Note: This review contains minor spoilers.
"A philosopher once asked, 'are we human because we gaze at the stars or do we gaze at them because we are human?' Pointless really. Do the stars gaze back? Now that's a question," and so begins the magical, touching and humorous journey for moviegoers old and young alike.
'Stardust', which stars an all-star cast including Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro is a story about one young man's dream to win the love of his life by capturing a shooting star. The story is from a novel by Neil Gaiman, which was first featured as a four book DC Comics miniseries and released a year later (1998) in book form, and ultimately became a bestseller. Gaiman's vision is brought to life by the magnificent direction of Matthew Vaughn ('Layer Cake') and a delightful adapted screenplay written by Jane Goldman.
A young store clerk named Tristan (played by the adorably charming Charlie Cox) lives in a small town called Wall and believes he has met the love of his life in the town's most beautiful girl, Victoria (played by Sienna Miller). The girl, however, has very little interest in Tristan until Tristan promises that he will bring her back a fallen star. Tristan must leave the safety of Wall for the perils of an unknown world outside the comfort of his small town life.
He ends up in the magical land of Stormhold where he finds the fallen star isn't just a star, but a young, spirited woman named Yvaine (played by the captivating Claire Danes). However, Tristan isn't the only one with vested interest in the star and soon Tristan must battle an evil witch (played brilliantly and against type by Michelle Pfeiffer) a fierce pirate (played by Robert De Niro) and a dark Prince. In the end, Tristan the boy grows into a man and discovers the true meaning of love along the way.
'Stardust' is laugh out loud funny one minute and heartwarming the next. In fact the film is quite reminiscent of "The Princess Bride." Though there were some continuity errors (Michelle Pfeiffer's make-up for one) I was able to forgive any minor mistakes due to the hilarity of the script, stellar production design by Gavin Bocquet and some stand out performances most notably by Claire Danes and Robert De Niro. De Niro plays the feared pirate Captain Shakespeare who is not quite as scary as he first appears preferring to wield an apron rather than a sword.
'Stardust' is a film that both young and old alike will enjoy and could very well become a fairytale classic.
'Stardust' opens in theaters nationwide on August 10th.
LOGIN
REGISTER
RSS
HOME
