Courage takes a variety of forms, such as firemen who run into burning buildings, the misguided but well-intentioned schoolteacher who gets out of bed in the morning, and Michelle Pfeiffer in Stardust for appearing without make-up. Stardust is a film that I was certain was going to be a miserable experience, the kind of film that just wastes its big budget on effects that are “just good enough” and has no script and nothing to offer. My preconceived notions were off on this one, as Stardust, as hard as it is for me to believe, did not totally and utterly suck. I mean to be fair; the preview just screamed, “suck!” Not to say that Stardust is a masterpiece, as it is not, but it is better than most would think, “walking in”.
Stardust can best be categorized as a comedic fairly tale of sorts from Neil Gaiman who movie fans might remember from MirrorMask note. The story attempts to put a slightly new spin on the whole fairy tale story and is successful, to a limited extent, as the audience is taken to a small village in England-where else? The village just happens to have a stone fence that, if crossed, transitions one into a world of magic. A young lad from this village manages to make his way pass the comical guardian and into the magical realm where he gets lucky, and I mean really, really lucky. A few months later a son is delivered to him from the magic land known as Stormhold. This child grows into Tristan the hero of our story, who once grown, goes to Stormhold to bring back a fallen star in hopes of winning the heart of the beautiful but soulless town beauty Victoria. For those of you that were fans of the short lived but adequate television series Keen Eddie, you may be stunned to see how Sienna Miller, who plays Victoria, has aged in just a couple of short years. Truly stunning in fact, perhaps more stunning than any visual effect in the entire film.
Once in Stormhold Tristan runs across a variety of odd characters, which include Yvaine, played very well by Claire Danes and Captain Shakespeare played by Robert de Niro. Despite being adored by fans around the world (many of which are concentrated in NYC) I have always felt that de Niro, while a decent enough actor, is overrated in that he rarely travels outside his comfort zone. In Stardust, de Niro plays an actual character that is not-Robert de Niro and it is really quite fun. Michelle Pfeiffer also makes the most of her screen time as the witch Lamia in what is her best role in years. In fact, what really makes Stardust more than just a so-so film are all the fine acting performances, with the except of the powerfully overrated Ricky Gervais who is just thrown in to appeal to British audiences-I think.
Regretfully there is much that is annoying in Stardust. The focus on royalty and the natural rights of royals is dated, revolting and I would think beneath Gaiman who should aim higher. If one is attempting to tell a different type of fairy tale then I would think this issue needed to be treated much differently than Gaiman treats it. The ending, while effective, is particularly irritating in this regard. But, you are likely to forget most of the shortcoming of Stardust when watching the film. It is a great one to watch in high-definition even if some of the visual effects tend to look a bit rushed. Many have missed this film and if you are looking for a summer time replacement for all that missing television, then give Stardust a look.
Story B- (Entertaining story, but all the royal worship really left me cold. What century is this again? Or will that ever matter?) Acting A-
Visuals A- (Stardust looks good, especially for its budget in the $70-$80 million range. Frequent readers are already familiar with my rants of how Hollywood wastes money, so I will spare you, but comparing Stardust to other recent, similar flicks, the producers did an alright job. Even though US audiences didn’t go crazy to see this film, Stardust was still reasonably profitable as overseas box-office was strong enough.) Originality/Innovation B- (Visually Stardust has a nice, original look, and while the comedic elements work nicely, the royal centric plot really drives down this grade.) Enjoyability Grade A-
Home Theater/HD Factor A
Overall Grade A- (Despite some fairly large flaws Stardust manages to prevail in the end-just like love-awwwwwww.)
