STARDUST!!!
I now have a goofy smile on my face after watching "Stardust." This Neil Gaiman fangirl is perfectly happy with the movie adaptation of her second favorite Gaiman novel.
I watched "Stardust" with some of my orgmates. I had been excited about watching this movie ever since it was announced. I wasn't exactly happy about Claire Danes, but I didn't really mind. Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert de Niro excited me though.
Noteworthy aspects according to the fangirl:
* Tristran Thorne and his makeover: I love that he starts out looking cute and yet dorky, and then literally gets a makeover and becomes hot. Very in line with the whole coming of age theme of a hero's journey--start out as a cute boy and return as a hot man. Even his acting goes from dorky to dashing. Charlie Cox is going to be a lot of girls' new crush.
* Yvaine: Claire Danes--I really loved how she interpreted Yvaine! I had qualms about how she wasn't ethereally beautiful enough to be Yvaine and the million other reasons she didn't fit the role, but after watching the movie, I'm really glad she played Yvaine. I saw movie Yvaine as the Yvaine I loved in the novel: a strong and independent lovely fairy creature who's far from invulnerable. My only complaint was how she didn't curse when she landed. But that's a a very minor complaint. Yvaine was great throughout the whole movie. She elicited as much sympathy as Yvaine in the novel--when she pleaded bitterly for Tristran to let her rest during the midday, and her eyes and face were red, and she looked like she was about to cry, I wanted to hug her. And she also managed to show Yvaine's fireplug attitude well. I'm just really happy about how Yvaine was portrayed.
* Primus and his brothers: Primus was my favorite Prince of Stormhold, and he and his brothers were so much more hilarious in the movie than in the novel! And Septimus--I didn't like him at all in the novel, he was a shadowy and sallow sort, but he was so much livelier in the movie, and so much more interesting as well. I didn't mind that he had more screen time than Primus. And dude, Rupert Everett as Secundus was a laugh!
* Michelle Pfeiffer: She was wickedly gorgeous and so perfect to play one of the Lilim.
* Transition from Septimus' runes to Lamia's runes: Hahahahah... after that I had to whisper: "Woot, OTP of evil!!"
* Spell-casting sequence, the making of the inn: The sparkly special effects! It was so cool when the scene zoomed in the interior of the inn and showed the magical construction. XD
* Captain Shakespeare and the Pirates: Oh God--I loved the whole charade Shakespeare put on with Yvaine and Tristran, and his conversation with them [with all the flamboyant gestures], and well--just everything about the Pirates! The battle against Septimus' men was awesome, with the background music, clanging swords, and the cross-dressed Shakespeare dancing. "Captain, we've always known you were whoopsy." XD
* Victoria gets what she had coming: I know novel Victoria wasn't nearly as bitchy as movie Victoria but I would have liked to see Tristran reject novel Victoria just the same. I liked the whole Victoria scene in the novel than in the book. It was great to see Tristran literally drop her. After she said to him that "people like her" and "people like him" weren't meant to mingle, it was SO ON. Yeah, you shouldn't mingle, since Tristran gets the kickass maiden that you can never compare with, so there! >=)
* In pursuit of Yvaine: Tristran, Una, Lamia, and Septimus all started closing in on Yvaine just as she was about to enter Wall--that was one of my top three favorite sequences. It made me glad that the movie was an adaptation instead of a live-action version of the novel, because this sequence was better suited for a movie than what happened in the novel. That scene when Victoria complained about the stardust Tristran brought--I loved that they exploited the fact Yvaine couldn't enter the wall, it was so much more tense than it was in the novel. I also found it so cool that the women got to Yvaine first, and the men had to chase after them. XD
* Una and Yvaine's interaction: Extremely sweet really, how protective Una is of Yvaine. Mothers know best, and she must have known Yvaine is her son's 'true love' from the moment that she laid eyes on the star girl.
* Tristran's fight with re-animated Septimus: It was wicked awesome swordplay and yet so hilarious! The reactions of the ghost of Septimus and the ghosts of his brothers were priceless.
* Yvaine's glow: It was corny and funny, and yet I liked how they exploited it in the movie. Yes, including how Yvaine used it as her super-power fatality. It was in line with how the glow was presented throughout the film, so if she ultra-magnifies it with the power of her love to toast a witch, then well and good!
* The ending: I am a sap. The original ending for "Stardust" is happy and sweet, yet with a hint of sadness, because Tristran eventually died and Yvaine remained forever in Stormhold castle, longing for the sky. So when the movie gave Tristran and Yvaine a very definite 'happily ever after,' I was glad. I went "Aww." When I heard a "boo," I said: "Hrmp, sour grape!" Happy endings are the best kind of endings, I stand by this. Real life doesn't always end happily, but that's why stories should have happy endings. Stories don't represent life as it is, but what as what it ought to be. So, I support 'happily ever after'.
This fangirl will have to express her happiness in the form of icons sometime soon. ^-^ I MUST get this movie as soon as it comes out and re-watch it at least a dozen times!