Stardust, 2007
Stardust, 2007
Written by Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn
Directed by Matthew Vaughn
Cast:
Charlie Cox ... Tristan Thorn
Sienna Miller ... Victoria
Claire Danes ... Yvaine
Michelle Pfeiffer ... Lamia
Kate Magowan ... Slave Girl - Una
Nathaniel Parker ... Dunstan Thorn
Melanie Hill ... Ditchwater Sal
Ian McKellen ... Narrator (voice)
Henry Cavill ... Humphrey
Peter O'Toole ... King
Mark Strong ... Septimus
Jason Flemyng ... Primus
Mark Heap ... Tertius
Jake Curran ... Bernard
Grant Burgin ... Lackey
Mark Williams ... Billy
Robert De Niro ... Captain Shakespeare
Ricky Gervais ... Ferdy the Fence
It's been practically forever since I last posted a review. I have seen movies since my last review: some have been great (Reefer Madness: The Musical), some have been less than great (Across the Universe), and some have been downright bad (30 Days of Night). I just haven't had time to write useful reviews -- or even lists! -- because of school's kickage of my butt. But it's fall break this week, so I get a week off from school (I still have to do homework, however, which sucks) and I have a few minutes to spare to write a review. And lucky for all of us, especially me, I think, that the movie I'm reviewing is Stardust, which is awesome. Otherwise I may not have been inspired enough to write any reviews at all with my time off.
Starring the absent-till-now Claire Danes, the beginning-to-be-typecast Michelle Pfeiffer, and new-to-Hollywood Charlie Cox, Stardust is a brand new fairy tale that somehow manages to poke ironic fun at the fairy tales of our youth while upholding the longlasting ideals of true love, chivalry, friendship, and good prevailing over evil. Charlie Cox stars as the young man Tristan who makes a promise to Victoria to find the star that has just fallen near their town if she'll marry him. He crosses the wall that separates his hometown of Wall from the fantasy-land of Stormhold to find the fallen star, and finds himself in a brand new world of old witches, traveling circuses, and princes fighting for the kingdom.
Tristan finds the crater where the star must have fallen and, instead of a mound of molten rock, he comes across a young woman named Yvaine (Danes) who he learns is the fallen star. He must now return to Victoria with Yvaine so that his beloved won't marry the pompous Humphrey in Tristan's absence. However, Tristan isn't the only person in Stormhold who wants Yvaine -- Lamia (Pfeiffer) and her ugly hag-sisters crave Yvaine's heart to renew their youthful looks and prolong their lives, and the princes who are to take over the kingdom of Stormhold need the necklace that Yvaine is wearing to gain the crown. Yvaine and Tristan embark on a tumultuous journey through Stormhold, into the sky, and back again that teaches them both about life, love, and living.
It sounds like a typical fairy tale, right? What sets this one apart from the sappy crap of Disney is that Yvaine is -- wait for it -- smart. She's mouthy, funny, and intelligent. She doesn't just go along with Tristan's stupid ideas without questioning them -- and if he forces her to go along with him, she makes fun of him with irony and insight. She's not a flat character -- we see her as a star-turned-human who had existed before the narrative began and who had thought about her place in the world before the story. And in the story, we see her feelings about the journey with Tristan change and we see her develop as a character. Really, there are no flat characters in this film, except for the stock characters who serve as plot furniture, such as Ricky Gervais's Ferdy. Lamia isn't just the evil witch -- we see her vulnerable and impatient at times as she tries to catch Yvaine and Tristan and fails. Robert de Niro's Captain Shakespeare is very obviously not a flat character, and even Tristan changes throughout the film, though he may not seem like he's changing.
Aside from the engaging character development and original, compelling plot, the visual effects of this movie are equally stunning. Toward the beginning, the camera "flies" to the Stormhold palace tower where the king (O'Toole) is dying, and I honestly felt like I was flying there too (that is to say, I felt just a tad nauseated). Captain Shakespeare's flying boat is realistic, and the general scenery of Stormhold and Wall are just right. I can't honestly think of a thing I didn't like about this movie (aside from the whole "yay twue love!!" aspect, of course, which is always up for critique). It's funny, romantic, and fun to watch, and I recommend it to everyone -- I don't have kids, but I think it'd be as entertaining for the youngsters as it is for adults.
Overall, I give this movie an A.