Sherlock Gnomes

Sherlock Gnomes is a 2018 3D computer-animated romantic mystery comedy film directed by John Stevenson.[1] A sequel and spin-off to Gnomeo & Juliet (2011), the film stars the voices of James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mary J. Blige, and Johnny Depp.

Sherlock Gnomes
American theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Stevenson[1]
Produced by
Screenplay byBen Zazove
Story by
Based onRomeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare
Sherlock Holmes
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Starring
Music byChris Bacon
Edited by
  • Prakash Patel
  • Mark Solomon
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • March 23, 2018 (2018-03-23) (United States)
  • May 11, 2018 (2018-05-11) (United Kingdom)
Running time
86 minutes
Country
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$59 million[2]
Box office$90.5 million[2]

Unlike its predecessor, which was produced and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures under their Touchstone Pictures banner, Sherlock Gnomes was produced by Paramount Animation and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,[3] with the animation service provided by Mikros Image, though Rocket Pictures was still involved.[3] It was the first film from Paramount Animation to be entirely animated, and the first animated film from MGM since 2008's Igor.

The film was released in the United States on March 23, 2018, by Paramount Pictures.[4] It grossed $90 million worldwide.

Plot

Sherlock Gnomes and his assistant, Dr. Watson, storm London's natural history museum where their nemesis, a pie mascot named Moriarty, is holding gnomes hostage. After a brief battle, Moriarty is seemingly crushed by a dinosaur skeleton.

Meanwhile, now happily in love Miss Montague, Mr Capulet and the gnomes move from Stratford-upon-Avon to London, where their garden looks uglier than the other garden. Lady Bluebury and Lord Redbrick announce their retirement and appoint Gnomeo & Juliet as new leaders. The couples’s relationship starts to shake when Juliet becomes stressed and obsessed with the garden, ignoring Gnomeo. In a bid to get her attention, Gnomeo decides to get a Cupid’s Arrow orchid for the new garden so Benny shows Gnomeo the closest flower shop in town from an old computer. When Gnomeo gets the orchid in the shop however, the burglar alarm goes off after a falling stall, causing Juliet to rescue him. Once out, the couple have a heated row and Juliet angrily tells Gnomeo "The garden can't wait but you can." But then a signal on the walketalky comes through of Benny saying that there is a monster in their garden. But when they get back, the gnomes are all gone and Sherlock and Watson arrive and find a clue card.

A clue from Moriarty, whom Sherlock believes survived their last encounter, leads them to Chinatown. They find the next clue at Curly Fu's Emporium, and escape a group of guards whom Sherlock had previously offended. They arrive back at the natural history museum, where Gnomeo suggests they look inside but Sherlock decides to wander an art gallery instead, followed by Juliet. Gnomeo goes into the museum anyway with Watson in pursuit, only to be kidnapped by a gargoyle who seemingly smashes Watson (Watson was smashed off screen). Gnomeo is brought to the rest of the gnomes and informed they will be smashed during a fireworks celebration the following evening. Meanwhile, Sherlock figures out the next clue is at the royal park. He and Juliet disguise themselves as a squirrel to get the clue from a dog, and manage to evade the dog on a lawnmower.

Gnomeo attempts to free the gnomes, but only he and the Red Goon Gnomes are able to escape before the gargoyles arrive. The next clue leads Sherlock and Juliet to a doll shop where they meet his resentful former fiancée, Irene, who kicks them out, but allows Juliet back in after she distances herself from Sherlock. Irene gives Juliet the clue, which leads her and Sherlock to Traitor's Gate at the Tower of London. They discover Watson, apparently the true mastermind, who reveals that he pretended to be Moriarty to get through to Sherlock, who did not respect or show appreciation for him, and supposedly has the gnomes in custody, only to find them all missing. The Gargoyles reveal that they never worked for Watson, and dispose of Sherlock, Watson, and Juliet on a ship.

Sherlock realizes the gnomes are being held at the bottom of the Tower Bridge with pie filling, and Moriarty appears, revealing that he really was behind everything and plans to smash the gnomes with the raised bridge. After witnessing Sherlock's mistreatment of Watson, he had the Gargoyles feign allegiance with Watson to access his map and identify the location of every gnome in London. Sherlock and Watson agree to work together a final time to save the gnomes (possibly because Moriarty revealed his evil plan before the gnomes will be smashed), and they and Juliet head to the bridge on a drone.

Gnomeo manages to stall the bridge opening, reunites with Juliet and together they defeat the Gargoyles. Watson frees the trapped gnomes with soap just in time. Moriarty pursues Sherlock, and attempts to kill everyone, but Sherlock throws him over the bridge and into the river, while Watson narrowly saves him with his cane grappling hook. Moriarty vows revenge as he helplessly floats away. Sherlock, finally appreciating his dear friend, reconciles with Watson, as do Gnomeo and Juliet, and the gnomes enjoy the fireworks.

The following spring, Gnomeo and Juliet take charge of the garden, and the gnomes celebrate with Irene and the guards in attendance. Satisfied, Sherlock and Watson leave for another adventure.

