A Family Fantasy that Sparkles and Dazzles
Written: Sep 06 '07 (Updated Sep 06 '07)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: special effects; cinematography; setting; pace
Cons: lack of chemistry between leads; De Niro horribly, horribly miscast
The Bottom Line: A well-paced, amiable, fantasy movie with spectacular special effects that will dazzle and entertain the whole family.
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| jc_hall's Full Review: Stardust |
The movie Stardust is based on a novel of the same name by British fantasy author Neil Gaiman (The Sandman, Neverwhere, American Gods, Coraline). Not so much a graphic novel as an illustrated fairy tale for adults, the paperback edition (1999) is beautifully illustrated by Charles Vess and has as subtitle: Being A Romance Within The Realms Of Faerie. This pretty much tells you what to expect from the novel.
But does the movie deliver?
After all, adaptations rarely do justice to the original. A reader spends countless hours getting to know the intricacies of plot and theme, coming to care for characters fully-fleshed out through action, dialogue and interior monologue over 200+ pages. When the story gets pared down severely into a mere two hours or less of screen-time, much gets lost in translation. Look what happened to Eragon.
But no, never fear. Stardust is neither dire nor embarrassing to witness, and judging from the audience at the showing I attended, it’s certainly, for the most part, enjoyable. Saved by astounding special effects and a lively pace that kept the audience at the edges of their seats for a good part of the movie, the movie may not be as nuanced, charming and magical as the written word, but the transformation to the screen does bring to life some spectacular sequences that will knock your socks off.
Stardust is the story of Tristan (Charlie Cox—The Merchant of Venice, Casanova), a shop-boy who witnesses a falling star while wooing the delectable Victoria (Sienna Miller—Alfie, Casanova). He vows to retrieve the star to prove his obviously unrequited love for her. To do so, he must leave his village, Wall (aptly-named for the wall that separates it from the faerie kingdom of Stormhold), and brave not only witches galore but also a covey of fratricidal princes (dead ones ghosting monochromatically along for the ride), all of whom are also after the fallen star for reasons of their own.
As it happens, the fallen star is the very human-looking Yvaine (Claire Danes dyed blonde to within an inch of her life) who is not only tetchy at being accosted by Tristan and press-ganged into becoming a love-token, but also massively annoyed that her heart is being hunted by a bevy of witches (Michelle Pfeiffer relishing her role as the foremost of a Macbeth-esque trio of hags) who are counting on said heart—a potent medieval version of Botox and Restylane—to restore them to their youthful beauty.
Along the way, a pirate dirigible harnessing lightning for sale happens along most propitiously, so that the captain (Robert De Niro, of which more anon) can teach Tristan his way around a sword, provide our hero with a weapon of great efficacy, and, at least theoretically, provide the audience with a laugh or two. The humour in Stardust is of the broad, as opposed to the subtle, variety, and relies quite a bit on visual gags. Nothing wrong with that, except it’s a little heavy-handed at times. Robert De Niro’s turn as the cross-dressing sky-pirate, Captain Shakespeare (a role that clearly should have gone to Robin Williams) gave me quite a turn. ’Nuff said.
Critics have lamented that there is no chemistry between the lead actors and that the performance of the female lead, Claire Danes, is ‘annoying’. Sadly, I must report that this is true, on both counts. But when the male lead (the most engaging Charlie Cox) looks prettier than the female lead, this kind of thing is bound to happen. Hey, if you were made into a Gwyneth Paltrow look-alike when you look perfectly fine the way you are, you would be annoyed too.
The special effects are marvellous, from the spectacular visions of exploding stars to the lightning-harnessing dirigible to the instances of magic that include the creation of a well-appointed inn, to my favourite sequence: a voodoo-doll-inspired bout of fencing.
But do spectacular CGA-enhanced sequences a good movie make? I’ll leave that for you to mull over. Meanwhile, if you haven’t already, read the book.
With his version of Beowulf coming out in the cinema soon and his children’s novel Coraline being adapted for the big screen, Neil Gaiman is the blue-eyed boy-wonder of Hollywood at the moment. Keep yer eyes peeled, me maties. We’re bound to see more and better things from the ‘god of fantasy’ in the not-too-distant future.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Family Movie
Viewing Method: Studio Screening/Premiere
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Cast
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Epinions.com ID:
jc_hall
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Member: JC Hall
Location: Toronto, Canada
Reviews written: 199
Trusted by: 54 members
About Me:
Going back to Vancouver for Christmas! Happy Holidays, everyone!!
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