'Star' Bright

Stardust

As much as I love watching movies I love to read and like my movies, I love all sorts of books. So a few years ago I was wondering through the library and I was looking for something new to pique my interest. That’s when I came across a British author Neil Gaiman. Through my knowledge of film and comic books, I had heard of Gaiman with his works such as Sandman and Caroline. Ignorant to the fact that he was a novelist as well, I found some of his novels; the most popular I think would be American Gods (which is being adapted for TV). Gaiman’s novels a twist on fantasy and adventures that is highly appealing. So when I came across a movie that was adapted from one of his novels, I jumped at the chance to give it a watch.

Stardust follows the unlikely adventure of Tristan Thorn (Charlie Cox Daredevil) from the small English country town of Wall, which is aptly named for the wall it borders. One night while professing his love to Victoria (Sienna Miller American Sniper) they witness a falling star. Telling Victoria that he would find the fallen star for her hand in marriage, Tristan sets off to prove his love. His journey, however, requires him to cross aforementioned wall which just so happens to separate the human world and a magical world. In that magical world is where Tristan finds that proving his love for Victoria is much harder than he ever anticipated.

Before I continue, I realize on how old this film is. The truth is that I have been purging my Netflix queue and this just so happen to be on there. I had wanted to watch it for some time due to the author of the book and the director of the film, but got caught up with other films. Now that there is a slight pause in big movies coming out and the library not having the next film on the American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Movies list check in yet, I thought it a perfect time to eradicate movies just sitting in my queue.

Now that I feel dumb saying all of that, I will continue. Stardust is a great fantasy/adventure film that reminded me a lot of the 80s adventure films like The Dark Crystal, The Princess Bride, and even The Return to Oz. This was a fun movie that never took itself too seriously with some outstanding performances hammed up to the right notch.

I would love to single a couple cast members from this film, but I really think that this was one of those films where the cast did better as a whole than as individuals. Cox and Danes were delightful, De Nero was surprising, and Pfeiffer was a charming villain. There were a few cameos laced in that were hysterical as well, particularly Ricky Gervais (The Invention of Lying). If I had to nitpick though, I didn’t understand why Pfeiffer didn’t at least attempt an English accent being that this was a British film. I mean at least Claire Danes attempts the accent. Oh well, when you are Michelle Pfeiffer I guess you do what you will.

Before X-Men: First Class or Kick-Ass, or even Kingsman: The Secret Service I knew director Matthew Vaughn from a small crime thriller known as Layer Cake, which was a very good film. I sadly skipped Stardust and went straight to following Vaughn’s career from First Class. I was sadly mistaken to do so. Vaughn breaks his CGI laden/fantastical chops with Stardust and like his later films, Vaughn is able to ground the film into a ‘reality’. I know that word is being strained with films like this and X-Men, but he does a magnificent job getting the audience to care more about the characters and the story than the FX. 

Though some bits of the story have changed in the adaptation, Stardust is an engaging fantasy-adventure tale that should appeal to everyone. Vaughn is one of my favorite living directors and I kick myself for not seeing this film sooner. Vaughn was able to reinvigorate those great feelings that films like The Princess Bride brought on in my early childhood.

The Verdict: Worth Your Time. Watch on Netflix before they take it off.