Gnome Alone

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Gnome Alone is an animated children's movie available through Netflix. The movie centers around junior high school student Chloe (voiced by Becky G) as she and her mother (voiced by Tara Strong) move to a new house in a new town. It doesn't take long before Chloe begins to realize that her new home has some weird goings-on happening. She unwittingly stumbles into a battle between lawn gnomes and tiny little creatures called trogs. This doesn't interest Chloe however because she is more interested in having a successful social life. She even tries to befriend the popular girl, named Brittany (voiced by Olivia Holt). She befriends her nerdy neighbor named Ian (voiced by Josh Peck). When Chloe's mother leaves town on business, Chloe and Ian must help the lawn gnomes defend the house (and ultimately the world) from the constantly eating trogs. I'm not going to lie, when this movie started I was pretty worried. The new kid moving into a new house in a new town and having problems because of it is a cliche that is nothing short of tired and worn-out at this point. They do try to expand on it a little bit more by saying the mother and daughter constantly move, so Chloe never really has a chance to fit in anywhere. Granted, that's not overly original either. But, the idea of constantly moving is still a little less used than just moving to a new house. When they do make all of these points, it's kind of done through exposition that doesn't come off as natural, some much as it comes as kind of clunky and awkward. A lot of the humor doesn't necessarily work for me either. It's not that it's awful, it's just clearly meant a lot more for little kids, and not a college student in his 20s trying to watch this movie from a critical lens. The movie's pop soundtrack is also an easy knock against the movie for me. At best, it's just sort of generic and forgettable. At worst, it can be distracting and actually start taking you out of the movie. While I don't think the overall product is a great movie, I will admit that there's good stuff in it. The animation is solid enough. Ok, it's not on the level of some Pixar's best work. But, it's really all that bad in any real capacity either. The voice acting is clearly this movie's strength, though. Josh Peck, Tara Strong, David Koechner, and George Lopez all having backgrounds in voice acting to varying degrees. But, I think Becky G herself is the standout, which is probably for the best because she's the one that really has to carry the movie. I legitimately buy her as a kid who's probably around 13. While she does end up doing the right thing, you can kind of tell she has her own self-interest at heart throughout most of it. Even if it is cliched, they at least make it so you understand where's she's coming from. Overall, I think this movie is harmless enough for young viewers, even if it probably won't engage anybody who skews a little bit older.

6 / 10