Sherlock Gnomes is clearly as unoriginal as they come. It is not a surprise as it’s a sequel to the 2011 Gnomeo & Juliet. Both are uninspired and tepid, with titles that validate its content. While they are both of those things, much like its prequel Sherlock Gnomes is silly enough as to function as timewaster (if one has time to waste).

The story has the whole gnome family move from the country to London because the old couple, who owned them, had come to London to be close to their grandchildren. As it’s a London house it has a smaller garden that needs some work.

Gnomeo and Juliet (James McAvoy and Emily Blunt reprising their roles) are nominated to be the lord and lady of the garden and they get right to work at making it beautiful for everyone. Meanwhile, Sherlock Gnomes (Johnny Depp) – like the real Sherlock by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – goes around solving crimes with Gnome Watson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) as his sidekick (Sherlock, of course, has the same recognizable getup and peculiarities).

His mortal villain, Moriarty (Jamie Demetriou), who he thinks he had killed, is back. His latest crime is kidnapping all the gnomes in London area to smash into smithereens or something of that kind.

Gnomeo and Juliet’s families are nicked as well, so they partner up with Sherlock and Watson to save their families.

The screenplay is by Ben Zazove with the story by Kevin Cecil, Andy Riley, Emily Cook and Kathy Greenberg, while the movie is directed by John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda). Even with an experienced creative lot, Sherlock Gnomes’ rhythm is like an episode of an ongoing series and not a movie. It is also short and colorful – which is never a bad thing for an animated feature.

While it does not have much imagination (and it does look prettier and sharper with better rendering than its predecessor), it is a throwaway movie for the kiddies for weekends when you have nothing better running at the cinema screens for the younger audience.