Cast

Production

Development

In March 2012, it was reported that the film was in development at Rocket Pictures. Emily Cook, Kathy Greenberg, Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil, four of the nine writers on the first film, were to write the script for the film. Steve Hamilton Shaw and David Furnish produced the film, and Elton John, an executive producer, was again composing new songs for the film. The film would feature Sherlock Gnomes, "the greatest ornamental detective" hired by the characters from the first film, who would try to solve the mystery of disappearing gnomes.[5]

In September 2012, it was reported that John Stevenson, one of the directors of Kung Fu Panda, had been set to direct the film.[1] Kelly Asbury, the director of the first film, was unable to direct the sequel due to being busy on Smurfs: The Lost Village for Sony Pictures Animation. However, he was involved in the sequel as the creative consultant and he reprised his role as the Red Goon Gnomes.[6]

Casting

In November 2015, it was announced that Johnny Depp would voice Sherlock Gnomes and that the film would be released on January 12, 2018.[7] McAvoy and Blunt reprised their roles as Gnomeo and Juliet, respectively.[8]

Animation

Unlike the first film, which was animated by Arc Productions (now Jam Filled Toronto), Sherlock Gnomes was animated by Mikros Image in London and Paris. Like the first film, the movie's animation was created using Maya. Sixty percent of the animation crew was in London, and the rest were in Paris. During peak production, there were between 80 and 100 animators working on the project. Animation director Eric Leighton took inspiration from George Pal’s Puppetoons for the animation of the gnomes in the film.[9] The animation of the human characters were done via motion capture. Additional animation was produced by Reel FX Creative Studios in Dallas, Texas, and the end credits animation was produced by Studio AKA in London.[10]

Music

Chris Bacon was confirmed to return to score the sequel like in the first film while James Newton Howard did not return to co-compose the score since he was too busy working on the music for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. However, Howard did return only to be involved as a music consultant. The soundtrack album was released by Virgin EMI Records.

Release

The film was originally scheduled to be released in the United States on January 12, 2018. In May 2017, the film was pushed back two months to March 23, 2018.[4] In the UK, it was released on May 11, 2018.

Marketing

On November 3, 2017, seven teaser posters were released. The same day, the title was shortened from Gnomeo & Juliet 2: Sherlock Gnomes to Sherlock Gnomes.[6] On November 7, the first trailer was revealed.[11]

The film had also released posters parodying previous films from 2017, such as Darkest Hour, The Disaster Artist, The Greatest Showman, The Post, I, Tonya, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, All the Money in the World, Wonder Woman, and The Shape of Water. The posters had different names.[12]

Home media

Sherlock Gnomes was released on Digital HD on June 5, 2018, and was released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 12, 2018.[13]

Reception

Box office

Sherlock Gnomes has grossed $43.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $47.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $90.3 million, against a production budget of $65 million.[2]

In the United States and Canada, Sherlock Gnomes was released alongside Pacific Rim: Uprising, Midnight Sun, Unsane and Paul, Apostle of Christ, and was projected to gross $13–18 million from 3,600 theaters in its opening weekend.[14] It ended up debuting to $10.6 million, underperforming but still finishing 4th at the box office.[15]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 27% based on 64 reviews with an average rating of 4.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Sherlock Gnomes is sadly, utterly stumped by the mystery of the reason of its own existence."[16] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 36 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[17] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[15]

Accolades

Year Award Category Recipients Result Ref.
2018 People's Choice Awards Favorite Family Movie Sherlock Gnomes Shortlisted [18]
2019 Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Actor Johnny Depp Nominated [19]
Worst Screen Combo Nominated
His fast-fading film career Nominated

See also
  • Gnomeo & Juliet, the film's predecessor.
  • Gnome Alone, another garden gnome film that came out the same year.
  • The Brave Little Toaster, A Bedtime Story for Small Appliances
  • Toy Story, Taking place in a world where anthropomorphic toys come to life when humans are not present,
  • Tin Toy, Tinny, a tin one-man-band toy, attempting to escape from Billy, a destructive infant.

References
  1. Fleming, Mike Jr. (September 5, 2012). "John Stevenson Tapped To Direct 'Gnomeo & Juliet' Sequel 'Sherlock Gnomes'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
  2. "Sherlock Gnomes (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  3. "Rocket Pictures Partners with Mikros Image to Lead Digital Animation Work for Paramount Animation and MGM's "Sherlock Gnomes"" (Press release). Mikros Image. June 9, 2016. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  4. Evans, Greg (May 26, 2017). "Paramount Nudges 'Sherlock Gnomes' To Later Release Date". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on May 26, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  5. Fleming, Mike Jr. (March 8, 2012). "Rocket Pictures Plots 'Gnomeo & Juliet' Sequel, With New Tunes By Elton John". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved March 9, 2012.
  6. Evry, Max (November 3, 2017). "Sherlock Gnomes Character Posters Revealed". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline Media. Archived from the original on November 3, 2017. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  7. Robinson, Will (November 7, 2015). "Johnny Depp takes lead in Sherlock Gnomes". Entertainment Weekly. Time. Archived from the original on November 7, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  8. CS (November 10, 2015). "Paramount Animation Announces Release Dates". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline Media. Archived from the original on November 13, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  9. Idelson, Karen (March 22, 2018). "'Sherlock Gnomes': Not So Elementary, Dear Watson!". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  10. "STUDIO AKA - SHERLOCK GNOMES - CREDITS". Studio AKA. Archived from the original on May 27, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  11. Sherlock Gnomes (2018) - Official Trailer. Paramount Pictures. November 7, 2017. Archived from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2017 – via YouTube.
  12. Dacey (January 27, 2018). "Lots of parody posters for Sherlock Gnomes released". Animated Views. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  13. "Sherlock Gnomes DVD Release Date June 12, 2018". DVDs Release Dates. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  14. Rubin, Rebecca (March 21, 2018). "Box Office Preview: 'Pacific Rim Uprising' Set to Break 'Black Panther's' Five-Week Streak". Variety. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  15. D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 25, 2018). "Does 'Pacific Rim: Uprising' Break Even At The Global B.O.?; 'Black Panther' Sets Marvel Record – Sunday Postmortem". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  16. "Sherlock Gnomes (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on November 29, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  17. "Sherlock Gnomes Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on April 5, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  18. "44th People's Choice Awards Nominees". Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  19. 39th Razzie Nominations! (video). Razzie Channel. Archived from the original on January 31, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2019 – via YouTube.
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