I'm really glad we went to see this movie on a Tuesday. Why, you ask? On Tuesdays, our local theater has a special for all movies at $5, and you get a free popcorn with purchase of a drink. Usually, we actually avoid the theater on this day, as it tends to be very crowded. But since we were going to a late night kids movie, this time we figured it couldn't be too bad. It wasn't and it turns out I'm very glad that A: We only made Movie Pass pay $5 for this movie, and that B: I had some popcorn to keep me entertained. Because the movie did not.
We never saw the first movie in this gnome specific genre - Gnomeo and Juliet. I highly doubt that having done so would have added to my enjoyment of this movie, as it didn't seem to matter much other than I suppose knowing the background story of Gnomeo and Juliet's relationship. As it is, this movie opens as the pair and all their pals move to a new garden in London. Something mysterious is happening, gnomes are being kidnapped all over the city! But never fear, Sherlock Gnomes and Watson are on the case, sure to stop the evil Moriarty from his nefarious plans.
There are a few moments of actual humor in the movie - I remember laughing out loud about three times, though for the life of me now I couldn't tell you what the jokes were. For the most part you could tell there were lines and scenes that were meant to be funny, but instead, I was simply rolling my eyes in annoyance... or perhaps closing them from boredom. The storyline was cliched and predictable from the beginning, the character development was trite, and I just never got invested in the story.
You might say my low opinion of this is because it's a kids movie and I'm an adult who went to see it without any kids. However, I love kids movies. There are ones that are done extremely well, such as Peter Rabbit. This, however, was not one of them. If you don't have kids, definitely skip it, and if you do, take them to see Peter Rabbit instead. You'll thank me later.