is a followup to a production that didn’t have a lot going for it in the first place. The 2011 release,

Gnomeo & Juliet, was the story of two gnomes from opposite sides of the fence who fall in love. It took 11 years to make the animated take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet using garden gnomes, but the result felt more like it was made in days. The script lacked originality, the

Elton John soundtrack felt forced and the characters were more creepy than cuddly.

Even if the script had been smarter and the gags less stale, the gnomes remained unappealing as they do in this new offering.